Portal:Ukraine
The Ukraine Portal - Портал України
Ukraine Україна (Ukrainian) | |
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ISO 3166 code | UA |
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which borders it to the east and northeast. It also borders Belarus to the north; Poland and Slovakia to the west; Hungary, Romania and Moldova to the southwest; with a coastline along the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov to the south and southeast. Kyiv is the nation's capital and largest city, followed by Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Odesa. Ukraine's official language is Ukrainian.
During the Middle Ages, Ukraine was the site of early Slavic expansion and the area later became a key centre of East Slavic culture under the state of Kievan Rus', which emerged in the 9th century. The state eventually disintegrated into rival regional powers and was destroyed by the Mongol invasions of the 13th century. The area was then contested, divided, and ruled by a variety of external powers for the next 600 years, including the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Austrian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Tsardom of Russia. The Cossack Hetmanate emerged in central Ukraine in the 17th century, but was partitioned between Russia and Poland, and absorbed by the Russian Empire. Ukrainian nationalism developed and, following the Russian Revolution in 1917, the short-lived Ukrainian People's Republic was formed. The Bolsheviks consolidated control over much of the former empire and established the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, which became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union when it was formed in 1922. In the early 1930s, millions of Ukrainians died in the Holodomor, a human-made famine. The German occupation during World War II in Ukraine was devastating, with 7 million Ukrainian civilians killed, including most Ukrainian Jews.
Ukraine gained independence in 1991 as the Soviet Union dissolved, and declared itself neutral. A new constitution was adopted in 1996. A series of mass demonstrations, known as the Euromaidan, led to the establishment of a new government in 2014 after a revolution. Russia then unilaterally annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, and pro-Russian unrest culminated in a war in the Donbas between Russian-backed separatists and government forces in eastern Ukraine. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Since the outbreak of war with Russia, Ukraine has continued to seek closer ties with the United States, European Union, and NATO.
Ukraine is a unitary state and its system of government is a semi-presidential republic. A developing country, it is the poorest country in Europe by nominal GDP per capita and corruption remains a significant issue. However, due to its extensive fertile land, pre-war Ukraine was one of the largest grain exporters in the world. Ukraine is considered a middle power in global affairs, and the Ukrainian Armed Force is the fifth largest armed force in the world in terms of both active personnel as well as total number of personnel with the eighth largest defence budget in the world. The Ukrainian Armed Forces also operates one of the largest and most diverse drone fleets in the world. It is a founding member of the United Nations, as well as a member of the Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization, and the OSCE. It is in the process of joining the European Union and has applied to join NATO. (Full article...)
In the news
- 22 November 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- 2024 Kursk offensive
- Russian human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova states that 46 of one thousand Russian civilians who claimed to have been forcibly relocated by Ukraine into its territory have been returned, following extensive negotiations involving the Red Cross. (Reuters)
- Two people are killed and 12 others are injured in a Russian drone attack on civilian infrastructure in Sumy, Ukraine. (Reuters)
- 21 November 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Dnipro strikes, Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
- Russia strikes Dnipro, Ukraine, with a projectile stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin to be a new Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) model. This confirms earlier reports from the United States and other western officials, who said that Russia had used an IRBM after initial reports misidentified the missile as a RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile. (Reuters) (CBS News) (BBC News)
- Hungary and the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Hungary announces the deployment of a missile defense system on its border with Ukraine, saying that the threat of escalation with Russia is now "greater than ever". (Reuters)
- United Kingdom and the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Russian ambassador to the United Kingdom Andrey Kelin says that the UK is now "directly involved" in the war in Ukraine following yesterday's use of British Storm Shadow cruise missiles by Ukraine to strike targets inside Russia. (Sky News)
- 21 November 2024 – International sanctions during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia–United States relations
- U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announces that the Treasury Department has imposed sanctions against Russia's third-largest bank Gazprombank and its subsidiaries. (The Hill)
Featured pictures
Did you know (auto-generated)
- ... that in March 2022 Sonja van den Ende was the only Dutch journalist to report from the Russian-occupied Donbas on the war in Ukraine?
- ... that some severe environmental impacts of the invasion of Ukraine can be seen from space?
- ... that 1920s belles-lettres books published by the State Publishing House of Ukraine sold out more rapidly than similar books published elsewhere in the Soviet Union, despite the higher average price?
- ... that the Russian airstrike on Kyiv TV Tower (video featured) killed Yevhenii Sakun, one of at least 14 civilian journalists killed in the line of duty during the Russo-Ukrainian War?
- ... that 24-year-old Mahasweta Chakraborty of Operation Ganga helped around 800 students return to India during the Russian invasion of Ukraine?
- ... that Olga Onuch is believed to be the first professor of Ukrainian politics in the English-speaking world?
More did you know -
- ... that although the secular music of Mykola Leontovych was well known in the twentieth century, the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom was little known because of a ban on sacred music in the Soviet Union?
- ... that the neo-classical Verkhovna Rada building in Kyiv features a hundred-tonne glass dome over the chamber where the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine convenes to enact legislation?
- ... that Ukrainian naturalist, lecturer, artist and author John Lhotsky was credited as the first discoverer of gold in New South Wales?
- ... that according to legend, a tunnel leads from the Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle to the Khotyn Fortress which is 20 kilometres (12 mi) away?
- ... that the married Western Ukrainian Clergy became a hereditary caste that dominated western Ukrainian society?
- ... that among many historic landmarks at the Andrew's Descent in Kyiv, there is a medieval Gothic style castle that locals call the "Castle of Richard the Lion Heart" due to the legend the 12th century King of England had visited the building?
Selected article -
The Dnieper (/(də)ˈniːpər/ (də)-NEE-pər), also called Dnepr or Dnipro (/dəˈniːproʊ/ də-NEE-proh), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately 2,200 km (1,400 mi) long, with a drainage basin of 504,000 square kilometres (195,000 sq mi), it is the longest river of Ukraine and Belarus and the fourth-longest river in Europe, after the Volga, Danube, and Ural rivers.
In antiquity, the river was part of the Amber Road trade routes. During the Ruin in the later 17th century, the area was contested between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russia, dividing what is now Ukraine into areas described by its right and left banks. During the Soviet period, the river became noted for its major hydroelectric dams and large reservoirs. The 1986 Chernobyl disaster occurred on the Pripyat River, a tributary of the Dnieper, just upstream from its confluence with the Dnieper. The Dnieper is an important navigable waterway for the economy of Ukraine and is connected by the Dnieper–Bug Canal to other waterways in Europe. During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, certain segments of the river were made part of the defensive lines between territory controlled by the Russians and the Ukrainians. (Full article...)
In the news
- 22 November 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- 2024 Kursk offensive
- Russian human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova states that 46 of one thousand Russian civilians who claimed to have been forcibly relocated by Ukraine into its territory have been returned, following extensive negotiations involving the Red Cross. (Reuters)
- Two people are killed and 12 others are injured in a Russian drone attack on civilian infrastructure in Sumy, Ukraine. (Reuters)
- 21 November 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Dnipro strikes, Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
- Russia strikes Dnipro, Ukraine, with a projectile stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin to be a new Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) model. This confirms earlier reports from the United States and other western officials, who said that Russia had used an IRBM after initial reports misidentified the missile as a RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile. (Reuters) (CBS News) (BBC News)
- Hungary and the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Hungary announces the deployment of a missile defense system on its border with Ukraine, saying that the threat of escalation with Russia is now "greater than ever". (Reuters)
- United Kingdom and the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Russian ambassador to the United Kingdom Andrey Kelin says that the UK is now "directly involved" in the war in Ukraine following yesterday's use of British Storm Shadow cruise missiles by Ukraine to strike targets inside Russia. (Sky News)
- 21 November 2024 – International sanctions during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia–United States relations
- U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announces that the Treasury Department has imposed sanctions against Russia's third-largest bank Gazprombank and its subsidiaries. (The Hill)
Selected anniversaries for November
- November 11—November 12, 1918 — Battle of Przemyśl was fought between Polish and Ukrainian forces.
- November 24, 2007 - the official day of remembrance for people who died as a result of Holodomor and political repression.
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Notes
- ^ In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Sergeyevich and the family name is Khrushchev.