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 country in Europe after Russia, which borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the north; Poland and Slovakia to the west; Hungary, Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and 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.
Humans have inhabited Ukraine since 32,000 BC. During the Middle Ages, it was the site of early Slavic expansion and later became a key centre of East Slavic culture under the state of Kievan Rus', which emerged in the 9th century. Kievan Rus' became the largest and most powerful realm in Europe in the 10th and 11th centuries, but gradually disintegrated into rival regional powers before being destroyed by the Mongols in the 13th century. The area was then contested, divided, and ruled by a variety of external powers for the next 600 years, including the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Kingdom of Poland, 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 before being absorbed by the Russian Empire in the late 19th century. 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 in 1922. In the early 1930s, millions of Ukrainians died in the Holodomor, a human-made famine. During World War II, Ukraine was occupied by Germany and endured major battles and atrocities, resulting in 7 million 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 as the country transitioned to a free market liberal democracy amid endemic corruption and a legacy of state control. The Orange Revolution of 2004–2005 ushered electoral and constitutional reforms. Resurgent political crises prompted a series of mass demonstrations in 2014 known as the Euromaidan, leading to a revolution, at the end of which Russia unilaterally occupied and annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, and pro-Russian unrest culminated in a war in Donbas with Russian-backed separatists and Russia. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. (Full article...)
In the news
- 4 February 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- A Russian missile strikes a residential building in Izium, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine, reportedly killing four and injuring twenty people. (Ukrainska Pravda)
- 3 February 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Attacks in Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- A bomb explodes inside a building in Moscow, Russia, killing two people and wounding three. The presumed main target, Armen Sarkisyan, a pro-Russia leader in the Donbas, is among the dead. (Reuters)
- 1 February 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- A Russian missile strike on a residential building in Poltava, Ukraine, reportedly kills at least fourteen people and injures at least 17 others. A separate strike kills three police officers in Sumy Oblast. (Reuters)
- 31 January 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Odesa strikes
- Russian forces launch ballistic missiles at the centre of Odesa and its port, severely damaging numerous civilian buildings, including the historic Bristol Hotel. At least two people are reportedly injured. (Reuters)
- 30 January 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- A Russian drone strikes a multi-storey apartment building in Sumy, Ukraine, killing nine people and injuring 13 others. (Reuters)
Featured pictures
Did you know (auto-generated)
- ... that DeepStateMap.Live, an interactive map of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, received up to 120,000 visitors in 30 minutes during the Battle of Izium in the 2022 Kharkiv counteroffensive?
- ... that Mali and Niger broke off diplomatic relations with Ukraine over the country's alleged support for rebel groups in the Battle of Tinzaouaten?
- ... 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 Vladyslav Buialskyi, a 24-year-old bass-baritone from Berdiansk, sang the State Anthem of Ukraine on the night of his debut with the Metropolitan Opera?
- ... that the United Ukrainian Ballet Company, consisting of exiled dancers based in The Hague, has toured the UK, Singapore, Australia and the US?
- ... that when a Russian warship asked the Ukrainian defenders of Snake Island to surrender, their response was "Russian warship, go fuck yourself"?
More did you know -
- ... 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 the longest of the Kiev bridges, the 1,543 metres long Paton Bridge over the Dnieper River, constructed in 1953 was the first fully welded steel construction of such length at that time?
- ... that the married Western Ukrainian Clergy became a hereditary caste that dominated western Ukrainian society?
- ... that journalist Savik Shuster who used to work for Russian TV channels now prefers to work for the Ukrainian TV because he felt the Russian Government was limiting his journalistic freedom?
- ... that the Kryvbas economic region in Ukraine is one of the largest iron ore and steel industry centers in Europe?
- ... that Vasyl Avramenko is often referred as "The father of the Ukrainian dance"?
Selected article -
The COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Ukraine is an ongoing mass immunization campaign for the COVID-19 pandemic in Ukraine.
Ukraine's vaccination program started on 24 February 2021 and from that day to 12 September 2021 18% of the adult population of Ukraine had been vaccinated against COVID-19. (About 44% of those vaccinated had been fully vaccinated.) On 7 January 2022 the Ministry of Health announced that 44.9% of the adult population had undergone a full course of vaccination. By 2022, the Ministry of Health plans to vaccinate 70% of the country's adult population, including 80% of the elderly. (Full article...)
In the news
- 4 February 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- A Russian missile strikes a residential building in Izium, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine, reportedly killing four and injuring twenty people. (Ukrainska Pravda)
- 3 February 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Attacks in Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- A bomb explodes inside a building in Moscow, Russia, killing two people and wounding three. The presumed main target, Armen Sarkisyan, a pro-Russia leader in the Donbas, is among the dead. (Reuters)
- 1 February 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- A Russian missile strike on a residential building in Poltava, Ukraine, reportedly kills at least fourteen people and injures at least 17 others. A separate strike kills three police officers in Sumy Oblast. (Reuters)
- 31 January 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Odesa strikes
- Russian forces launch ballistic missiles at the centre of Odesa and its port, severely damaging numerous civilian buildings, including the historic Bristol Hotel. At least two people are reportedly injured. (Reuters)
- 30 January 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- A Russian drone strikes a multi-storey apartment building in Sumy, Ukraine, killing nine people and injuring 13 others. (Reuters)
Selected anniversaries for February
- February 4, 1945—February 11, 1945 — Yalta Conference was held between the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union; Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin, respectively.
- February 10, 1995 — the first prototype of the Ukrainian Antonov An-70 transport aircraft crashed during a test flight in Kyiv Oblast.
- February 23, 1954 — Viktor Yushchenko, a former President of Ukraine, was born in Khoruzhivka, Sumy Oblast.
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