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. 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 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 wasoccupied 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
- 18 January 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Kryvyi Rih strikes
- Four people are killed and 14 others are injured in a Russian ballistic missile strike on Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, according to the Governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Serhiy Lysak. (Euronews)
- Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
- At least four people are killed in Russian missile and drone attacks on Kyiv, Ukraine. (Al Jazeera)
- 16 January 2025 – Ukraine–United Kingdom relations
- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer visits Kyiv, Ukraine, to sign a 100-year agreement with Ukraine that will formalize British economic and military support for Ukraine. (Sky News) (BBC News)
- 15 January 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
- Russia launches a major ballistic and cruise missile attack on regions across Ukraine, targeting energy production and compelling authorities to shut down the power grid. (AP)
- 14 January 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Attacks in Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Ukraine strikes targets in the Republic of Tatarstan and Bryansk, Saratov, and Tula oblasts, Russia, with more than 200 drones and five ATACMS ballistic missiles, hitting ammunition depots, industrial plants and a refinery, in what Ukraine says is its "most massive" and "deepest" attack inside Russia so far. (CNN) (BBC News)
- 13 January 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Attacks in Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Featured pictures
Did you know (auto-generated)
- ... that Ukrainian science fiction and fantasy is written both in Ukrainian and Russian?
- ... that J. T. Blatty was a tennis star and US Army captain before photographing military volunteers in Ukraine?
- ... that Monika Buczkowska, who, as a student in Poznań, performed as Mozart's Susanna, was a soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at a charity concert for Ukraine at the Alte Oper?
- ... that in August 2022, Igor Mangushev spoke on a stage in a Russian nightclub with what he said was the skull of a Ukrainian soldier killed in the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works?
- ... that 24-year-old Mahasweta Chakraborty of Operation Ganga helped around 800 students return to India during the Russian invasion of Ukraine?
- ... that when public radio stations aired Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in solidarity with Ukraine on 10 March 2022, the bass voice of Anthony Robin Schneider was heard live from Frankfurt and recorded from Auckland?
More did you know -
- ... that the Kryvbas economic region in Ukraine is one of the largest iron ore and steel industry centers in Europe?
- ... that the Privat Group is one of the few Ukrainian companies that own industries in the United States?
- ... 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 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?
- ... that according to legend, a tunnel leads from the Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle to the Khotyn Fortress which is 20 kilometres (12 mi) away?
- ... 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
- 18 January 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Kryvyi Rih strikes
- Four people are killed and 14 others are injured in a Russian ballistic missile strike on Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, according to the Governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Serhiy Lysak. (Euronews)
- Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
- At least four people are killed in Russian missile and drone attacks on Kyiv, Ukraine. (Al Jazeera)
- 16 January 2025 – Ukraine–United Kingdom relations
- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer visits Kyiv, Ukraine, to sign a 100-year agreement with Ukraine that will formalize British economic and military support for Ukraine. (Sky News) (BBC News)
- 15 January 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
- Russia launches a major ballistic and cruise missile attack on regions across Ukraine, targeting energy production and compelling authorities to shut down the power grid. (AP)
- 14 January 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Attacks in Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Ukraine strikes targets in the Republic of Tatarstan and Bryansk, Saratov, and Tula oblasts, Russia, with more than 200 drones and five ATACMS ballistic missiles, hitting ammunition depots, industrial plants and a refinery, in what Ukraine says is its "most massive" and "deepest" attack inside Russia so far. (CNN) (BBC News)
- 13 January 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Attacks in Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Selected anniversaries for January
- January 3, 1681 — Treaty of Bakhchisarai was signed by Russia, the Ottoman Empire, and the Crimean Khanate at the conclusion of the Russo-Turkish War (1676–1681).
- January 10, 1992 — the Ukrainian karbovanets replaced the Soviet ruble at par, with the ISO 4217 code being
UAK
. - January 15, 1967 — David Burliuk, an avant-garde artist, died in Long Island, New York.
- January 22, 1919 — The Act Zluky was signed, unifying the Ukrainian People's Republic and the West Ukrainian National Republic.
- January 23, 2005 — Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko was inaugurated into office after winning the second run-off elections in late 2004.
- January 29, 1918 — Battle of Kruty takes place between the Ukrainian People's Republic and Bolshevik forces.
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