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
- 18 November 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
- Odesa strikes
- Russian forces launch a missile attack on the city of Odesa, Ukraine, for the second consecutive day, killing at least ten civilians, injuring dozens of others and damaging civilian infrastructure, including residential buildings. (Ukrainska Pravda)
- Ukrainian energy crisis, 17 November 2024 Russian strikes on Ukraine
- Ukraine re-implements nationwide rolling blackouts primarily due to yesterday's destruction of energy infrastructure by Russian airstrikes. (Reuters)
- 17 November 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure, Ukrainian energy crisis
- 17 November 2024 Russian strikes on Ukraine
- Russia launches its largest aerial attack on Ukraine in months. According to President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, around 120 missiles and 90 drones were launched, damaging energy infrastructure across the country, killing at least seven people, and causing widespread damage. (CNN) (BBC News)
- Ten people are killed and 52 others are injured in a Russian missile strike on an apartment building in Sumy, Ukraine. (Reuters)
- United States President Joe Biden lifts restrictions on the Ukrainian use of U.S. weapons for deep attacks inside Russia, with Ukrainian forces planning to use the weapons in long-distance attacks in the coming days. (Reuters)
Featured pictures
Did you know (auto-generated)
- ... that Ukrainian designer Anna October showed her collection during Paris Fashion Week after escaping the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine?
- ... that after the Russian invasion, the daughter of the Ukrainian ambassador to Indonesia was evacuated together with Indonesian citizens in Ukraine?
- ... that the Jihadist Burkinabè rebels' ongoing siege of Djibo has been described as a "Ukrainian death"?
- ... that Ukrainian science fiction and fantasy is written both in Ukrainian and Russian?
- ... that Zinkiv, Ukraine, was a center of Hasidic Judaism until almost the entirety of the city's 2,300-strong Jewish population was murdered during the Holocaust?
- ... that the founder of the Guide to the Free World, helping people leave Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, said she was told: "It's good that you get out of Russia, but a pity that you won't be shot"?
More did you know -
- ... 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 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 Khreschatyk is the main street of Ukrainian capital Kyiv on which Orange Revolution and other historical events mainly took place?
- ... 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 married Western Ukrainian Clergy became a hereditary caste that dominated western Ukrainian society?
- ... that Vasyl Avramenko is often referred as "The father of the Ukrainian dance"?
Selected article -
Ukrainian nationalism (Ukrainian: Український націоналізм, romanized: Ukrainskyi natsionalizm, pronounced [ʊkrɐˈjinʲsʲkei̯ nɐt͡sʲiɔnɐˈlʲizm]) is the promotion of the unity of Ukrainians as a people and the promotion of the identity of Ukraine as a nation state. The origins of modern Ukrainian nationalism emerge during the Cossack uprising against the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth led by Bohdan Khmelnytsky in the mid-17th century. Ukrainian nationalism draws upon a single national identity of culture, ethnicity, geographic location, language, politics (or the government), religion, traditions and belief in a shared singular history. (Full article...)
In the news
- 18 November 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
- Odesa strikes
- Russian forces launch a missile attack on the city of Odesa, Ukraine, for the second consecutive day, killing at least ten civilians, injuring dozens of others and damaging civilian infrastructure, including residential buildings. (Ukrainska Pravda)
- Ukrainian energy crisis, 17 November 2024 Russian strikes on Ukraine
- Ukraine re-implements nationwide rolling blackouts primarily due to yesterday's destruction of energy infrastructure by Russian airstrikes. (Reuters)
- 17 November 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure, Ukrainian energy crisis
- 17 November 2024 Russian strikes on Ukraine
- Russia launches its largest aerial attack on Ukraine in months. According to President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, around 120 missiles and 90 drones were launched, damaging energy infrastructure across the country, killing at least seven people, and causing widespread damage. (CNN) (BBC News)
- Ten people are killed and 52 others are injured in a Russian missile strike on an apartment building in Sumy, Ukraine. (Reuters)
- United States President Joe Biden lifts restrictions on the Ukrainian use of U.S. weapons for deep attacks inside Russia, with Ukrainian forces planning to use the weapons in long-distance attacks in the coming days. (Reuters)
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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