Portal:Ukraine


The Ukraine Portal - Портал України

Ukraine
Україна (Ukrainian)
ISO 3166 codeUA

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, Odesa, and Dnipro. The official language of Ukraine 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. For the next 600 years the area was contested, divided, and ruled by a variety of external powers, 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 gradually absorbed by the Russian Empire in the 18th 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, declaring 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 Russia and Russian-backed separatists. The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine began the current phase of the war. (Full article...)

In the news

21 March 2026 – Russo-Ukrainian war
Zaporizhzhia strikes, Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
Russia launches attacks in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, against energy infrastructure, causing smoke contamination. (RBC-Ukraine)
Two people are killed and six others, including two children, are wounded in a Russian drone attack in Zaporizhzhia. (AP)
Attacks in Russia during the Russo-Ukrainian war
Two people are killed and another is injured in an Ukrainian artillery strike in Belgorod Oblast, Russia. (AP)
20 March 2026 – Foreign relations of Russia since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Foreign relations of the United States
2026 Cuban crisis, Cuba–Russia relations
The United States says it will not allow Cuba to receive any shipments of fuel oil from Russia as two Russian tankers are en route to Havana to deliver around 190,000 barrels of oil amid a critical shortage on the island. (CNBC)
Peace negotiations in the Russo-Ukrainian war, Russia in the 2026 Iran war, Russia–United States relations
Politico reports that the United States rejected an offer by Russia to stop providing intelligence to Iran in return for the U.S. ending intelligence sharing with Ukraine. (Politico)
16 March 2026 – Russo-Ukrainian war
International sanctions during the Russo-Ukrainian war, International sanctions during the Russian invasion of Ukraine

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This is a list of heads of state of Ukraine since 1917. (Full article...)

In the news

21 March 2026 – Russo-Ukrainian war
Zaporizhzhia strikes, Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
Russia launches attacks in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, against energy infrastructure, causing smoke contamination. (RBC-Ukraine)
Two people are killed and six others, including two children, are wounded in a Russian drone attack in Zaporizhzhia. (AP)
Attacks in Russia during the Russo-Ukrainian war
Two people are killed and another is injured in an Ukrainian artillery strike in Belgorod Oblast, Russia. (AP)
20 March 2026 – Foreign relations of Russia since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Foreign relations of the United States
2026 Cuban crisis, Cuba–Russia relations
The United States says it will not allow Cuba to receive any shipments of fuel oil from Russia as two Russian tankers are en route to Havana to deliver around 190,000 barrels of oil amid a critical shortage on the island. (CNBC)
Peace negotiations in the Russo-Ukrainian war, Russia in the 2026 Iran war, Russia–United States relations
Politico reports that the United States rejected an offer by Russia to stop providing intelligence to Iran in return for the U.S. ending intelligence sharing with Ukraine. (Politico)
16 March 2026 – Russo-Ukrainian war
International sanctions during the Russo-Ukrainian war, International sanctions during the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Selected anniversaries for March


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