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 Russian-backed separatists and Russia. In 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, beginning the current phase of the war. (Full article...)

In the news

23 December 2025 – Russo-Ukrainian war
Northern Donetsk Oblast campaign
The Ukrainian Armed Forces confirm their withdrawal from Siversk, Donetsk Oblast. (Reuters)
22 December 2025 – Russo-Ukrainian war
Attacks in Russia during the Russo-Ukrainian war
Ukrainian military forces launch airstrikes on several targets across Russia, hitting an oil terminal, an ammunition depot, and a drone launch site in Krasnodar. (AP)
Lieutenant general Fanil Sarvarov is killed by a car bomb in Moscow, Russia. The Security Service of Ukraine is being investigated for its role in the attack, which they have not taken responsibility for, with connections also drawn to the assassination of Igor Kirillov last year. (The Guardian)
19 December 2025 – Russo-Ukrainian war, Ukraine–European Union relations, Foreign involvement in the Russo-Ukrainian war
Confiscation of Russian central bank funds
The European Union agrees to loan €90 billion (US$105 billion) to Ukraine from its internal budget after failing to use frozen Russian assets. (The Washington Post) (Reuters)
17 December 2025 – Russo-Ukrainian war
Russian president Vladimir Putin signs a law to redistribute ownerless homes on occupied territories to those who have lost homes during the conflict. (Euromaidan Press)
11 December 2025 – Russo-Ukrainian war
2025 Sumy offensive, Russian attacks on civilians in the Russo-Ukrainian war
Two people are killed and two others injured by a Russian guided bomb strike on a shop in Velyka Pysarivka, Sumy Oblast, Ukraine. (Ukrainska Pravda)

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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.

Ukraine has used vaccines from four different manufacturers. As for November 3, 2021, 17.2% were vaccinated with AstraZeneca, 29.6% - Coronovac, 41.7% - with Pfizer-BioNTech, 11.5% - with Moderna. By late May 2022 Ukrainians were vaccinated with (only) Coronovac and Pfizer-BioNTech. (Full article...)

In the news

23 December 2025 – Russo-Ukrainian war
Northern Donetsk Oblast campaign
The Ukrainian Armed Forces confirm their withdrawal from Siversk, Donetsk Oblast. (Reuters)
22 December 2025 – Russo-Ukrainian war
Attacks in Russia during the Russo-Ukrainian war
Ukrainian military forces launch airstrikes on several targets across Russia, hitting an oil terminal, an ammunition depot, and a drone launch site in Krasnodar. (AP)
Lieutenant general Fanil Sarvarov is killed by a car bomb in Moscow, Russia. The Security Service of Ukraine is being investigated for its role in the attack, which they have not taken responsibility for, with connections also drawn to the assassination of Igor Kirillov last year. (The Guardian)
19 December 2025 – Russo-Ukrainian war, Ukraine–European Union relations, Foreign involvement in the Russo-Ukrainian war
Confiscation of Russian central bank funds
The European Union agrees to loan €90 billion (US$105 billion) to Ukraine from its internal budget after failing to use frozen Russian assets. (The Washington Post) (Reuters)
17 December 2025 – Russo-Ukrainian war
Russian president Vladimir Putin signs a law to redistribute ownerless homes on occupied territories to those who have lost homes during the conflict. (Euromaidan Press)
11 December 2025 – Russo-Ukrainian war
2025 Sumy offensive, Russian attacks on civilians in the Russo-Ukrainian war
Two people are killed and two others injured by a Russian guided bomb strike on a shop in Velyka Pysarivka, Sumy Oblast, Ukraine. (Ukrainska Pravda)

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