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, Odesa, and Dnipro. 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. 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 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
- 2 June 2025 – Peace negotiations in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Russia and Ukraine hold further negotiations in Istanbul, Turkey, resulting in an agreement for a prisoner of war exchange. Officials confirm that all sick and severely wounded prisoners of war, along with those younger than 25, will be exchanged. Russia and Ukraine also exchanged ceasefire proposals during the negotiations. (BBC)
- 1 June 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Operation Spider's Web
- Ukraine says at least 40 Russian warplanes, including several strategic bombers were destroyed or damaged by drone attacks on four air bases in Russia. (BBC News)
- Russia launches the largest drone attack on Ukraine since the start of the war, comprising 472 drones and seven ballistic missiles. (AP News)
- Twelve Ukrainian servicemembers are killed and 60 more are injured in a Russian missile strike on a training camp in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. The commander of the Ground Forces of Ukraine, Mykhailo Drapatyi, submits a resignation request following the incident. (Ukrainian Pravda) (RBC-Ukraine)
- 26 May 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Government and intergovernmental reactions to the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- German chancellor Friedrich Merz announces that Germany and several other NATO allies have lifted all restrictions on Ukraine using long-range weaponry inside Russia. Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov says that the decision is contrary to efforts to reach a political settlement to end the war. (Reuters) (Euronews)
- 25 May 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Kyiv strikes
- Russian forces launch their largest air attack on Ukraine, including the capital city Kyiv, since the start of the war, killing at least 14 people and wounding dozens more. At least 298 Iranian Shahed drones and 69 missiles are launched at Ukrainian cities during the overnight attack. (Reuters) (BBC News)
- 24 May 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Odesa strikes
Featured pictures
Did you know (auto-generated)

- ... that Ukrainian baritone Danylo Matviienko, who holds a master's degree in mathematics, appeared as Demetrius in Britten's opera A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Oper Frankfurt?
- ... that the diary of Erich Lassota von Steblau is an important primary source on the 16th-century Zaporozhian Cossacks of Ukraine?
- ... that 24-year-old Mahasweta Chakraborty of Operation Ganga helped around 800 students return to India during the Russian invasion of Ukraine?
- ... that Ukrainian Sheriffs went to summer school after being shot?
- ... that a journalist dubbed Olena Shevchenko as "probably the most famous lesbian in Ukraine"?
- ... that the Zunda Towers in Riga, Latvia, changed their name from "Z-Towers" to avoid being associated with Russia's invasion of Ukraine?
More did you know -
- ... 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 according to legend, a tunnel leads from the Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle to the Khotyn Fortress which is 20 kilometres (12 mi) away?
- ... that the Khreschatyk is the main street of Ukrainian capital Kyiv on which Orange Revolution and other historical events mainly took place?
- ... 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 at its first years Kiev Zoo had to move its animals into the food storage of the main Kiev railway station for the winter?
- ... that Vasyl Avramenko is often referred as "The father of the Ukrainian dance"?
Selected article -
A Hero of Ukraine (HOU; Ukrainian: Герой України, romanized: Heroi Ukrainy) is the highest national decoration that can be conferred upon an individual citizen by the president of Ukraine.
The decoration was created in 1998 by President Leonid Kuchma. As of 8 May 2025, the total number of recipients had been 1099. Additionally, at least 27 decrees assigned have not been published. (Full article...)
In the news
- 2 June 2025 – Peace negotiations in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Russia and Ukraine hold further negotiations in Istanbul, Turkey, resulting in an agreement for a prisoner of war exchange. Officials confirm that all sick and severely wounded prisoners of war, along with those younger than 25, will be exchanged. Russia and Ukraine also exchanged ceasefire proposals during the negotiations. (BBC)
- 1 June 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Operation Spider's Web
- Ukraine says at least 40 Russian warplanes, including several strategic bombers were destroyed or damaged by drone attacks on four air bases in Russia. (BBC News)
- Russia launches the largest drone attack on Ukraine since the start of the war, comprising 472 drones and seven ballistic missiles. (AP News)
- Twelve Ukrainian servicemembers are killed and 60 more are injured in a Russian missile strike on a training camp in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. The commander of the Ground Forces of Ukraine, Mykhailo Drapatyi, submits a resignation request following the incident. (Ukrainian Pravda) (RBC-Ukraine)
- 26 May 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Government and intergovernmental reactions to the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- German chancellor Friedrich Merz announces that Germany and several other NATO allies have lifted all restrictions on Ukraine using long-range weaponry inside Russia. Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov says that the decision is contrary to efforts to reach a political settlement to end the war. (Reuters) (Euronews)
- 25 May 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Kyiv strikes
- Russian forces launch their largest air attack on Ukraine, including the capital city Kyiv, since the start of the war, killing at least 14 people and wounding dozens more. At least 298 Iranian Shahed drones and 69 missiles are launched at Ukrainian cities during the overnight attack. (Reuters) (BBC News)
- 24 May 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Odesa strikes
Selected anniversaries for June

- June 4, 1920 — Treaty of Trianon was signed between the Allied and Associated Powers and Hungary signed at the Grand Trianon Palace at Versailles, France.
- June 28, 1996 - is a public holiday honoring the adoption of the Constitution in Ukraine by the Verkhovna Rada
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