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, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; and 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; Russian is also widely spoken, especially in the east and south.
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 ultimately 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 ultimately 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. Nonetheless, Ukraine is a major middle power and possesses the fifth largest and one of the best-funded armed forces in the world. The Ukrainian Armed Forces also operates one of the largest and most diverse drone fleet 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
- 26 July 2024 – European Union–Russia relations, International sanctions during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- The European Union sends its first transfer of €1.5 billion (US$1.63 billion) in proceeds from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine for military and infrastructure support. The Kremlin denounces the transfer as "illegal" under international law and pledges legal retaliation. (AP) (Reuters)
- 25 July 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Economic impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Fitch Ratings downgrades Ukraine's credit rating from "CC" to "C" due to the country's need to restructure US$20 billion in international bonds to foreign investors, increasing the country's risk of default. (Al Jazeera)
- 24 July 2024 – Poland–Ukraine relations, Ukraine–European Union relations
- Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz states that Poland will block Ukraine's bid to join the European Union if it doesn't resolve issues regarding Ukrainian nationalists' massacre of Poles during WWII, including finding and burying all victims killed on current Ukrainian territory. (The Kyiv Independent)
- 24 July 2024 –
- Three Ukrainian soldiers are killed and four others are injured in a mass shooting after a dispute in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. (Al Arabiya)
- 23 July 2024 – Martial law in Ukraine, Mobilization in Ukraine
- The Ukrainian parliament agrees to extend martial law and nationwide military mobilization for an additional 90 days beginning on August 12. (RFE/RL)
- 21 July 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Eastern Ukraine campaign
- Russian forces capture the villages of Andriivka in Luhansk Oblast and Pishchane in Kharkiv Oblast. (Anadolu Agency) (RTL)
- 20 July 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Southern Ukraine campaign
- Five people, including a child, are killed in Russian missile strikes on Mykolaiv and Kherson, Ukraine. (Euronews) (The Moscow Times)
Recognized content - 
Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.
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Modern interpretation of Rus' Varangians and their longships in Gardariki, by Nicholas Roerich.
The Caspian expeditions of the Rus' were military raids undertaken by the Rus' between the late 9th century and c. 1041 on the Caspian Sea shores, of what are nowadays Iran, Dagestan, and Azerbaijan. Initially, the Rus' appeared in Serkland in the 9th century travelling as merchants along the Volga trade route, selling furs, honey, and slaves. The first small-scale Viking raids took place in the late 9th and early 10th century. The Rus' undertook the first large-scale expedition in 913; having arrived on 500 ships, they pillaged in the Gorgan region, in the territory of present-day Iran, and more to the west, in Gilan and Mazandaran, taking slaves and goods. On their return, the northern raiders were attacked and defeated by the Khazars in the Volga Delta, and those who escaped were killed by the local tribes in the middle Volga.
During their next expedition in 943, the Rus' captured Bardha'a, the capital of Arran, in the modern-day Republic of Azerbaijan. The Rus' stayed there for several months, killing many inhabitants of the city and amassing substantial plunder. It was only an outbreak of dysentery among the Rus' that forced them to depart with their spoils. Sviatoslav, prince of Kiev, commanded the next attack, which destroyed the Khazar state in 965. Sviatoslav's campaign established the Rus's hold on the north-south trade routes, helping to alter the demographics of the region. Raids continued through the time period with the last Scandinavian attempt to reestablish the route to the Caspian Sea taking place in c. 1041 by Ingvar the Far-Travelled. (Full article...) -
Milica Bogdanovna Jovovich (/ˈjoʊvəvɪtʃ/ YOH-və-vitch; born December 17, 1975), known professionally as Milla Jovovich (MEE-lə), is an American actress and former fashion model. Her starring roles in numerous science-fiction and action films led the music channel VH1 to deem her the "reigning queen of kick-butt" in 2006. In 2004, Forbes determined that she was the highest-paid model in the world.
Born in Kiev and raised in Los Angeles, Jovovich began modeling when Herb Ritts photographed her for the cover of the Italian magazine Lei in 1987. Richard Avedon featured her in Revlon's "Most Unforgettable Women in the World" advertisements. In 1988, she made her screen debut in the television film The Night Train to Kathmandu and appeared in her first feature film, Two Moon Junction. (Full article...) -
In March and April 2021, prior to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Armed Forces began massing thousands of personnel and military equipment near Russia's border with Ukraine and in Crimea, representing the largest mobilisation since the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014. This precipitated an international crisis due to concerns over a potential invasion. Satellite imagery showed movements of armour, missiles, and heavy weaponry towards the border. The troops were partially withdrawn by June 2021, though the infrastructure was left in place. A second build-up began in October 2021, this time with more soldiers and with deployments on new fronts; by December over 100,000 Russian troops were massed around Ukraine on three sides, including Belarus from the north and Crimea from the south. Despite the Russian military build-ups, Russian officials from November 2021 to 20 February 2022 repeatedly denied that Russia had plans to invade Ukraine.
The crisis was related to the War in Donbas, itself part of the Russo-Ukrainian War, ongoing since February 2014. Intercepted phone conversations of Sergey Glazyev, a top advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin, disclosed the specifics of the project Novorossiya to take over not just Crimea, but also the Donbas, Kharkiv, Odesa, and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine, which Russia apparently aimed to annex following Crimea. The plan involved fomenting widespread unrest using pro-Russian agents on the ground, and then orchestrating uprisings that would announce rigged referendums about joining Russia, similar to the one that took place in Crimea on 16 March 2014. In December 2021, Russia advanced two draft treaties that contained requests for what it referred to as "security guarantees", including a legally binding promise that Ukraine would not join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and a reduction in NATO troops and materiel stationed in Eastern Europe, threatening unspecified military response if those demands were not met in full. NATO rejected these requests, and the United States warned Russia of "swift and severe" economic sanctions should it further invade Ukraine. The crisis was described by many commentators as one of the most intense in Europe since the Cold War. (Full article...) -
"Prayer for Ukraine" (Ukrainian: Молитва за Україну, romanized: Molytva za Ukrayinu) is a patriotic Ukrainian hymn published in 1885, which became a spiritual anthem of Ukraine. The text was written by Oleksandr Konysky, and the music was composed by Mykola Lysenko, first with a children's choir in mind. The song became the regular closing hymn in services of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and other churches. It gained national significance when it was performed by mass choirs during the Ukrainian War of Independence in 1917–1920. The hymn was intended to be an official spiritual anthem of Ukraine. It has closed sessions of oblast councils, and has been performed at major national functions.
"Prayer for Ukraine" was performed in Kyiv in 2001 during a parade celebrating the 10th anniversary of Ukraine's independence. It has been part of church services internationally, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On 26 February 2022, the Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York performed the hymn in the cold open of Saturday Night Live. (Full article...) -
Germany's Einsatzgruppen murdering Jewish civilians in Ivanhorod, Ukraine (1942)
The Ivanhorod Einsatzgruppen photograph is a prominent depiction of the Holocaust in Ukraine, on the Eastern Front of World War II. Dated to 1942, it shows a soldier aiming his rifle at a woman who is trying to shield a child with her body, portraying one of numerous genocidal killings carried out against Jews by the Einsatzgruppen within German-occupied Europe. It was taken in Ivanhorod, a village in German-occupied Ukraine, before being mailed to Nazi Germany. However, the Polish resistance intercepted the photograph in Warsaw, and it was subsequently kept as Holocaust imagery by Polish photographer Jerzy Tomaszewski. In the 1960s, it was alleged that the photograph was a communist forgery, but that claim was eventually proven false. Since then, it has been frequently used in books, museums, and exhibitions focused on the Holocaust. British photographic historian Janina Struk describes it as "a symbol of the barbarity of the Nazi regime and their industrial-scale murder of six million European Jews." (Full article...) -
Chervona Ukraina (Ukrainian: "Червона Україна") was an Admiral Nakhimov-class light cruiser of the Soviet Navy assigned to the Black Sea Fleet. During World War II, she supported Soviet forces during the Sieges of Odessa and Sevastopol before being sunk at Sevastopol on 12 November 1941 by German aircraft. She was raised in 1947 and was used as a training hulk before becoming a target ship in 1950. (Full article...) -
Dayana Oleksandrivna Yastremska (Ukrainian: Даяна Олександрівна Ястремська; born 15 May 2000) is a Ukrainian professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 21 by the WTA, achieved in January 2020. Yastremska has won three WTA Tour titles. Her best performance at the majors is reaching the semifinals at the 2024 Australian Open.
A junior Grand Slam tournament runner-up in both singles and doubles, Yastremska had a quick breakthrough onto the WTA Tour. She made her debut in the top 100 and won two titles when she was 18 years old, including her first at the Hong Kong Open in 2018. She had a successful 2019 that helped her rise from No. 58 at the start of the year up to No. 22 by the end of the season. Yastremska was suspended provisionally from competition at the start of 2021 after testing positive for mesterolone. On 22 June 2021, the International Tennis Federation ruled that Yastremska was not responsible for the positive result, and that she was eligible to return to competition immediately. She made her return to the tour at the Hamburg Open. (Full article...) -
The Battle of Kostiuchnówka was a World War I battle that took place July 4–6, 1916, near the village of Kostiuchnówka (Kostyukhnivka) and the Styr River in the Volhynia region of modern Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire. It was a major clash between the Russian Army and the Polish Legions (part of the Austro-Hungarian Army) during the opening phase of the Brusilov Offensive.
Polish forces, numbering 5,500–7,300, faced Russian forces numbering over half of the 46th Corps of 26,000. The Polish forces were eventually forced to retreat, but delayed the Russians long enough for the other Austro-Hungarian units in the area to retreat in an organized manner. Polish casualties were approximately 2,000 fatalities and wounded. The battle is considered one of the largest and most vicious of those involving the Polish Legions in World War I. (Full article...) -
Verteba Cave (Ukrainian: Печера Вертеба, romanized: Pechera Verteba) is a karstic cave near the village of Bilche-Zolote, Chortkiv Raion, Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine. It sits near the Seret river, on a high plateau known as the Podolian Upland, and is one of several such caves in the region formed in gypsum. Verteba is the only cave in this cluster to show signs of prehistoric occupation. In Copper Age Europe, the cave was inhabited periodically by the Cucuteni–Trypillia culture. Thousands of artefacts, including ceramic vessels, clay figurines, bones, and tools, have been found inside. Human remains—which mainly consist of disembodied skulls—have been found bearing injuries consistent with having been intentionally killed.
Between October 1942 and April 1943, 28 Jews from Bilche-Zolote and Korolivka hid in the cave to escape the Holocaust. When the Gestapo stormed the cave, the group was forced to relocate to Priest's Grotto; most survived the war, having hidden underground for nearly two years. Their ordeal was the subject of a 2007 book, The Secret of Priest's Grotto: A Holocaust Survival Story; and a 2012 documentary, No Place on Earth. (Full article...) -
DeepStateMap.Live is an open-source intelligence interactive online map of the military operations of the Russian and Ukrainian armies during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The map was created on 24 February 2022, the day of the invasion, by the non-governmental and volunteer-led organization Deep State UA. It is updated regularly to reflect the current situation on the frontline, in military formations, and other major events of the war such as the sinking of the Moskva.
Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Deep State UA originally focused on posting content related to global news and politics on the messaging app Telegram, where they created their first updating online map of a global conflict during the Taliban offensive in 2021. After the Russian invasion, DeepStateMap.Live separated itself from similar digital maps of the invasion after moving away from using a generic Google Maps background after a dispute with Google, allowing Deep State UA to design their own background and interactive map features. The map is currently sourced using a blend of both visual information and confirmations by Ukrainian sources deemed reliable. (Full article...) -
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev[a] (19 December 1906 – 10 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1964 until his death in 1982, and Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (head of state) from 1960 to 1964 and again from 1977 to 1982. His 18-year term as General Secretary was second only to Joseph Stalin's in duration.
Brezhnev was born to a working-class family in Kamenskoye (now Kamianske, Ukraine) within the Yekaterinoslav Governorate of the Russian Empire. After the results of the October Revolution were finalized with the creation of the Soviet Union, Brezhnev joined the Communist party's youth league in 1923 before becoming an official party member in 1929. When Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, he joined the Red Army as a commissar and rose rapidly through the ranks to become a major general during World War II. Following the war's end, Brezhnev was promoted to the party's Central Committee in 1952 and became a full member of the Politburo by 1957. In 1964, he consolidated enough power to replace Nikita Khrushchev as First Secretary of the CPSU, the most powerful position in the country. (Full article...) -
There are 37 populated places in Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine, that have been officially granted city status (Ukrainian: місто, romanized: misto) by the Verkhovna Rada, the country's parliament. Settlements with more than 10,000 people are eligible for city status although the status is typically also granted to settlements of historical or regional importance. As of 5 December 2001, the date of the first and only official census in the country since independence, the most populous city in the oblast was the regional capital Luhansk with a population of 463,097 people, while the least populous city was Almazna, with a population of 5,061 people. Almazna is also the most recent settlement to receive city status, having been granted the status by the Verkhovna Rada in 1977.
From independence in 1991 until 2020, 14 cities in the oblast were designated as cities of regional significance (municipalities), which had self-government under city councils, while the oblast's remaining 23 cities were located in 18 raions (districts) as cities of district significance, which are subordinated to the governments of the raions. On 18 July 2020, an administrative reform abolished and merged the oblast's raions and cities of regional significance into eight new, expanded raions. The eight raions that make up the oblast are Alchevsk, Dovzhansk, Luhansk, Rovenky, Shchastia, Sievierodonetsk, Starobilsk, and Svatove raion. After the enactment of decommunization laws, nine cities within the oblast were renamed in 2016 for their former names' connection to people, places, events, and organizations associated with the Soviet Union. The renamed cities are Bokovo-Khrustalne, Dovzhansk, Holubivka, Kadiivka, Khrustalnyi, Kypuche, Petrovo-Krasnosillia, Sorokyne, and Voznesenivka, which were previously named Vakhrusheve, Sverdlovsk, Kirovsk, Stakhanov, Krasnyi Luch, Artemivsk, Petrovske, Krasnodon, and Chervonopartyzansk, respectively. (Full article...) -
Operation Barbarossa (German: Unternehmen Barbarossa; Russian: Операция Барбаросса, romanized: Operatsiya Barbarossa) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. It was the largest and costliest land offensive in human history, with around 10 million combatants taking part, and over 8 million casualties by the end of the operation.
The operation, code-named after Frederick I "Barbarossa" ("red beard"), a 12th-century Holy Roman Emperor and Crusader, put into action Nazi Germany's ideological goals of eradicating communism, and conquering the western Soviet Union to repopulate it with Germans. The German Generalplan Ost aimed to use some of the conquered people as forced labour for the Axis war effort while acquiring the oil reserves of the Caucasus as well as the agricultural resources of various Soviet territories, including Ukraine and Byelorussia. Their ultimate goal was to create more Lebensraum (living space) for Germany, and the eventual extermination of the native Slavic peoples by mass deportation to Siberia, Germanisation, enslavement, and genocide. (Full article...) -
A national school of opera in Ukraine first emerged during the last third of the 19th century, and was based on the traditions of European theatre and Ukrainian folk music. The first opera by a Ukrainian composer was Maxim Berezovsky's Demofont, based on an Italian libretto, which premiered in 1773. The oldest opera in the Ukrainian musical repertoire, A Zaporozhye Cossack on the Danube by Semen Hulak-Artemovsky, was written in 1863. The composer Mykola Lysenko, the founder of Ukrainian opera, composed a number of works, including Natalka Poltavka, Taras Bulba, Nocturne, and two operas for children, Koza-dereza and Mr Kotsky.
Ukrainian opera flourished and developed after the creation of the first professional opera houses in the 1920s, with Borys Lyatoshynsky's The Golden Ring (1929) being one of the most notable works produced there during the first half of the 20th century. From 1930 until the dissolution of the Soviet Union at the end of the 1980s, operatic performances and the creation of new works occurred under the dominance of Soviet socialist realism. During this period, Ukrainian opera was modelled on such works as The Young Guard by Yuliy Meitus, premiered in 1947. Ukrainian opera was able to develop once more during the Khrushchev Thaw from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s. Works by Vitaly Kyreiko (Forest Song (1957)), Vitaliy Hubarenko (Love Letters (1971)), or Yevhen Stankovych's folk opera When the Fern Blooms (1979) adopted more modern themes and musical expressions that were used during the Stalinist period. Of works written during the 21st century, Moses by Myroslav Skoryk is alone in retaining its place in the local repertoire. (Full article...) -
The territory of the Crimean Khanate was annexed by the Russian Empire on 19 April [O.S. 8 April] 1783. The period before the annexation was marked by Russian interference in Crimean affairs, a series of revolts by Crimean Tatars, and Ottoman ambivalence. The annexation resulted in the end of the Crimean slave trade, which had been one of the major slave trades from Europe for centuries. (Full article...)
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Featured pictures
These are Featured pictures that the Wikimedia Commons community has chosen as the highest quality on the site.
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Artist: William Simpson; Restoration: NativeForeignerThe 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons and 5th Dragoon Guards engage the Russians in this lithograph of the "Charge of the Heavy Brigade", a short engagement during the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War. Russian cavalry had attacked the British camp, but in roughly ten minutes of fighting, they suffered 40 to 50 killed and more than 200 wounded and were forced to retreat. -
Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin sitting together at the Yalta Conference, which took place February 4–11, 1945. The so-called "Big Three" met to discuss the re-establishment of the nations of Europe following World War II. Although a number of agreements were reached, Stalin broke his promises regarding Poland, and the Soviet Union annexed the regions of Eastern Europe it controlled, or converted them to satellite states. -
Photograph: AmakuhaThe burning of the Trade Unions Building—used as the headquarters of the Euromaidan movement—during the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, following a failed attempt by the Ukrainian police to capture the building. After the fire, the damaged building was covered with large canvas screens on two sides with the words "Glory to Ukraine" printed on them in large letters. -
Artist: William Simpson; Lithographer: Edmond Morin; Restoration: NativeForeignerA tinted lithograph, titled "Embarkation of the sick at Balaklava", shows injured and ill soldiers in the Crimean War boarding boats to take them to hospital facilities. Modern nursing had its roots in the war, as war correspondents for newspapers reported the scandalous treatment of wounded soldiers in the first desperate winter, prompting the pioneering work of women such as Florence Nightingale, Mary Seacole, Frances Margaret Taylor and others. -
Photo: Noodle snacksMushrooms of Armillaria hinnulea, a species of honey fungus (or "pidpenky", from Ukrainian). Honey fungi are parasitic fungi that live on trees and woody shrubs. As a forest pathogen, it can be very destructive because unlike most parasites, it does not need to moderate its growth in order to avoid killing its host, since it will continue to thrive on the dead material. Honey fungi are long lived and form some of the largest living organisms in the world, including one that covers more than 3.4 sq mi (8.8 km2) and is thousands of years old. The mushrooms are edible, but can be easily confused with poisonous Galerina species, which can grow side-by-side with Armillaria. -
Photograph: Anatoly ShcherbakThe Royal Kurgan is a 4th century BC kurgan (burial barrow) located near present-day Kerch, Crimea. The mound is almost 20 metres high and its base perimeter is about 250 metres. It holds a burial chamber with a square floor plan which gradually merges into the circular shape of a corbelled dome ("false vault"). It is assumed that the Royal Kurgan was the final resting place of a ruler of the Bosporan Kingdom. -
Photo credit: Peter DuhonUkrainian fashion model Nataliya Gotsiy modeling for Cynthia Rowley, Spring 2007 New York Fashion Week. She was the winner of the Ford Supermodel of the World 2004 search. She has appeared on the cover of French Elle and Italian Marie Claire and modeled for Behnaz Sarafpour, Christian Lacroix, Diane von Furstenberg, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Dries van Noten, Gucci, Oscar de la Renta, Valentino, and Vivienne Westwood, among others. -
A map showing caesium-137 contamination in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine (in curies per square kilometer) in 1996, ten years after the Chernobyl disaster struck the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The disaster contaminated 162,160 square kilometres (62,610 sq mi) of land and is widely considered the worst nuclear power plant accident in history. -
Photograph: George ChernilevskyThe ChS8 is an electric mainline passenger locomotive used in Russia and Ukraine. Built between 1983 and 1989, it was developed for pulling long passenger trains (28–32 carriages) at speeds of 100 kilometres per hour (60 mph) or faster. Since 2010 Russia has switched to more energy-efficient designs, such as the EP10 and EP20. -
Map credit: Nicolas de FerA 1691 French map of Kamianets-Podilskyi, Ukraine, depicting the city's old town neighborhood and castle, surrounded by the winding Smotrych River. It was originally part of Kievan Rus' and annexed into the First Polish Republic, but at the time of the map's creation, the city was part of the Ottoman Empire. It shortly returned to Poland and later became part of the Russian Empire with the Second Partition of Poland in 1793. -
Photograph credit: Max AlpertKombat (Russian for 'battalion commander') is a black-and-white photograph by Soviet photographer Max Alpert. It depicts a Soviet military officer, armed with a TT pistol, raising his unit for an attack during World War II. This work is regarded as one of the most iconic Soviet World War II photographs, yet neither the date nor the subject is known with certainty. According to the most widely accepted version, it depicts junior politruk Aleksei Gordeyevich Yeryomenko, minutes before his death on 12 July 1942, in Voroshilovgrad Oblast, now part of Ukraine. The photograph is in the archives of RIA Novosti, a Russian state-owned news agency. -
Painting: UnknownThe Adoration of the Shepherds is a common subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art. The scene, based on the Biblical account in Luke 2, depicts shepherds as near witnesses to the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, arriving soon after the actual birth. It is often combined in art with the Adoration of the Magi, in which case it is typically just referred to by the latter title. The example here comes from 17th-century Ukraine and is currently held at the Ivan Honchar Museum.
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Did you know (auto-generated)
- ... that the Zunda Towers in Riga, Latvia, changed their name from "Z-Towers" to avoid being associated with Russia's invasion of Ukraine?
- ... that in 2020, Ukrainian association football referee Maryna Striletska was part of the first all-woman officiating team for a men's international football match?
- ... that Ruslana Pysanka, who hosted a Ukrainian television program with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, died as a refugee in Germany?
- ... that Ukrainian parties obtained only a fifth of the votes in the 1917 Kiev City Duma election?
- ... that after the Ukrainian soprano Olga Bezsmertna won the Neue Stimmen competition in 2011, she was engaged at the Vienna State Opera?
- ... that Ukrainian actress Oksana Shvets, who was killed in the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, starred in the 2013 joint Ukrainian–Russian television family saga House with Lilies alongside Russian actors?
More did you know -
- ... 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 the Khreschatyk is the main street of Ukrainian capital Kyiv on which Orange Revolution and other historical events mainly took place?
- ... that Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych (pictured), known for the "Carol of the Bells", was nicknamed "Ukrainian Bach" in France?
- ... 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 according to legend, a tunnel leads from the Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle to the Khotyn Fortress which is 20 kilometres (12 mi) away?
- ... that the Privat Group is one of the few Ukrainian companies that own industries in the United States?
Selected article -
The Armed Forces of Ukraine (abbreviated as AFU) are the military forces of Ukraine. All military and security forces, including the Armed Forces, are under the command of the President of Ukraine and subject to oversight by a permanent Verkhovna Rada parliamentary commission. They trace their lineage to 1917, while the modern armed forces were formed after Ukrainian independence in 1991. As of 2024, it is the fifth largest and one of the best-funded armed forces in the world. The Ukrainian Armed Forces also operates one of the largest and most diverse drone fleets in the world. The Ukrainian Armed Forces is one of the most battle-hardened armed forces in the world.
Ukraine's armed forces are composed of the Ground Forces, the Air Force, the Navy, the Air Assault Forces, the Marine Corps, the Special Operations Forces, and the Territorial Defense Forces. Ukraine's navy includes its own Naval Aviation. The Sea Guard is the coast guard service of Ukraine, and it is organized as part of the Border Guard Service, not subordinate to the navy. The National Guard serves as a paramilitary reserve component of the Armed Forces. (Full article...)In the news
- 26 July 2024 – European Union–Russia relations, International sanctions during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- The European Union sends its first transfer of €1.5 billion (US$1.63 billion) in proceeds from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine for military and infrastructure support. The Kremlin denounces the transfer as "illegal" under international law and pledges legal retaliation. (AP) (Reuters)
- 25 July 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Economic impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Fitch Ratings downgrades Ukraine's credit rating from "CC" to "C" due to the country's need to restructure US$20 billion in international bonds to foreign investors, increasing the country's risk of default. (Al Jazeera)
- 24 July 2024 – Poland–Ukraine relations, Ukraine–European Union relations
- Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz states that Poland will block Ukraine's bid to join the European Union if it doesn't resolve issues regarding Ukrainian nationalists' massacre of Poles during WWII, including finding and burying all victims killed on current Ukrainian territory. (The Kyiv Independent)
- 24 July 2024 –
- Three Ukrainian soldiers are killed and four others are injured in a mass shooting after a dispute in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. (Al Arabiya)
- 23 July 2024 – Martial law in Ukraine, Mobilization in Ukraine
- The Ukrainian parliament agrees to extend martial law and nationwide military mobilization for an additional 90 days beginning on August 12. (RFE/RL)
- 21 July 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Eastern Ukraine campaign
- Russian forces capture the villages of Andriivka in Luhansk Oblast and Pishchane in Kharkiv Oblast. (Anadolu Agency) (RTL)
- 20 July 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Southern Ukraine campaign
- Five people, including a child, are killed in Russian missile strikes on Mykolaiv and Kherson, Ukraine. (Euronews) (The Moscow Times)
Selected anniversaries for July
- July 12, 1916 — Lyudmila Pavlichenko, a Soviet sniper during World War II, was born in Bila Tserkva.
- July 21, 1774 — Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca was signed between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire after the Ottoman Empire was defeated in the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774.
- July 24, 1990 — The first ceremonial raising of the Ukrainian national flag took place on Khreschatyk, on the large flagstaff of the Kiev City Council.
- July 27, 2002 — An airplane crashed at the Sknyliv airshow; 84 people were killed and over 100 injured.
Photo gallery
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The Swallow's Nest is one of the Neo-Gothic châteaux fantastiques near Yalta; it was built in 1912. -
Potemkin Stairs in Odesa, Ukraine. The higher perspective allows a person to see both the stairs and landings. -
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A view of Lviv Old Town from the High Castle. -
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Interiour view of the Pochayiv Lavra in Ukraine. -
A view of Lviv -
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A wooden bridge leads to the entrance to the Khomutovska Steppe in Donetsk Oblast. -
An 1691 French map of the city of Kamianets-Podilskyi, located in western Ukraine.
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Zbarazh (Ukrainian: Збараж, Polish: Zbaraż, Yiddish: Zbarj) is a small city in the Ternopil Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Zbarazh Raion (district), and is located in the historic region of Galicia. The major attraction of the city is the Zbarazh Castle that played a key role during the Khmelnytsky Uprising, the heroic defense of which eventually led to change of momentum and extinguishing the Cossack revolt. -
Streets of Mukacheve in the old part of town -
St Andrew's Church of Kyiv (1749–1854) -
View on the lower fortress of the Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle -
Trinity Church and Monastery in Chernihiv, Ukraine -
The square in front of the theater in Chernivtsi. -
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