Portal:Ukraine
The Ukraine Portal - Портал України
Ukraine Україна (Ukrainian) | |
|---|---|
| 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
- 3 May 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Attacks in Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Four people are injured in an overnight Ukrainian drone strike that struck an apartment building on Novorossiysk, Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The mayor of Novorossiysk declares a state of emergency following the strikes. (Ukrainska Pravda) (Al Arabiya)
- The Ukrainian intelligence directorate claims it has shot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jet using a MAGURA naval drone over the Black Sea. (The Kyiv Independent)
- 1 May 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Odesa strikes
- An overnight Russian drone attack on Odesa, Ukraine, kills two people and injures 15 others. High-rise apartments, residential homes, a supermarket and a school were among those targeted, according to Governor of Odesa Oblast Oleh Kiper. (Reuters)
- 1 May 2025 – Ukraine–United States relations
- The United States and Ukraine sign the Ukraine–United States Mineral Resources Agreement to share profits from the future sales of Ukraine's mineral and energy reserves. (BBC News)
- 30 April 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- North Korean involvement in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- South Korean intelligence claims North Korean troops have suffered around 4,700 casualties, including about 600 fatalities among 15,000 soldiers. Their combat capability has also significantly improved, with increasing proficiency in new weapons such as drones. (CBC News)
- 28 April 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Russian president Vladimir Putin declares a three-day ceasefire in Ukraine for May 8–10 to mark the World War II Victory Day. (CTV News)
- 27 April 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- North Korean involvement in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Recognized content - 
Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.
-
![Image 1 George Kistiakowsky George Bogdanovich Kistiakowsky (Russian: Георгий Богданович Кистяковский, Ukrainian: Георгій Богданович Кістяківський, romanized: Heorhii Bohdanovych Kistiakivskyi; December 1 [O.S. November 18] 1900 – December 7, 1982) was a Ukrainian-American physical chemistry professor at Harvard who participated in the Manhattan Project and later served as President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Science Advisor. Born in Boyarka in the old Russian Empire, into "an old Ukrainian Cossack family which was part of the intellectual elite in pre-revolutionary Russia", Kistiakowsky fled his homeland during the Russian Civil War. He made his way to Germany, where he earned his PhD in physical chemistry under the supervision of Max Bodenstein at the University of Berlin. He emigrated to the United States in 1926, where he joined the faculty of Harvard University in 1930, and became a citizen in 1933. (Full article...)](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d2/Blank.png)
George Bogdanovich Kistiakowsky (Russian: Георгий Богданович Кистяковский, Ukrainian: Георгій Богданович Кістяківський, romanized: Heorhii Bohdanovych Kistiakivskyi; December 1 [O.S. November 18] 1900 – December 7, 1982) was a Ukrainian-American physical chemistry professor at Harvard who participated in the Manhattan Project and later served as President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Science Advisor.
Born in Boyarka in the old Russian Empire, into "an old Ukrainian Cossack family which was part of the intellectual elite in pre-revolutionary Russia", Kistiakowsky fled his homeland during the Russian Civil War. He made his way to Germany, where he earned his PhD in physical chemistry under the supervision of Max Bodenstein at the University of Berlin. He emigrated to the United States in 1926, where he joined the faculty of Harvard University in 1930, and became a citizen in 1933. (Full article...) -
There are nine populated places in Kherson 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 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, Kherson, with a population of 328,360 people, while the least populous city was Tavriisk, with 11,452 people. Following the passing of decommunization laws, one city within the oblast, Oleshky, was renamed in 2016 from its previous name, Tsiurupynsk, for its connection with people, places, events, and organizations associated with the Soviet Union. Prior to 2020, four cities in the oblast were designated as cities of regional significance (municipalities), which had self-government under city councils, while the oblast's remaining five cities were located amongst the oblast's eighteen 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 five new, expanded raions. The five raions that now make up the oblast are Beryslav, Henichesk, Kakhovka, Kherson, and Skadovsk.
After 24 February 2022, during Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, all cities in the oblast were occupied by Russian troops, including the capital, Kherson, making it the only regional capital to be captured during the invasion. Following the 2022 Kherson counteroffensive, the oblast's territory to the west of the Dnipro river, including the cities of Beryslav and Kherson, was recovered by Ukraine, while the oblast's seven cities to the east of the river have remained occupied by Russian forces. For its contributions to the country's defense during the invasion, Kherson was awarded the honorary title Hero City of Ukraine in 2022. The destruction of the Kakhovka Dam on 6 June 2023 heavily impacted the region, with cities along the banks of the Dnipro downriver from the breached dam (Hola Prystan, Kherson, Nova Kakhovka, and Oleshky) experiencing flooding. (Full article...) -
Andriivskyi Descent or Andrew's Descent (Ukrainian: Андріївський узвіз, Andriivs′kyi uzviz) is a historic descent connecting Kyiv's Upper Town neighborhood and the historically commercial Podil neighborhood. The street, often advertised by tour guides and operators as the "Montmartre of Kyiv", is a major tourist attraction of the city. It is included in the list of national landmarks by a government resolution. In addition, the street is also part of the Kyiv city historic reserve "Ancient Kyiv", while the St. Andrew's Church belongs to the National historic reserve "Sophia of Kyiv".
The descent, 720 metres (2,360 ft) in length, is constructed of laid cobblestones and connects Old Kyiv (Upper city) with Podil (Lower city). It starts at the end of Volodymyrska Street and winds down steeply around the Zamkova Hora hill, ending near the Kontraktova Square. Andrew's Descent is marked by some historic landmarks, including the Castle of Richard the Lionheart, the 18th century baroque Saint Andrew's Church, famed Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov's house, and numerous other monuments. (Full article...) -
The Ukrainian Figure Skating Championships are an annual figure skating competition organized by the Ukrainian Figure Skating Federation to crown the national champions of Ukraine. Following Ukraine's independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the first Ukrainian Championships were held in 1993 in Odesa, and they have been held without interruption since.
Medals are awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance at the senior, junior, and novice levels, although not every discipline is held every year due to a lack of participants. The results of the competition are among the criteria used to determine the Ukrainian entries to the World Figure Skating Championships, the World Junior Figure Skating Championships, the European Figure Skating Championships, and the Winter Olympics. (Full article...) -
Nikolai Viktorovich Podgorny (18 February [O.S. 5 February] 1903 – 12 January 1983) was a Soviet statesman who served as the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, the head of state of the Soviet Union, from 1965 to 1977.
Podgorny was born to a Ukrainian working-class family in the city of Karlovka on 18 February 1903. He later graduated from a local worker's school in 1926 before completing his education at the Kiev Technological Institute of Food Industry in 1931. In 1930, Podgorny became a member of the ruling Communist Party of the Soviet Union and climbed up the Soviet hierarchy after years of service to the country's centrally planned economy. By 1953, Podgorny became Second Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine in 1953 before later serving as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine from 1957 to 1963. (Full article...) -
The Lviv pogroms were the consecutive pogroms and massacres of Jews in June and July 1941 in the city of Lwów in German-occupied Eastern Poland/Western Ukraine (now Lviv, Ukraine). The massacres were perpetrated by Ukrainian nationalists (specifically, the OUN), German death squads (Einsatzgruppen), and urban population from 30 June to 2 July, and from 25 to 29 July, during the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Thousands of Jews were killed both in the pogroms and in the Einsatzgruppen killings.
Ukrainian militia as well as Ukrainian residents and to a lower degree Poles targeted Jews in the first pogrom, which was triggered by the discovery of thousands of bodies in three Lviv prisons of victims of the Soviet NKVD prisoner massacres, which were widely blamed on "Jewish Bolsheviks". The subsequent massacres were directed by the Germans in the context of the Holocaust in Eastern Europe. The pogroms have been widely debated in the historiography, including the extent to which Ukrainian nationalists played a central or complicit role. (Full article...) -
Andriy Shevchenko with Ukraine in 2011
Andriy Shevchenko is a Ukrainian former professional footballer who represented the Ukraine national football team as a striker for 17 years from 1995 to 2012. He is the Ukraine national team's all-time top goalscorer with 48 goals in 111 appearances, and the third most-capped Ukrainian international. He has represented the nation in two international tournaments, the 2006 FIFA World Cup and the 2012 UEFA European Championship, and participated in each of his country's qualifying campaigns during his international career.
He made his debut for his country in a 4–0 loss to Croatia in a UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying match in March 1995. He did not score his first goal until May 1996, however, when he scored in a friendly against Turkey. On 9 October 1999, during a crucial UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying match against Russia in Moscow, Shevchenko scored his seventh international goal to level the game at 1–1, securing Ukraine a place in the qualifying play-offs. In the first leg of the play-off against Slovenia, Shevchenko scored the first goal of the game in a 2–1 loss. However, in the second leg, the two teams drew 1–1, meaning that Ukraine lost 3–2 on aggregate. During the UEFA section of the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Shevchenko scored nine goals in the qualifying group and captained the side to a second-place finish behind Poland, which set them in a play-off tie against Germany where he scored in the second leg of a 5–2 aggregate defeat. During 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification, Ukraine topped their qualifying group, automatically qualifying for the main competition in Germany and their first World Cup in history as an independent nation. In the group stage, he scored one goal against Saudi Arabia in a 4–0 victory and another goal against Tunisia in a 1–0 victory, as Ukraine finished second in the group stage behind Spain. Shevchenko captained the side to a penalty shoot-out victory against Switzerland in the Round of 16, but the team lost to eventual champions Italy in the quarter-finals. He scored his final international goal in the 55th minute of a UEFA Euro 2012 group stage match against Sweden, which ended as a 2–1 victory for Ukraine. He decided to retire from international football after the final match in the group stage against England; it ended with a 1–0 loss for Ukraine. (Full article...) -
Thinking with Time Machine is a 2014 modification for Portal 2 developed by Ruslan "Stridemann" Rybka and published by SignHead Studio. The player controls Chell, the protagonist of the Portal series, who wields the portal gun, while the gameplay revolves around the concept of a tablet-like time machine that is also controlled by the player. The tablet allows the player to record their movement and replay the recordings, creating a double that performs the recorded tasks. Additionally, the mod allows the player to see their own legs by looking down.
The development began after the release of Portal 2. Initially released on the Mod DB website, Thinking with Time Machine went through the Steam Greenlight process, after which it was released as a free modification on Steam on April 18, 2014. The time machine concept and the ability for the player to see their own legs by looking down were commended by critics, while the lack of usage of the portal gun and the mod's short length were criticized. (Full article...) -
Agafya "Halyna" Andriivna Kuzmenko (Ukrainian: Галина Андріївна Кузьменко; 1897–1978) was a Ukrainian teacher and anarchist revolutionary. After moving to southern Ukraine, she became a prominent figure within the ranks of the Makhnovshchina, a mass movement to establish a libertarian communist society. Kuzmenko spearheaded the movement's educational activities, promoted Ukrainization and acted as an outspoken advocate of women's rights. Along with her husband, the anarchist military leader Nestor Makhno, in 1921 she fled into exile from the political repression in Ukraine. While imprisoned for subversive activities in Poland, she gave birth to her daughter Elena Mikhnenko, whom she brought with her to Paris. Following the death of her husband, the outbreak of World War II saw her deportation for forced labour, first by the Nazis and then by the Soviets. After her release, she spent her final days with her daughter in Kazakh SSR. (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...) -
Imperator Nikolai I (Russian: Император Николай I: Emperor Nicholas I) was a Russian dreadnought built during World War I for service in the Black Sea. She was designed to counter multiple prospective Ottoman dreadnoughts which had been placed under order by the Ottoman government, since this raised the possibility that the Russian dreadnoughts being built for the Black Sea Fleet could be outclassed. The ship used the same main armament as the preceding Imperatritsa Mariya class, but was larger and more heavily armored. Imperator Nikolai I was launched in 1916, but construction was suspended on 24 October 1917. The Soviets considered completing her in 1923, but later rejected the idea. She was towed to Sevastopol in 1927 and scrapped. (Full article...) -
The Bolokhovians, Bolokhoveni or Bolokhovens (Romanian: Bolohoveni; Old Slavic: Болоховци, Bolokhovtsy) were a 13th-century ethnic group that resided in the vicinity of the principalities of Galicia, Volhynia and Kiev, in the territory known as the "Bolokhovian Land" centered at the city of Bolokhov or Bolokhovo (not identified yet). Their ethnic identity is uncertain; although Romanian scholars, basing on their ethnonym identify them as Romanians (who were called Vlachs in the Middle Ages), archeological evidence and the Hypatian Chronicle (which is the only primary source that documents their history) suggest that they were a Slavic people. Their princes, or knyazes, were in constant conflict with Daniel, the prince of Galicia–Volhynia, between 1231 and 1257. After the Mongols sacked Kiev in 1240, the Bolokhovians supplied them with troops, but the Bolokhovian princes fled to Poland. The Bolokhovians disappeared after Daniel defeated them in 1257. (Full article...)
-
The Vorontsov Palace: the northern entrance façade. The stone was mined locally as part of a conscious effort to blend the building with its mountainous surroundings.
The Vorontsov Palace (Ukrainian: Воронцовський палац; Russian: Воронцовский дворец) or the Alupka Palace is a historic palace situated at the foot of the Crimean Mountains near the town of Alupka in Crimea. The Vorontsov Palace is one of the oldest and largest palaces in Crimea, and is one of the most popular tourist attractions on Crimea's southern coast.
The palace was built between 1828 and 1848 for the Russian Prince Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov for use as his personal summer residence at a cost of 9 million roubles. It was designed in a loose interpretation of the English Renaissance revival style by English architect Edward Blore and his assistant William Hunt. The building is a hybrid of several architectural styles, but faithful to none. Among those styles are elements of Scottish Baronial, Indo-Saracenic Revival Architecture, and Gothic Revival architecture. Blore had designed many buildings in the United Kingdom, and was later particularly well known there for completing the design of Buckingham Palace in London. (Full article...) -
Yaropolk Iziaslavich (died 22 November 1086/1087) was Prince of Turov and Prince of Volhynia from 1078 until his death.
The son of Grand Prince Iziaslav I of Kiev by a Polish princess named Gertruda, he is visible in papal sources by the early 1070s, but largely absent in contemporary domestic sources until his father's death in 1078. During his father's exile in the 1070s, Yaropolk can be found acting on his father's behalf in an attempt to gain the favor of the German emperors and the papal court of Pope Gregory VII. His father returned to Kiev in 1077 and Yaropolk followed. (Full article...) -
There are 18 populated places in the Crimean peninsula that are recognized as having city status. The territory of Crimea has been disputed between Russia and Ukraine since Russia's covert invasion and internationally unrecognized annexation of the peninsula on 18 March 2014. The region is recognized by most countries as Ukraine's Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol as one of Ukraine's cities with special status while, since its annexation, the region has been de facto governed by Russia as the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol as a city of federal importance. As of 2014, the largest city on the peninsula by population according to Russia's post-annexation census was Sevastopol, with a recorded population of 393,304 people, while the peninsula's second largest city was Simferopol, with 332,317 people. The least populous city on the peninsula was Alupka, which was recorded with a population of 7,771 people in the 2014 census.
In Ukraine, city status (Ukrainian: місто, romanized: misto) is granted by the country's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, to settlements of 10,000 people or more or to settlements of historical or regional importance. Following its occupation and annexation of Crimea, Russia recognized and maintained the existing status of the peninsula's 18 cities. In 2019, Russian officials granted the settlement Balaklava, located in Sevastopol's Balaklava urban district, the status of a city, although still keeping it as part of Sevastopol. Due to the international support for UN General Assembly Resolution 68/262, which recognizes Ukrainian sovereignty over Crimea and endorses a policy of non-recognition of Russia's occupation of the peninsula, the new city status is largely not recognized. (Full article...)
![Image 1 George Kistiakowsky George Bogdanovich Kistiakowsky (Russian: Георгий Богданович Кистяковский, Ukrainian: Георгій Богданович Кістяківський, romanized: Heorhii Bohdanovych Kistiakivskyi; December 1 [O.S. November 18] 1900 – December 7, 1982) was a Ukrainian-American physical chemistry professor at Harvard who participated in the Manhattan Project and later served as President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Science Advisor. Born in Boyarka in the old Russian Empire, into "an old Ukrainian Cossack family which was part of the intellectual elite in pre-revolutionary Russia", Kistiakowsky fled his homeland during the Russian Civil War. He made his way to Germany, where he earned his PhD in physical chemistry under the supervision of Max Bodenstein at the University of Berlin. He emigrated to the United States in 1926, where he joined the faculty of Harvard University in 1930, and became a citizen in 1933. (Full article...)](/wiki/File:Blank.png)
_(1).jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Featured pictures
These are Featured pictures that the Wikimedia Commons community has chosen as the highest quality on the site.
-
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. -
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. -
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. -
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. -
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. -
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. -
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. -
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. -
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: 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.
_(B%26W).jpg)
Did you know (auto-generated)
- ... that Volodymyr Kozhukhar, the chief conductor of the National Opera of Ukraine in Kyiv, led Lysenko's opera Taras Bulba and Shchedrin's ballet Carmen Suite?
- ... that Oleksandr Kamyshin, the head of Ukrainian Railways, who runs the iron diplomacy program that brings world leaders to Kyiv by rail, carries his gun and his son's stuffed owl with him?
- ... that the Ukrainian violinist Diana Tishchenko played Skoryk's Melody on a tour of the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra to Germany in April 2022?
- ... that 1920s belles-lettres books published by the State Publishing House of Ukraine sold out more rapidly than similar books published elsewhere in the Soviet Union, despite the higher average price?
- ... that the Zunda Towers in Riga, Latvia, changed their name from "Z-Towers" to avoid being associated with Russia's invasion of Ukraine?
- ... that the 2022 essay and short story collection Kilometer 101 was published shortly after the author fled Russia due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine?
More did you know -
- ... 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"?
- ... that Ukrainian naturalist, lecturer, artist and author John Lhotsky was credited as the first discoverer of gold in New South Wales?
- ... that Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych (pictured), known for the "Carol of the Bells", was nicknamed "Ukrainian Bach" in France?
- ... 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 at its first years Kiev Zoo had to move its animals into the food storage of the main Kiev railway station for the winter?
Selected article -
Sevastopol (/ˌsɛvəˈstoʊpəl, səˈvæstəpoʊl/), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base throughout its history. Since the city's founding in 1783 it has been a major base for Russia's Black Sea Fleet. During the Cold War of the 20th century, it was a closed city. The total administrative area is 864 square kilometres (334 sq mi) and includes a significant amount of rural land. The urban population, largely concentrated around Sevastopol Bay, is 479,394, and the total population is 547,820.
Sevastopol, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, and under the Ukrainian legal framework, it is administratively one of two cities with special status (the other being Kyiv). However, it has been occupied by Russia since 27 February 2014, before Russia annexed Crimea on 18 March 2014 and gave it the status of a federal city of Russia. Both Ukraine and Russia consider the city administratively separate from the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the Republic of Crimea, respectively. The city's population has an ethnic Russian majority and a substantial minority of Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars. (Full article...)
In the news
- 3 May 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Attacks in Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Four people are injured in an overnight Ukrainian drone strike that struck an apartment building on Novorossiysk, Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The mayor of Novorossiysk declares a state of emergency following the strikes. (Ukrainska Pravda) (Al Arabiya)
- The Ukrainian intelligence directorate claims it has shot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jet using a MAGURA naval drone over the Black Sea. (The Kyiv Independent)
- 1 May 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Odesa strikes
- An overnight Russian drone attack on Odesa, Ukraine, kills two people and injures 15 others. High-rise apartments, residential homes, a supermarket and a school were among those targeted, according to Governor of Odesa Oblast Oleh Kiper. (Reuters)
- 1 May 2025 – Ukraine–United States relations
- The United States and Ukraine sign the Ukraine–United States Mineral Resources Agreement to share profits from the future sales of Ukraine's mineral and energy reserves. (BBC News)
- 30 April 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- North Korean involvement in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- South Korean intelligence claims North Korean troops have suffered around 4,700 casualties, including about 600 fatalities among 15,000 soldiers. Their combat capability has also significantly improved, with increasing proficiency in new weapons such as drones. (CBC News)
- 28 April 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Russian president Vladimir Putin declares a three-day ceasefire in Ukraine for May 8–10 to mark the World War II Victory Day. (CTV News)
- 27 April 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- North Korean involvement in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Selected anniversaries for May
- May 9, 2025 — Victory Day
- May 28, 1916 — Ivan Franko, Ukrainian poet, writer, social and literary critic, journalist, economist, and political activist, died at 4 P.M. in poverty.
Photo gallery
-
Streets of Mukacheve in the old part of town -
The square in front of the theater in Chernivtsi. -
-
St Andrew's Church of Kyiv (1749–1854) -
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.
-
-
-
View on the lower fortress of the Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle -
A view of Lviv Old Town from the High Castle. -
Interiour view of the Pochayiv Lavra in Ukraine. -
The Swallow's Nest is one of the Neo-Gothic châteaux fantastiques near Yalta; it was built in 1912. -
A view of Lviv -
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. -
Trinity Church and Monastery in Chernihiv, Ukraine -
Potemkin Stairs in Odesa, Ukraine. The higher perspective allows a person to see both the stairs and landings.
_2007.JPG)
_16.jpg)
Related portals
Religions in Ukraine
Post Soviet states
Other countries
Topics
Categories
Select [►] to view subcategories
WikiProjects and collaborations
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
-
Commons
Free media repository -
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals -
Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikinews
Free-content news -
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wikivoyage
Free travel guide -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus
New articles
Ukrainian editions of Wikimedia projects
Discover Wikipedia using portals
