Source: MAPS IN MINUTES™ © RH Publications (1997)

A country comprising a large region of eastern Europe stretching from the Carpathian Mountains to the Donetz River and bounded on the south by the Black Sea. To the east are Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova; to the west, Russia.

Physical

Northern Ukraine is a continuation of the low plains, woods, and marshes of Belarus. To the south, and forming three-quarters of the region, is the treeless steppe. In the extreme south is the Crimea, a peninsula with a milder climate than the steppe.

Economy

Mineral resources are abundant and varied, coal and iron ore being the most important. Export industries include iron, steel, and other metals, machinery, transport equipment, chemicals, and food processing; other important industries include coal mining. Grain, sugar beet, sunflower seeds, and vegetables are the most important agricultural crops. As the coal mining and much of the heavy industry are currently controlled by separatists, further strain has been placed on what was already a poorly performing economy. In January 2016, a free trade area was established with the EU.

History

Originally inhabited by Neolithic settlers in the Dnieper and Dniester valleys, Ukraine was overrun by numerous invaders before Varangian adventurers founded a powerful Slav kingdom based on Kiev in the 9th century. Mongol conquest in the 13th century was followed in the 14th century by Lithuanian overlordship until 1569, when Polish rule brought serfdom and religious persecution, which produced an exiled community of Cossacks who resisted both Polish and Russian domination. With the partition of Poland in 1795 the region, including the Crimea, under Ottoman control from 1478, came under Russian control, a situation which lasted until the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991. Yet Ukrainian nationalism, despite repression, remained strong. In 1918 independence was proclaimed, but by 1922 the area had been conquered by Soviet forces, to become the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Stalin imposed collectivization on the region, which suffered grievously from his purges. It was devastated during the German occupation of 1941 to 1944, although many nationalists welcomed the Germans. Territorial gains from Romania, eastern Poland, and Slovakia completed the union of all Ukrainian lands into one republic by 1945, the Crimea being added in 1954. By 1990 strong pressure had built up for independence from the Soviet Union, and the Ukraine Supreme Soviet formally declared independence in August 1991, with overwhelming support in a referendum. Multiparty elections followed, with Leonid Kravchuk elected President. The 20% Russian minority was placed under no pressure; at the same time, negotiations took place with Russia over naval and military armed forces, Ukraine declaring itself a nuclear-free zone. The Chernobyl nuclear power-station disaster of 1986 had left thousands of square kilometres of its countryside permanently contaminated; the plant was closed in 2000. Following independence, the largely Russian region of the Crimea declared itself an autonomous region in 1992. Ukraine formally joined the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in 1993. In elections to the Supreme Council, held in 1994, both communists and independent parties fared well. Later in the same year, the former Prime Minister Leonid Kuchma, who advocated economic reform and closer links with Russia, replaced Kravchuk as President; he was re-elected in 1999. Relations with Russia remained tense, as Ukraine continued to dispute the autonomy of Crimea. A new constitution abolishing Soviet-style institutions and consolidating democracy was adopted in June 1996. The 2004 presidential election was declared to have been won by the pro-Russian Prime Minister, Viktor Yanukovych. However, allegations of fraud quickly escalated into the Orange Revolution: the election was re-run and the pro-Western opposition candidate, Viktor Yeshchenko, was elected. His presidency was characterized by disputes with Russia and factional splits among the supporters of the Revolution. His popularity collapsed and Yanukovych was elected President in 2010. A rapprochement with Russia followed, but progress towards closer association with the EU continued. Yanukovych’s sudden rejection of the final agreement with the EU in 2013 provoked another crisis between pro-Western and pro-Russian Ukrainian factions. Anti-government protests broke out in Kiev, which escalated as the government attempted to suppress them. In February 2014 Yanukovych fled and the Chairman of Parliament, Oleksandr Turchynov of the pro-Western Fatherland Party, became Acting President. In March unmarked Russian forces moved into the largely Russian-speaking Crimea, which announced its secession from Ukraine and was integrated into the Russian Federation—a development not recognized by the USA or the EU. Petro Poroshenko was elected President in May 2014 but violence continued, with pro-Russian separatists seizing cities in the east, including Donetsk. In July a Malaysian Airlines passenger jet was shot down over eastern Ukraine, most likely by pro-Russian groups using Russian equipment, which caused the deaths of all 298 on board. Subsequent months saw a concerted counter-attack by the Ukrainian military as well as mounting evidence of direct Russian intervention in the region. A tentative ceasefire was agreed in September but sporadic fighting continued and the separatists consolidated their hold on Donetsk and Luhansk. A new ceasefire was agreed by all parties at Minsk in February 2015, but its status remained precarious as the separatists made further gains. In November Ukraine banned Russian airplanes from Ukrainian airspace and Russia stopped gas supplies to Ukraine (though much of Ukraine’s gas now comes from western Europe). There was further heavy fighting in January 2017 and hostilities have continued in spite of several further ceasefires. By mid-2018 it was estimated that over 10,500 people had died in the conflict, including over 3000 civilians; some 2 million people have fled their homes in eastern Ukraine since hostilities began.