Top 10 Facts About Ukraine

Russia is often referred to as the largest country in Europe. And while 1,532,500 square miles of Russia does lie within the European continent, another large part of it extends well into the continent of Asia. So, if we’re only looking at countries whose entire land mass resides within European borders, then the largest country, by area, is actually Ukraine. The country covers a total land area of 233,062 square miles - which includes Donbas (dawn-bass) and Crimea - the annexation of which we will get to a little later.

While the American Constitution is a very important document, it was by no means the first constitution the world had ever seen. In fact, the Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk (puh-LIP ORE-lick) was written 78 years before the United States ratified its constitution in 1788. Orlyk was Ukraine’s head of state equivalent in exile. Though it wasn’t enacted, the document not only set out rules governing the separation of powers between the branches of government known as legislative, executive, and judiciary, but also limited his own powers as Hetman (HET-min) of Ukraine. 298 years after it was first drafted, the version of the constitutional document written in the Old Ukrainian-language was discovered with King Charles XII of Sweden-signed diploma in Moscow, while the Latin-language original is in Sweden.

Not only is Ukraine the largest fully European country, but 70% of that large area is excellent agricultural land. In fact, much of the country's land consists of a black soil called chernozem, whose richness makes it perfect for the cultivation of grains such as wheat and barley and earns the country its nickname as Europe’s breadbasket. And besides all the wheat they cultivate and export, Ukraine is also the world’s largest producer of sunflowers and sunflower oil. Estimates rank them between third and fourth in the world in potato production, depending on the source. The country is also a world producer of soybean and corn.

When we think of coffee in Europe, we usually think of France or Italy, but we really should be thinking about Ukraine as well - as it’s been said that it was a 17th century Ukrainian war hero who brewed the first ever cup of coffee in the 1680s in Vienna, Austria. This Austrian man of Polish and Ukrainian descent was named Jerzy Franciszek Kulczycki (YAIR-zhay fron-CHEE-SHEK COOL-CHIT-skee). And so began a true love affair with the caffeinated drink that can especially be seen today in the Ukrainian city of Lviv. The city boasts hundreds of coffee houses, including a cat cafe and an underground mine cafe where you can order a flaming coffee that uses a blowtorch to caramelize the drink.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy took office as the sixth President of Ukraine on May 20th, 2019, just five months after having announced his candidacy on New Year’s Eve of the previous year. And while he was new to Ukrainian politics, he wasn’t new to the Ukrainian people, having earned his fame in the country as a comedian and actor. He even played the President in a popular show called “Servant of the People” that aired from 2015 to 2019. But, that’s only one piece of his celebrity resume. Zelenskyy was also the voice of Paddington Bear in the Ukrainian dubbed version of the films and in 2006 he was part of the winning team on the Ukrainian version of “Dancing With the Stars”.

As part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Ukraine had a large military presence and the third largest nuclear arsenal in the world within its borders. When the USSR dissolved in 1991, that military force and nuclear cache remained in the country. However, just a year later, Ukraine signed the Lisbon Protocol to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, and agreed to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty while on the path to becoming a non-nuclear state. Ukraine didn’t have the political will or financial power to maintain the weapons and build their own nuclear program from the ground up. Also, aid packages from the United States came with a get-rid-of-the-weapons caveat. It took a few years, but by 1996 Ukraine was nuclear free.

A World Heritage Site is a structure or place that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has deemed to have "cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity". Ukraine has seven of them. These include the Saint-Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv (kuh yeev but together), the historic city center of Lviv, which was founded in the Middle Ages, and the ancient city of Tauric Chersonese (tore-ick cursa-NEEZ), which dates back to the 5th century BCE. Ukraine may be a relatively new country as far as its independence is concerned, but it’s home to a rich cultural history.

In 1922, Ukraine became an OG member of the USSR and remained one until its dissolution. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was working towards changing the USSR as it was, including a reform program and the drafting of a treaty that would decentralize the Soviet Union’s power to the union republics. Old school Communists in the party didn’t like this idea and attempted a coup in 1991, which failed. The Ukrainian parliament then passed the Act of Independence. They would soon set up a semi-presidential system and a new constitution separating the powers of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government and providing access to free education. The importance placed on education could be a reason for the country’s high literacy rate, which ranges from 99.4% to 100%, depending on which report you read.

There aren’t many politicians who can say they’ve been ousted from power in two separate populous revolutions. But Viktor Yanukovych is one of them. In 2004, Prime Minister Yanukovych, with support from Russia, won an allegedly rigged election for president, leading to public protests in support of his pro-Western opponent Viktor Yushchenko (YOOSHEN-co). Yushchenko survived an assasination attempt, and thanks to the Orange Revolution, became president. Yanukovych eventually did become president in 2010. However, his refusal to sign a free trade and political agreement with the EU led to major protests at home, and a vote to oust Yanukovych from power during the 2014 Revolution of Dignity. After Yanukovych asked Russia for aid, Russia used the growing protests as justification for military action and the annexation of the Ukrainian Crimean peninsula.

In the summer of 1941, German forces surrounded the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. The encirclement was the largest ever seen in wartime and eventually led to the capture of Kyiv by the Germans and the death of hundreds of thousands of Red Army troops. However, before that happened, many civilians within the encirclement bravely volunteered to help and fight the Axis German forces. The strong resistance from the soldiers and the civilians didn’t keep the Germans from taking the city, but it did make them work harder and longer for it, in turn messing with their blitzkrieg plans. To honor the city and its people for their ferocious and sacrificing resistance to the German occupation, the Soviets bestowed on Kyiv the honorary title of Hero City.