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| Ukraine: East of Europe, west of Russia |
Ukraine has plunged into turmoil--ever since Ukrainians voted in a presidential run-off between would-be reformer Viktor Yushchenko (a favorite in western Europe) and current prime minister Viktor Yanukovich (a favorite in Moscow). At stake: the future of the biggest nation between the EU and Russia.
According to the official tally, Prime Minister Yanukovich won. But many Ukrainians--and several international election observers--say the run-off was rigged. Yushchenko supporters have taken to the streets, prompting talk of a "democratic revolution." Meanwhile, we're asking lots of questions: How big is Ukraine, anyway? Where is it again? And why does it always make us think of Russia?
What Ukraine Has to Do with Russia
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Roughly the size of Texas, Ukraine has a population of more than 47 million people. That's more than Canada (32 million), Australia (20 million), or even Spain (40 million). Still, when westerners hear "Ukraine," most of us immediately think "Russia." Why?
Location, Location, Location
In the first place, the two nations are neighbors. They share a 1,000-mile (1,600-km) border, with Russia to the east and Ukraine to the west. Ethnic Russians are more than 20 percent of Ukraine's population, and many Ukrainians speak Russian as their first or only language. What's more, Russians and Ukrainians (and Belarusians, too) are descended from the same East Slavic tribes.
But the link between Ukraine and Russia isn't just geographical and genetic; it's also historical. Russia effectively dominated Ukraine from the late 18th century until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Domination, Domination, Domination
The first significant East Slavic state, Kievan Rus, was actually centered in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, not Moscow. Founded in the 9th century, Kievan Rus became one of medieval Europe's most powerful nations. But it collapsed after a Mongol invasion in the 13th century. Foreigners have ruled Ukraine practically ever since. After the Mongols came the Lithuanians and the Poles. Then came Russian czars--invited, at first, by Ukrainian Cossack leaders as allies against the Poles.
From the 17th century on, Russian rulers worked to incorporate Ukraine into their expanding empire. By the end of the 18th century, the Russian Empress Catherine the Great ruled around 80 percent of Ukrainians, while the rest formally owed allegiance to Austria. Catherine introduced serfdom and promoted settlement of the south, which became a major food supplier to the rest of the empire.
During the 19th century, Ukrainian cities industrialized, and a Ukrainian nationalist movement gained momentum. Meanwhile, back in Mother Russia, the czars' grip on power began to slip. It finally gave way in the Russian Revolution of 1917. While Russian communists fought for control throughout the old empire, Ukrainians declared their independence.
Back in the Ukrainian SSR
That independence proved short-lived. The new Ukrainian nation ultimately couldn't stop the Soviet Red Army, which invaded and helped establish a pro-Bolshevik government in Kiev. In 1922, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic became one of the founding members of the Russian-dominated Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
For the next 69 years, Ukraine was second only to Russia on the Soviet Socialist economic totem pole, generating four times the total output of the next best SSR and accounting for more than one-fourth of all Soviet agricultural production. (Still, 8 million Ukrainians starved in the 1920s and 30s in famines caused by Soviet policies.) Later in the Soviet era, Ukraine was the site of the world's worst-ever nuclear mishap, the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, which helped reignite the Ukrainian independence movement.
That movement's dreams came true when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Ukraine quickly declared its independence and, three years later, achieved democracy's highest goal--electing a new president, Leonid Kuchma, in a fair contest followed by a peaceful transfer of power. Unfortunately, President Kuchma's government proved corrupt, and much of the country continued to suffer from a post-Soviet economic crash. Economic conditions have improved, but many Ukrainians remain painfully poor.
Want to learn more?
See Kiev's sights online
http://www.biztravel.kiev.ua/kiev_photo_gallery.shtml
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