The International Expert

Ukraine is a unitary multiparty republic with a single legislative body; the president is the head of state, and the prime minister is the head of government. 

Occupation of Ukraine by Different Empires and Countries:

The Cimmerians, Scythians, and Sarmatians invaded and occupied different parts of Ukraine in the first millennium BCE, while the Goths, Huns, Bulgars, Avars, Khazars, and Magyars invaded and occupied different portions of Ukraine in the first millennium CE (Hungarians). After the 4th century, Slavic tribes arrived there. Kyiv was the most important city. Kyivan power was decisively terminated by the Mongol conquest in the mid-13th century. Parts of Ukraine were controlled by Lithuania, Poland, and Russia from the 14th through the 18th centuries. In addition, the Hetmanate, a mainly self-governing province dominated by Cossacks. In the 18th century, Russia conquered the majority of Ukraine.

Ukraine under Soviet Union:

    Most of the Ukrainian territory became a Soviet Union republic after World War I and the Russian Revolution of 1917, however sections of western Ukraine were split between Poland, Romania, and Czechoslovakia. Under Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, Ukraine experienced a terrible famine known as the Holodomor in 1932–33. During World War II, Ukraine was overrun by Axis soldiers in 1941, and it was further ravaged before being retaken by the Soviets in 1944. The Ukrainian S.S.R.’s borders had been modified by the end of the war to include the western Ukrainian provinces. Chernobyl, a Soviet-built nuclear power station in Ukraine, was the site of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

After Independence of Ukraine:

Ukraine declared independence in 1991. The turbulence it faced in the 1990s as it attempted to enact economic and political reforms culminated in the disputed presidential election of 2004, which sparked the Orange Revolution. The revolution’s effects were fleeting, and the country remained divided along regional and ethnic lines. In 2014, the government was overthrown by yet another huge protest movement, this time centred on Kyiv’s Maidan (Independence Square).

    Russian troops captured the Ukrainian autonomous republic of Crimea as the interim government sought to fix the country’s poor economic position. Crimea declared independence from Ukraine in March 2014 and was seized by Russia shortly after. In eastern Ukraine, fighting between pro-Russian rebel militants and Ukrainian government soldiers continues. Russia began a military buildup along its border with Ukraine in late 2021, and Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.