AROUND THE WORLD: Ukraine
For the remainder of 2015, the Missourian will replace its “Today in Pictures” daily gallery series with a new series titled “Around the World.” This series will feature pictures and information about a different country each day.
Today’s “Around the World” gallery features Ukraine, Russia’s neighbor to the west.
During the 10th and 11th centuries, Ukraine was the center of the first eastern Slavic state, Kyivan Rus. At the time, Kyivan Rus was the largest and most powerful state in Europe, according to The World Factbook at CIA.org.
Ukraine was both part of Lithuania and Poland, and then autonomous in the 17th century. During the 18th century, Ukraine was absorbed by the Russian Empire. Though the country briefly achieved independence in 1917, it was mostly reconquered by Soviet Russia by 1921. Ukraine finally re-gained independence in 1991 after the dissolution of the USSR, according to The World Factbook at CIA.org.
In 2013, citizens of Ukraine led a three-month protest in Kyiv against then-President Yanukovych’s moves away from EU trade and cooperation agreement and toward closer economic ties with Russia. Following Yanukovych’s departure to Russia and the election of a new president, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. Today, Ukraine and Russia continue to dispute which country Crimea belongs to.
Photography via AP
People skate on an ice rink surrounding a Soviet-era monument of friendship between the Ukrainian and Russian people on Friday, Jan. 2, in Kyiv, Ukraine. Writing on the monument reads: “Glory to Ukraine!”
A Ukrainian serviceman rides a bicycle in Shyrokyne, eastern Ukraine, on Wednesday, April 15. Russia and Ukraine agreed in April to call for the pullback of smaller-caliber weapons from the front lines of the conflict, which has claimed more than 6,000 lives.
Firefighters extinguish fire on Aug. 16 at a house destroyed by night-long shelling in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. The fire was the result of an artillery exchange in eastern Ukraine between government troops and Russia-backed rebels that claimed nine lives.
Soldiers march along the city main Khreshchatyk Street on Aug. 22 during a rehearsal for the Independence Day military parade in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Visitors examine Kalashnikov automatic machine guns during a self-defense training Nov. 8 at a knife exhibition in Kyiv, Ukraine. The conflict in Ukraine’s east seems to have prompted interest in the weapons among Ukrainians.
A monument to Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, a central figure in Ukrainian history during the 17th century, stands in front of St. Sofia Cathedral and the main Christmas tree in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday. Khmelnytskyi, a leader of Ukrainian Cossacks, announced a union with Russia in 1654, which was to last for over 300 years. Founded over 1,500 years ago, Kyiv is one of the oldest and historically richest cities in Eastern Europe. The site of the ancient Kyivan Rus, it is considered the birthplace of Slavic civilization. The city endured the Mongol-Tatar invasion, was a provincial center in the Russian Empire and then the Soviet Union and in 1991 finally became the capital of an independent Ukraine.
People skate on an ice rink surrounding a Soviet-era monument of friendship between the Ukrainian and Russian people on Friday, Jan. 2, in Kyiv, Ukraine. Writing on the monument reads: “Glory to Ukraine!”
A Ukrainian serviceman rides a bicycle in Shyrokyne, eastern Ukraine, on Wednesday, April 15. Russia and Ukraine agreed in April to call for the pullback of smaller-caliber weapons from the front lines of the conflict, which has claimed more than 6,000 lives.
Firefighters extinguish fire on Aug. 16 at a house destroyed by night-long shelling in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. The fire was the result of an artillery exchange in eastern Ukraine between government troops and Russia-backed rebels that claimed nine lives.
Soldiers march along the city main Khreshchatyk Street on Aug. 22 during a rehearsal for the Independence Day military parade in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Visitors examine Kalashnikov automatic machine guns during a self-defense training Nov. 8 at a knife exhibition in Kyiv, Ukraine. The conflict in Ukraine’s east seems to have prompted interest in the weapons among Ukrainians.
A monument to Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, a central figure in Ukrainian history during the 17th century, stands in front of St. Sofia Cathedral and the main Christmas tree in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday. Khmelnytskyi, a leader of Ukrainian Cossacks, announced a union with Russia in 1654, which was to last for over 300 years. Founded over 1,500 years ago, Kyiv is one of the oldest and historically richest cities in Eastern Europe. The site of the ancient Kyivan Rus, it is considered the birthplace of Slavic civilization. The city endured the Mongol-Tatar invasion, was a provincial center in the Russian Empire and then the Soviet Union and in 1991 finally became the capital of an independent Ukraine.
Welcome to the discussion.
Please join the conversation. Follow the guidelines
outlined below
• Don’t use obscene, profane or vulgar language.
• Don’t use language that makes personal attacks on fellow
commenters or discriminates based on race, religion, gender or
ethnicity.
• Use your real first and last name when registering on the
website. it will be published with every comment.
• If you see something objectionable, please click the Report link
on the comment(s).
Open all references in tabs: [1 – 9]