Volodymyr Bassis - Ukraine

Published in 2018 by Cavendish Square Publishing, LLC

243 5th Avenue, Suite 136, New York, NY 10016

Copyright 2018 by Cavendish Square Publishing, LLC

Third Edition

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Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Bassis, Volodymyr. | Dhilawala, Sakina. | Nevins, Debbie.

Title: Ukraine / Volodymyr Bassis, Sakina Dhilawala, and Debbie Nevins.

Description: New York : Cavendish Square, 2018. | Series: Cultures of the world (third edition) | Includes index.

Identifiers: ISBN 9781502627445 (library bound) | ISBN 9781502627377 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Ukraine--Juvenile literature.

Classification: LCC DK508.515 B37 2018 | DDC 947.7 --dc23

Writers, Volodymyr Bassis, Sakina Dhilawala; Debbie Nevins, third edition

Editorial Director, third edition: David McNamara

Editor, third edition: Debbie Nevins

Art Director, third edition: Amy Greenan

Designer, third edition: Jessica Nevins

Production Manager, third edition: TK

Cover Picture Researcher: TK

Picture Researcher, third edition: Jessica Nevins

PICTURE CREDITS

Cover: Tibor Bognar/Alamy Stock Photo

The photographs in this book a raer e used with the permission of: p.

PRECEDING PAGE

The flag of Ukraine.

Printed in the United States of America

CONTENTS

UKRAINE TODAY

R EFORM IS HAPPENING. UKRAINE IS CHANGING. THAT optimistic message is posted front and center on the Ukrainian government web portal. Its an extraordinary statement for a government to makean acknowledgement of past failures and wrongs. For anyone familiar with Ukraine, the reference is clear. Ukrainians have little trust in their governmentwith good reason, considering its reputation for corruption and the alarming events of recent history.

The second part of the statement above is certainly true, though perhaps not in the way the Ukrainian government intended. Physically, Ukraine recently lost control of some of its territory to Russiain 2014, Russia invaded Ukraines Crimean Peninsula and claimed it as its own. Although Ukraine, the United Nations, the United States, and most of the international community continue to view Crimea as belonging to Ukraine, it seems doubtful that Russia will give up its claim.

Ukraine had a short moment of independence in 1919, but has spent most of its recent history under Russian rule. Therefore, Russias aggression in Ukraine in the twenty-first century might stem from a certain sense of entitlement. Russian President Vladimir Putin explained he took over Crimea to protect the interests of the ethnic Russians living there. Alternatively, he might simply have taken back what he thought of as Russias rightful property, mainly because he could. Who or what was there to stop him?

In January 2017, an activist in Independence Square in Kiev demands the president of Russia remove troops from Eastern Ukraine.

As if losing Crimea wasnt bad enough, Ukraine has been fighting an ongoing war with Russian separatists in eastern parts of the country since 2014. At this writing, it seems possible that Russia could also take that region, despite a peace treaty negotiated in 2015 called the Minsk Agreement. Russia continues to deny involvement in the hostilities, but evidence suggests otherwise. With its powerful Russian neighbor looming, Ukraine is under a great deal of pressure.

To understand Ukraine today, its necessary to step back and see the bigger picture. Ukraine is a big country in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to its north and east, and the Black Sea to the south. It also borders Romania, Moldova, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, and Belarus. Its capital Kiev (also spelled Kyiv) is located on the Dnieper River in the north central part of the country. In terms of area, Ukraine is the largest country in Europe, not counting the vast part of western Russia that lies in Europe. (The Russian Federation spans two continents, Europe and Asia.) But Ukraine is not the most populous country in Europe. That distinction goes to Germanyagain not counting the European part of Russiaand Ukraine falls to seventh- or eighth-largest, depending on sources.