MykolaivMykolaiv (Миколаїв, mɪkoˈlɑjiu̯; Nikolayev) is a city and a municipality in southern Ukraine. Mykolaiv is the administrative center of Mykolaiv Oblast. The city of Mykolaiv, which provides Ukraine with access to the Black Sea, is the location of the most downriver bridge crossing of the Southern Bug river. This city is one of the main shipbuilding centers of the Black Sea. Aside from three shipyards within the city, there are a number of research centers specializing in shipbuilding such as the State Research and Design Shipbuilding Center, Zoria-Mashproekt and others.
Volodymyr ZelenskyyVolodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (also transliterated as Zelensky or Zelenskiy; born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former comedian and actor who is the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. Born to a Ukrainian Jewish family, Zelenskyy grew up as a native Russian speaker in Kryvyi Rih, a major city of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast in central Ukraine. Prior to his acting career, he obtained a degree in law from the Kyiv National Economic University.
DniproDnipro, formerly Dnipropetrovsk (1926–2016), is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, after which its Ukrainian language name is derived. Dnipro is the administrative centre of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. It hosts the administration of Dnipro urban hromada. Dnipro has a population of Archeological evidence suggests the site of the present city was settled by Cossack communities from at least 1524.
MariupolMariupol (UKˌmæriˈuːpɒl , USˌmɑːriˈuːpəl ; Маріу́поль mɐr(j)iˈupolj; Мариу́поль, mərjɪˈupəlj; Marioúpoli) is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius River. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was the tenth-largest city in the country and the second-largest city in Donetsk Oblast, with an estimated population of 425,681 people in January 2022; afterwards, Ukrainian authorities estimate its population to be approximately 100,000.
ZaporizhzhiaZaporizhzhia (Запоріжжя, zɐpoˈriʒjːɐ) or Zaporozhye (Запорожье, zəpɐˈroʐje), until 1921 known as Aleksandrovsk or Oleksandrivsk, is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper River. It is the administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zaporizhzhia has a population of Zaporizhzhia is known for the historic island of Khortytsia, multiple power stations and for being an important industrial centre. Steel, aluminium, aircraft engines, automobiles, transformers for substations, and other heavy industrial goods are produced in the region.
History of UkrainePrehistoric Ukraine, as a part of the Pontic steppe in Eastern Europe, played an important role in Eurasian cultural events, including the spread of the Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages, Indo-European migrations, and the domestication of the horse. Ukraine, a part of Scythia in antiquity, and settled by the Greuthungi and Getae in the migration period, was also a site of early Slavic expansion. It entered written history with the establishment of the medieval state of Kievan Rus', which emerged as a powerful nation in the Middle Ages but disintegrated by the mid-12th century.
OdesaOdesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrative centre of the Odesa Raion and Odesa Oblast, as well as a multiethnic cultural centre. As of January 2021, Odesa's population was approximately On 25 January 2023, its historic city centre was declared a World Heritage Site and added to the List of World Heritage in Danger by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in recognition of its influence on cinema, literature, and the arts.
CrimeaCrimea (kraɪˈmiːə ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukraine. To the east, the Crimean Bridge, constructed in 2018, spans the Strait of Kerch, linking the peninsula with Krasnodar Krai in Russia. The Arabat Spit, located to the northeast, is a narrow strip of land that separates the Syvash lagoons from the Sea of Azov.
KyivKyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2,952,301, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyiv is an important industrial, scientific, educational, and cultural center in Eastern Europe. It is home to many high-tech industries, higher education institutions, and historical landmarks. The city has an extensive system of public transport and infrastructure, including the Kyiv Metro.
Russian invasion of UkraineOn 24 February 2022, in an escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War which began in 2014. The invasion has killed tens of thousands on both sides. Russian forces have been responsible for mass civilian casualties and for torturing captured Ukrainian soldiers. By June 2022, about 8 million Ukrainians had been internally displaced. More than 8.2 million had fled the country by May 2023, becoming Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. Extensive environmental damage, widely described as ecocide, contributed to food crises worldwide.
