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Introduction

Ukraine was the center of the first eastern Slavic state, Kyivan Rus, which during the 10th and 11th centuries was the largest and most powerful state in Europe. Weakened by internecine quarrels and Mongol invasions, Kyivan Rus was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and eventually into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The cultural and religious legacy of Kyivan Rus laid the foundation for Ukrainian nationalism through subsequent centuries. A new Ukrainian state, the Cossack Hetmanate, was established during the mid-17th century after an uprising against the Poles. Despite continuous Muscovite pressure, the Hetmanate managed to remain autonomous for well over 100 years. During the latter part of the 18th century, most Ukrainian ethnographic territory was absorbed by the Russian Empire. Following the collapse of czarist Russia in 1917, Ukraine achieved a short-lived period of independence (1917-20), but was reconquered and endured a brutal Soviet rule that engineered two forced famines (1921-22 and 1932-33) in which over 8 million died. In World War II, German and Soviet armies were responsible for 7 to 8 million more deaths. Although Ukraine achieved independence in 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR, democracy and prosperity remained elusive as the legacy of state control and endemic corruption stalled efforts at economic reform, privatization, and civil liberties.

A peaceful mass protest referred to as the "Orange Revolution" in the closing months of 2004 forced the authorities to overturn a rigged presidential election and to allow a new internationally monitored vote that swept into power a reformist slate under Viktor YUSHCHENKO. Subsequent internal squabbles in the YUSHCHENKO camp allowed his rival Viktor YANUKOVYCH to stage a comeback in parliamentary (Rada) elections, become prime minister in August 2006, and be elected president in February 2010. In October 2012, Ukraine held Rada elections, widely criticized by Western observers as flawed due to use of government resources to favor ruling party candidates, interference with media access, and harassment of opposition candidates. President YANUKOVYCH's backtracking on a trade and cooperation agreement with the EU in November 2013 - in favor of closer economic ties with Russia - and subsequent use of force against students, civil society activists, and other civilians in favor of the agreement led to a three-month protest occupation of Kyiv's central square. The government's use of violence to break up the protest camp in February 2014 led to all out pitched battles, scores of deaths, international condemnation, a failed political deal, and the president's abrupt departure for Russia. New elections in the spring allowed pro-West president Petro POROSHENKO to assume office in June 2014; he was succeeded by Volodymyr ZELENSKY in May 2019.

Shortly after YANUKOVYCH's departure in late February 2014, Russian President PUTIN ordered the invasion of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula falsely claiming the action was to protect ethnic Russians living there. Two weeks later, a "referendum" was held regarding the integration of Crimea into the Russian Federation. The "referendum" was condemned as illegitimate by the Ukrainian Government, the EU, the US, and the UN General Assembly (UNGA). In response to Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea, 100 members of the UN passed UNGA resolution 68/262, rejecting the "referendum" as baseless and invalid and confirming the sovereignty, political independence, unity, and territorial integrity of Ukraine. In mid-2014, Russia began supplying proxies in two of Ukraine's eastern provinces with manpower, funding, and materiel driving an armed conflict with the Ukrainian Government that continues to this day. Representatives from Ukraine, Russia, and the unrecognized Russian proxy republics signed the Minsk Protocol and Memorandum in September 2014 to end the conflict. However, this agreement failed to stop the fighting or find a political solution. In a renewed attempt to alleviate ongoing clashes, leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany negotiated a follow-on Package of Measures in February 2015 to implement the Minsk agreements. Representatives from Ukraine, Russia, the unrecognized Russian proxy republics, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe also meet regularly to facilitate implementation of the peace deal. By early 2022, more than 14,000 civilians were killed or wounded as a result of the Russian intervention in eastern Ukraine.

On 24 February 2022, Russia escalated its conflict with Ukraine by invading the country on several fronts in what has become the largest conventional military attack on a sovereign state in Europe since World War II. The invasion has received near universal international condemnation and many countries have imposed sanctions on Russia and also supplied humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine. The invasion has also created Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. As of 29 March, more than 4.02 million people had fled Ukraine, and approximately 6.48 million people were internally displaced as of 16 March. More than 2,685 civilian casualties had been reported, as of 25 March.

Visit the Definitions and Notes page to view a description of each topic.

Geography

almost four times the size of Georgia; slightly smaller than Texas

Danube (shared with Germany [s], Austria, Slovakia, Czechia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Romania [m]) - 2,888 km; Dnieper river mouth (shared with Russia [s] and Belarus) - 2,287 km; Dniester river source and mouth (shared with Moldova) - 1,411 km; Vistula (shared with Poland [s/m] and Belarus) - 1,213 km
note - [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Atlantic Ocean drainage: (Black Sea) Danube (795,656 sq km), Don (458,694 sq km), Dnieper (533,966 sq km)

People and Society

Ukrainian (official) 67.5%, Russian (regional language) 29.6%, other (includes small Crimean Tatar-, Moldovan/Romanian-, and Hungarian-speaking minorities) 2.9% (2001 est.); note - in February 2018, the Constitutional Court ruled that 2012 language legislation entitling a language spoken by at least 10% of an oblast's population to be given the status of "regional language" - allowing for its use in courts, schools, and other government institutions - was unconstitutional, thus making the law invalid; Ukrainian remains the country's only official nationwide language

major-language sample(s):
Свiтова Книга Фактiв - найкраще джерело базової інформації. (Ukrainian)

The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.

Ukrainian audio sample:

Orthodox (includes the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC), and the Ukrainian Orthodox - Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP)), Ukrainian Greek Catholic, Roman Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Jewish (2013 est.)

note: Ukraine's population is overwhelmingly Christian; the vast majority - up to two thirds - identify themselves as Orthodox, but many do not specify a particular branch; the OCU and the UOC-MP each represent less than a quarter of the country's population, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church accounts for 8-10%, and the UAOC accounts for 1-2%; Muslim and Jewish adherents each compose less than 1% of the total population

improved: urban: 99.4% of population

rural: 100% of population

total: 99.6% of population

unimproved: urban: 0.6% of population

rural: 0% of population

total: 0.4% of population (2020 est.)

improved: urban: 100% of population

rural: 100% of population

total: 100% of population

unimproved: urban: 0% of population

rural: 0% of population

total: 0% of population (2020 est.)

Environment

Danube (shared with Germany [s], Austria, Slovakia, Czechia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Romania [m]) - 2,888 km; Dnieper river mouth (shared with Russia [s] and Belarus) - 2,287 km; Dniester river source and mouth (shared with Moldova) - 1,411 km; Vistula (shared with Poland [s/m] and Belarus) - 1,213 km
note - [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Atlantic Ocean drainage: (Black Sea) Danube (795,656 sq km), Don (458,694 sq km), Dnieper (533,966 sq km)

Government

24 provinces (oblasti, singular - oblast'), 1 autonomous republic* (avtonomna respublika), and 2 municipalities** (mista, singular - misto) with oblast status; Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Chernivtsi, Crimea or Avtonomna Respublika Krym* (Simferopol), Dnipropetrovsk (Dnipro), Donetsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi, Kirovohrad (Kropyvnytskyi), Kyiv**, Kyiv, Luhansk, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sevastopol**, Sumy, Ternopil, Vinnytsia, Volyn (Lutsk), Zakarpattia (Uzhhorod), Zaporizhzhia, Zhytomyr

note 1: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses); plans include the eventual renaming of Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovohrad oblasts, but because these names are mentioned in the Constitution of Ukraine, the change will require a constitutional amendment

note 2: the US Government does not recognize Russia's illegal annexation of Ukraine's Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the municipality of Sevastopol, nor their redesignation as the "Republic of Crimea" and the "Federal City of Sevastopol"

subordinate courts: Courts of Appeal; district courts

note: specialized courts were abolished as part of Ukraine's judicial reform program; in November 2019, President ZELENSKYY signed a bill on legal reforms

Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) [Yuliya TYMOSHENKO]
European Solidarity (BPP-Solidarity) [Petro POROSHENKO]
Holos (Voice) [Kira RUDYK]
Opposition Bloc or OB [Evgeny MURAYEV]
Opposition Platform-For Life [Yuriy BOYKO, Vadim RABINOVICH]
Radical Party [Oleh LYASHKO]
Samopomich (Self Reliance) [Andriy SADOVYY]
Servant of the People [Oleksandr KORNIENKO]
Svoboda (Freedom) [Oleh TYAHNYBOK]

Economy

After Russia, the Ukrainian Republic was the most important economic component of the former Soviet Union, producing about four times the output of the next-ranking republic. Its fertile black soil accounted for more than one fourth of Soviet agricultural output, and its farms provided substantial quantities of meat, milk, grain, and vegetables to other republics. Likewise, its diversified heavy industry supplied unique equipment such as large diameter pipes and vertical drilling apparatus, and raw materials to industrial and mining sites in other regions of the former USSR.

Shortly after independence in August 1991, the Ukrainian Government liberalized most prices and erected a legal framework for privatization, but widespread resistance to reform within the government and the legislature soon stalled reform efforts and led to some backtracking. Output by 1999 had fallen to less than 40% of the 1991 level. Outside institutions - particularly the IMF encouraged Ukraine to quicken the pace and scope of reforms to foster economic growth. Ukrainian Government officials eliminated most tax and customs privileges in a March 2005 budget law, bringing more economic activity out of Ukraine's large shadow economy. From 2000 until mid-2008, Ukraine's economy was buoyant despite political turmoil between the prime minister and president. The economy contracted nearly 15% in 2009, among the worst economic performances in the world. In April 2010, Ukraine negotiated a price discount on Russian gas imports in exchange for extending Russia's lease on its naval base in Crimea.

Ukraine's oligarch-dominated economy grew slowly from 2010 to 2013 but remained behind peers in the region and among Europe's poorest. After former President YANUKOVYCH fled the country during the Revolution of Dignity, Ukraine's economy fell into crisis because of Russia's annexation of Crimea, military conflict in the eastern part of the country, and a trade war with Russia, resulting in a 17% decline in GDP, inflation at nearly 60%, and dwindling foreign currency reserves. The international community began efforts to stabilize the Ukrainian economy, including a March 2014 IMF assistance package of $17.5 billion, of which Ukraine has received four disbursements, most recently in April 2017, bringing the total disbursed as of that date to approximately $8.4 billion. Ukraine has made progress on reforms designed to make the country prosperous, democratic, and transparent, including creation of a national anti-corruption agency, overhaul of the banking sector, establishment of a transparent VAT refund system, and increased transparency in government procurement. But more improvements are needed, including fighting corruption, developing capital markets, improving the business environment to attract foreign investment, privatizing state-owned enterprises, and land reform. The fifth tranche of the IMF program, valued at $1.9 billion, was delayed in mid-2017 due to lack of progress on outstanding reforms, including adjustment of gas tariffs to import parity levels and adoption of legislation establishing an independent anti-corruption court.

Russia's occupation of Crimea in March 2014 and ongoing Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine have hurt economic growth. With the loss of a major portion of Ukraine's heavy industry in Donbas and ongoing violence, the economy contracted by 6.6% in 2014 and by 9.8% in 2015, but it returned to low growth in in 2016 and 2017, reaching 2.3% and 2.0%, respectively, as key reforms took hold. Ukraine also redirected trade activity towards the EU following the implementation of a bilateral Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, displacing Russia as its largest trading partner. A prohibition on commercial trade with separatist-controlled territories in early 2017 has not impacted Ukraine's key industrial sectors as much as expected, largely because of favorable external conditions. Ukraine returned to international debt markets in September 2017, issuing a $3 billion sovereign bond.

$516.68 billion note: data are in 2017 dollars (2020 est.)

$538.33 billion note: data are in 2017 dollars (2019 est.)

$521.52 billion note: data are in 2017 dollars (2018 est.)

note: data are in 2010 dollars
country comparison to the world: 40

$12,400 note: data are in 2017 dollars (2020 est.)

$12,800 note: data are in 2017 dollars (2019 est.)

$12,300 note: data are in 2017 dollars (2018 est.)

note: data are in 2010 dollars
country comparison to the world: 121

7.9% (2019 est.)

11% (2018 est.)

14.4% (2017 est.)

note: Excluding the temporarily occupied territories of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the city of Sevastopol and part of the anti-terrorist operation zone
country comparison to the world: 200

71% of GDP (2017 est.)

81.2% of GDP (2016 est.)

note: the total public debt of $64.5 billion consists of: domestic public debt ($23.8 billion); external public debt ($26.1 billion); and sovereign guarantees ($14.6 billion)
country comparison to the world: 49

$60.67 billion note: data are in current year dollars (2020 est.)

$63.56 billion note: data are in current year dollars (2019 est.)

$59.18 billion note: data are in current year dollars (2018 est.)
country comparison to the world: 52

$62.46 billion note: data are in current year dollars (2020 est.)

$76.07 billion note: data are in current year dollars (2019 est.)

$70.56 billion note: data are in current year dollars (2018 est.)
country comparison to the world: 51

Energy

electrification - total population: 100% (2020)

Communications

Ukraine's media landscape is dominated by oligarch-owned news outlets, which are often politically motivated and at odds with one another and/or the government; while polls suggest most Ukrainians still receive news from traditional media sources, social media is a crucial component of information dissemination in Ukraine; almost all Ukrainian politicians and opinion leaders communicate with the public via social media and maintain at least one social media page, if not more; this allows them direct communication with audiences, and news often breaks on Facebook or Twitter before being picked up by traditional news outlets

Ukraine television serves as the principal source of news; the largest national networks are controlled by oligarchs: TRK Ukraina is owned by Rinat Akhmetov; Studio 1+1 is owned by Ihor Kolomoyskyy; Inter is owned by Dmytro Firtash and Serhiy Lyovochkin; and StarlightMedia channels (ICTV, STB, and Novyi Kanal) are owned by Victor Pinchuk; a set of 24-hour news channels also have clear political affiliations: pro-Ukrainian government Channel 5 and Pryamyi are linked to President Petro Poroshenko; 24 is owned by opposition, but not pro-Russian, politicians; UA: Suspilne is a public television station under the umbrella of the National Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine; while it is often praised by media experts for balanced coverage, it lags in popularity; Ukrainian Radio, institutionally linked to UA: Suspilne, is one of only two national talk radio networks, with the other being the privately owned Radio NV

(2021)

Military and Security

approximately 200,000 active troops (125,000 Army; 25,000 Airborne/Air Assault Forces; 2,000 Special Operations Forces; 10,000 Navy; 40,000 Air Force); approximately 50,000 National Guard (2021)

note - in early 2022, the Ukrainian Government announced plans to add 100,000 personnel to the armed forces over three years

250 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) (Oct 2021)

note - Ukraine contributes about 500 troops to the Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine joint military brigade (LITPOLUKRBRIG), which was established in 2014; the brigade is headquartered in Poland and is comprised of an international staff, three battalions, and specialized units

conscription abolished in 2012, but reintroduced in 2014; 20-27 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service obligation is 12 months (2021)

note(s) - the Ukrainian military has a mix of conscripts (14,000 conscripted in 2021) and professional soldiers on contracts; by law, conscripts cannot serve on the frontlines, but have the opportunity to sign short or long-term contracts upon the expiration of their terms of service; women can volunteer and have served in the Ukrainian armed forces since 1993; as of 2021, women comprised approximately 15-20% of the military; in late 2021, the Ukrainian Government began requiring women between 18 and 60 who are fit for military service and work in a broad range of professions to register with Ukraine's armed forces

Transnational Issues

1997 boundary delimitation treaty with Belarus remains unratified due to unresolved financial claims, stalling demarcation and reducing border security; delimitation of land boundary with Russia is complete and demarcation began in 2012; the dispute over the boundary between Russia and Ukraine through the Kerch Strait and Sea of Azov is suspended due to the occupation of Crimea by Russia; Ukraine and Moldova signed an agreement officially delimiting their border in 1999, but the border has not been demarcated due to Moldova's difficulties with the break-away region of Transnistria; Moldova and Ukraine operate joint customs posts to monitor transit of people and commodities through Moldova's Transnistria Region, which remains under the auspices of an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe-mandated peacekeeping mission comprised of Moldovan, Transnistrian, Russian, and Ukrainian troops; the ICJ ruled largely in favor of Romania in its dispute submitted in 2004 over Ukrainian-administered Zmiyinyy/Serpilor (Snake) Island and Black Sea maritime boundary delimitation; Romania opposes Ukraine's reopening of a navigation canal from the Danube border through Ukraine to the Black Sea

IDPs:
1,461,700 (Russian-sponsored separatist violence in Crimea and eastern Ukraine) (2021); 6.48 million (Russian invasion), according to the UN (2022); note - the more recent invasion total may reflect some double counting, since it is impossible to determine how many of the recent IDPs may also include IDPs from the earlier Russian-sponsored violence in Crimea and eastern Ukraine

stateless persons: 35,875 (mid-year 2021); note - citizens of the former USSR who were permanently resident in Ukraine were granted citizenship upon Ukraine's independence in 1991, but some missed this window of opportunity; people arriving after 1991, Crimean Tatars, ethnic Koreans, people with expired Soviet passports, and people with no documents have difficulty acquiring Ukrainian citizenship; following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989, thousands of Crimean Tatars and their descendants deported from Ukraine under the STALIN regime returned to their homeland, some being stateless and others holding the citizenship of Uzbekistan or other former Soviet republics; a 1998 bilateral agreement between Ukraine and Uzbekistan simplified the process of renouncing Uzbek citizenship and obtaining Ukrainian citizenship

a transit country for illicit drug trafficking into the European Union due to its location amidst several important trafficking routes into western Europe, ports on the Black and Azov seas, extensive river routes, and porous northern and eastern borders; South American cocaine moves through Ukrainian seaports and airports; amphetamine and methamphetamine laboratories supply the local market

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Ukraine was the center of the first eastern Slavic state, Kyivan Rus, which during the 10th and 11th centuries was the largest and most powerful state in Europe. Weakened by internecine quarrels and Mongol invasions, Kyivan Rus was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and eventually into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

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Europe's second largest country, Ukraine is a land of wide, fertile agricultural plains, with large pockets of heavy industry in the east.

While Ukraine and Russia share common historical origins, the west of the country has closer ties with its European neighbours, particularly Poland, and nationalist sentiment is strongest there.

A significant minority of the population uses Russian as its first language, particularly in the cities and the industrialised east.

An uprising against pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014 ushered in a Western-leaning government, but Russia used the opportunity to seize the Crimean peninsula and arm insurgent groups to occupy parts of the industrialised east of Ukraine.

FACTS

Population 44.9 million

Area 603,700 sq km (233,090 sq miles)

Major languages Ukrainian (official), Russian

Major religion Christianity

Life expectancy 64 years (men), 75 years (women)

Currency hryvnya

LEADERS

Mr Zelensky's initial claim to fame was playing a fictional president in a television comedy programme, and his victorious election campaign emphasised content-light social media videos over traditional rallies and policy speeches.

His message was, like that of his TV character, pitched against corruption and the power of oligarchs, but Mr Zelensky himself has close ties to Ihor Kolomoisky, who owns the 1+1 channel that his show appears on.

Mr Kolomoisky, who fell out with the then President Petro Poroshenko in 2015, has been living abroad because of numerous investigations into his business dealings at home, and gave the incoming president strong support during the election campaign.

In his inaugural address, President Zelensky said ending the Russian-backed insurgency in the east of the country would be his priority.

His Servant of the People party went on to win early parliamentary elections in July, giving President Zelensky control of both the executive and the legislature.

MEDIA

National media have adopted a united patriotic agenda following the Russian annexation of Crimea and the armed conflict in the east.

Ukraine has banned relays of leading Russian TVs; in turn, areas under Russian or separatist control have seen pro-Kyiv outlets silenced.

The authorities also block access to some popular Russian websites and social networks.

TV dominates the media landscape, and major commercial networks are the leading outlets.

Many newspapers publish Ukrainian and Russian-language editions.

TIMELINE

Around the BBC

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Europe's second largest country, Ukraine is a land of wide, fertile agricultural plains, with large pockets of heavy industry in the east. While Ukraine and Russia share common historical origins, the west of the country has closer ties with its European neighbours, particularly Poland, and nationalist sentiment is strongest there.

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Russia represents a clear and present danger to all democracies and peace-loving countries in the world. Only by standing together to defend Ukraine can we safeguard our future.

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Skip to content Russia represents a clear and present danger to all democracies and peace-loving countries in the world. Only by standing together to defend Ukraine can we safeguard our future. Stand With Ukraine NOW The country of ultimate freedom.

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Our students in the 2022-2023 academic years

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Our students in the 2022-2023 academic years

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Description of the Higher Education System of Ukraine

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Description of the Higher Education System of Ukraine

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Description of the Higher Education system of Ukraine

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Volyn region (Volyn oblast, Volynska region) background

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Volyn region (Volyn oblast, Volynska region) background

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Volyn region is northeastern part of Ukraine. It borders with such regions as Rivne and Lviv, and also with Belarus on the north and Poland on the west. Volyn region territory occupies 3.3% of the total area of Ukraine with a population of about 1.04mln. About 52% of the region population lives in cities and towns.

Volyn region includes 16 rayons, 11 cities, 22 urban villages, 1,054 villages.

The largest cities and towns of the region are Lutsk, Kovel, Novovolynsk, Volodymyr-Volynskyi and Kivertsi.

Volyn region has developed industrial and agricultural sectors. Leading industries of the region are food producing, machinery, fuel, chemical and building materials industries. Agricultural sector specializes in animal meat and dairy, as well as in grain, sugar beets, vegetables and potatoes.

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Volyn Oblast ( Ukrainian: Воли́нська о́бласть, Volynska oblast; also referred to as Volyn or Lodomeria) is an oblast (province) in northwestern Ukraine. Its administrative centre is Lutsk. Kovel is the westernmost town and the last station in Ukraine on the rail line running from Kyiv to Warsaw. The population is 1,027,397 (2021 est.)

Volyn was once part of the Kievan Rus' before becoming an independent local principality and an integral part of the Halych-Volynia, one of Kievan Rus' successor states. In the 15th century, the area came under the control of the neighbouring Grand Duchy of Lithuania, in 1569 passing over to Poland and then in 1795, until World War I, to the Russian Empire where it was a part of the Volynskaya Guberniya. In the interwar period, most of the territory, organized as Wołyń Voivodeship was under Polish control.

In 1939 when Poland was invaded and divided by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union following the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, Volyn was joined to Soviet Ukraine, and on December 4, 1939, the oblast was organized.

Many Ukrainians rejoiced at the "reunification", but the Polish minority suffered a cruel fate. Thousands of Poles, especially retired Polish officers and intelligentsia were deported to Siberia and other areas in the depths of the Soviet Union. A high proportion of these deportees died in the extreme conditions of Soviet labour camps and most were never able to return to Volyn again.

In 1941 Volyn along with the Soviet Union was invaded by the Nazi Germany's Barbarossa Offensive. Nazis alongside Ukrainian collaborators completed their holocaust of the Jews of Volhynia in late 1942.

Partisan activity started in Volyn in 1941, soon after German occupation. Partisans were involved in the Rail war campaign against German supply lines and were known for their efficiency in gathering intelligence and for sabotage. The region formed the basis of several networks and many members of the local population served with the partisans. The Poles in the area became part of the Polish Home Army, which often undertook operations with the partisan movement.

UPA initially supported Nazi Germany which had in turn supported them with financing and weaponry before the start of World War II. Many served in the various RONA and SS units. Once they became disillusioned with the Nazi program, they independently began to target all non-Ukrainians (Poles, Jews, Russians, among others) for extermination. Some 30,000 to 60,000 Poles, Czechs, remaining Jews, and Ukrainians who tried to help others escape (Polish sources gave even higher figures) and later, around 2,000 or more Ukrainians were killed in retaliation (see Massacres of Poles in Volhynia).

In January 1944 the Red Army recaptured the territory from the Nazis.

In the immediate aftermath of World War II the Polish-Soviet border was redrawn based on the Curzon line. Volyn, along with the neighbouring provinces became an integral part of the Ukrainian SSR. Most Poles who remained in the eastern region were forced to leave to the Recovered Territories of western Poland (the former easternmost provinces of Germany) whose German population had been expelled. Some of the Ukrainians on the western side, notably around the city of Kholm ( Chełm in Polish), were also forcibly relocated to Ukraine.

The area underwent rapid industrialisation including the construction of the Lutskiy Avtomobilnyi Zavod. Nevertheless, the area remains one of the most rural throughout the former Soviet Union.

The following historical-cultural sites were nominated in 2007 for the Seven Wonders of Ukraine.[citation needed ]

Former Chairmen of Oblast Council

The Volyn Oblast is administratively subdivided into 4 raions (districts).

Age structure

0-14 years: 19.0% (male 101,739/female 95,332)

15-64 years: 68.2% (male 344,359/female 363,116)

65 years and over: 12.8% (male 42,221/female 90,463) (2013 official)

total: 35.7 years

male: 33.2 years

female: 38.3 years (2013 official)

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Volyn Oblast ( Ukrainian: Воли́нська о́бласть, Volynska oblast; also referred to as Volyn or Lodomeria) is an oblast (province) in northwestern Ukraine. Its administrative centre is Lutsk. Kovel is the westernmost town and the last station in Ukraine on the rail line running from Kyiv to Warsaw. The population is 1,027,397 (2021 est.)

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Lubart`s castle (the most popular tourist place in Volyn region)

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Lubart`s castle (the most popular tourist place in Volyn region)

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Shatsk Lakes (the best place for the summer rest)

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Shatsk Lakes (the best place for the summer rest)

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Novovolynsk ( Ukrainian: Нововолинськ) is a town of oblast significance in Volyn Oblast, Ukraine. Novovolynsk, together with the urban-type settlement of Blahodatne (until 2016 Zhovtneve), is incorporated as Novovolynsk Municipality, an administrative unit of a status equal to that of a district. Population: 50,417 (2021 est.)

Located within the Lviv-Volyn coal basin until recently, Novovolynsk was a major coal mining center of the region. The city has a few factories: a ferroconcrete plant, brickworks, a plant for mining equipment maintenance, a meatpacking and bread factory, and a woodworking plant.

Novovolynsk was built in 1950 as a mining town in the USSR. It obtained city status in 1957. The word "Novovolynsk" is a morphological blend, meaning "a new town in the Volyn region".

There is a monument to a famous Ukrainian poet and artist Taras Shevchenko in Novovolynsk. Prominent civil society activist Anna Garmash is also from Novovolynsk, as well as footballer Artem Fedetskyi.

The town is twinned with Hartlepool, England and Echirolles, France.

Novovolynsk is situated in the southwest of Volyn Oblast in the far north-west of Ukraine. The city area is about 17 square kilometers. The state border to Poland runs 15 km to the West from the city; 92 km to the North from Novovolynsk there is the state border to Belarus.

The city is well-situated. The distance to the national highway H22 Ustylug - Lutsk - Rivne is only 18 km. The distance to the international highway E373 (coincides with national M07) Warsaw - Lublin - Kovel - Sarny - Korosten - Kyiv is only 76 km.

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Novovolynsk ( Ukrainian: Нововолинськ) is a town of oblast significance in Volyn Oblast, Ukraine. Novovolynsk, together with the urban-type settlement of Blahodatne (until 2016 Zhovtneve), is incorporated as Novovolynsk Municipality, an administrative unit of a status equal to that of a district. Population: 50,417 (2021 est.)

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Volyn oblast flag

Volyn oblast coat of arms

Brief History of the Volyn Region

Volhynia is a region with a very rich history. Control over this territory many times passed from one state to another. Here is just a summary of the main historical events.

In the 6th - the beginning of the 7th centuries, Volhynia was inhabited by associations of the tribes of the Dulebs. At the beginning of the 10th century, this region established close connections with Kiev. Founded in 987, the Principality of Volhynia was part of the Old Russian state (Kievan Rus). The name "Volhynia" as a definition of this territory first appeared in the chronicles of 1077.

In the 12th century, the town of Lutsk became one of the centers of Volhynia. In 1199, Galicia was joined to the Volhynia Principality and the Principality of Galicia-Volhynia arose, which was one of the largest principalities during the collapse of Kievan Rus, a significant political and economic force in this region.

This principality pursued an active foreign policy in Eastern and Central Europe. Its main neighbors and rivals were the Kingdom of Poland, the Kingdom of Hungary and the Polovtsy, and from the middle of the 13th century - the Golden Horde and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Seeking protection from their attacks, the Principality of Galicia-Volhynia repeatedly signed agreements with Catholic Rome, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Teutonic Order. At the same time, political, economic and cultural ties with other Russian lands were weakening.
More historical facts...
The Galicia-Volhynia Principality fell into decay due to a number of reasons. Aggravated relations with the Golden Horde (the principality was its vassal) was one of them. After 1323, the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania began to seize the lands of the principality. It ceased to exist after the complete division of its territories in 1392. Volhynia became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

After the creation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (the Union of Lublin of 1569), Volhynia passed into the possession of Poland, Volhynia Voivodeship was formed. People of this region took an active part in the anti-Polish Khmelnytsky Uprising also known as the Cossack-Polish War, which became the beginning of the formation of Ukrainian statehood.

In 1793-1795, after the second and third partitions of Poland, Volhynia became part of the Russian Empire. In 1797, Volhynian Governorate was created. The second half of the 19th century was characterized by significant industrial development of the region, construction of railways.

During the First World War, the front line between the Russian and the Austro-German forces passed through the territory of Volhynia several times. In June 1916, Russian troops under the command of General Brusilov broke through the front, occupied Lutsk and pushed back the Austro-German troops. For more than one year, the front was on this line; as a result, many nearby settlements were destroyed.

In 1921, under the Riga Treaty between Soviet Russia, Soviet Ukraine and Poland, western Volhynia, including the territory of present Volyn Oblast, became part of Poland. The Volyn Voivodeship was formed with its center in Lutsk, which covered the territory of present Volyn Oblast, Rivne Oblast and the north of Ternopil Oblast of Ukraine.

As a result of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, spheres of influence in Eastern Europe were divided between Germany and the USSR. September 1, 1939, the Germans began the occupation of Poland. On September 18, 1939, units of the Red Army entered Lutsk. On November 27, 1939, Volyn Oblast of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was formed.

June 22, 1941, this territory was one of the first attacked by Germany. By July 8, 1941, the entire Volyn Oblast was occupied. During the occupation, about 165,000 residents of the region were killed, more than 20,000 people were moved to Germany for forced labor. The battles for the complete liberation of the region lasted from January to July 1944. In 1944-1945, 107,000 residents of the region were mobilized into the Soviet army.

By 1949, Volyn industry reached its pre-war level. In 1950, logging and woodworking (38%) occupied the first place in the structure of local industry, food industry (36%) took the second place. In the 1950s, coal mining began in the region. In 1967, there were 9 mines in Volyn Oblast, which produced more than 4,500,000 tons of coal per year. In 1959, on the basis of Lutsk repair shops, a machine-building plant was established, which became one of the largest enterprises in the region.

December 1, 1991, an all-Ukrainian referendum was held to confirm the act of proclaiming the independence of Ukraine. In Volyn Oblast, 96% of those who voted supported independence.

Landscapes of Volyn Oblast

Volyn Oblast - Features

The length of Volyn Oblast from north to south is 185 km, from east to west - 155 km. The climate is temperate continental. Winters are mild and summers are warm. The average temperature in January is minus 4.5 degrees Celsius, in July - plus 18.6 degrees Celsius.

The leading sectors of the local economy are the industrial and agricultural sectors. Agriculture specializes in meat and dairy livestock, as well as in the production of grain, sugar beets, vegetables, potatoes. The leading industries are food, machinery, fuel, chemicals, and building materials.

On the territory of the Volyn region there are various mineral resources. In the southwestern part, there are deposits of coal (the Lviv-Volyn coal basin). There are also reserves of natural gas (about 7 billion cubic meters), copper, phosphates. The lakes of this region contain significant reserves (over 61 million tons) of sapropel - a valuable raw material used as fertilizer, feed additives for livestock, as well as in medicine. Forests occupy about 30% of the territory of the region.

Volyn Oblast has a significant natural-recreational and cultural-historical potential. This region has long been famous for its health resorts and sanatoriums. Volhynia is characterized by a diverse and beautiful landscape, numerous lakes and forests, as well as large deposits of medicinal mud. There are sources of mineral waters too.

Volhynia has a rich architectural heritage represented, first of all, by the religious buildings of the Orthodox, Uniate and Catholic churches. Ethno-festivals, crafts exhibitions, knightly tournaments are held in this region of Ukraine.

There are 495 monuments of architecture and urban planning (of which 200 are of national importance), 149 monuments of archeology (16), 1,282 historical monuments (7), 35 monuments of monumental art (1). The list of historical settlements includes 20 settlements. The most interesting ones are the cities of Lutsk, Kovel, and Volodymyr-Volynsky.

Main Attractions of the Volyn Region

Lake Svitiaz - the largest of the three dozen lakes of the Shatskyi National Park. This is the deepest karst lake in Ukraine (58.4 meters) and one of the most famous. Its water is crystal clear and soft. In the middle of the lake you can see a picturesque wooded island, which is associated with the legend of the castle that disappeared under the waters of this lake.

On the shores of the lake there are a lot of mini-hotels, recreation centers and places for camping. On-site activities include horse riding and hiking, excursions to the island with fishing and cooking fish soup.

Lubart Castle (the 13th-14th centuries) in Lutsk - one of the symbols of the Volyn region. Its Entrance Tower is depicted on a Ukrainian banknote of 200 hryvnias. This castle is one of the best preserved fortresses in Ukraine, the main object of the historical and cultural reserve "The Old Lutsk". Several museums are open on its territory: paintings, bells, building ceramics, printing, weapons.

Svyatohorskyy Uspenskyy Zymnenskyy Convent (1073) in Zymne - one of the oldest Orthodox monasteries in Ukraine. The complex is dominated by the majestic Trinity Church (1465-1475), as well as the Assumption Church (1495-1550). The monastery is surrounded by defensive walls with corner towers built in the 15th-16th centuries. The convent has a pilgrimage complex with a hotel, a bakery and prosphora, a gold sewing workshop, an icon shop. Nuns conduct excursions.

Radziwill Castle (1558) in Olyka - one of the first square bastion castles in Ukraine. In 1591-1648, the castle withstood a lot of sieges. By the end of the 18th century, it lost its defense significance. Until the middle of the 20th century, it remained the residence of the Radziwill princely family.

Not far from this castle you can find the Trinity Church erected at the expense of Prince Stanislav Radziwill - the tomb of the Radziwill family. Also in Olyka you can visit the Church of Peter and Paul (1460) - the oldest Catholic church in Volhynia.

Cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God (1156-1160) in Volodymyr-Volynsky - the oldest church in Volyn Oblast, a monument of architecture of the times of the Old Russian state (Kievan Rus). There are a lot of other interesting architectural monuments in Volodymyr-Volynsky, which is one of the oldest towns in this region known since the 10th century.

Museum-Estate of Lesya Ukrainka in Kolodyazhne. Lesya Ukrainka, one of the most famous Ukrainian writers known for her poems and plays, spent her childhood and youth on the territory of this estate from 1882 to 1897. Her talent was formed under the influence of the legends of Volhynia. Lesya Ukrainka began her writing career here. Opening hours: 09:00-17:00. Days off: Monday, Tuesday.

Catholic Church of St. Anne (1771) in Kovel - the only two-tower wooden Catholic church in Volhynia.

Museum of the History of Agriculture of Volhynia in Rokyni - an open-air museum located in the local dendrological park. The life of Volhynia peasants of the 19th century is recreated here. In a small area there are 12 old wooden architectural structures.

Underwater springs in Okonsk - a geological monument of nature. In the center of a small lake 3 meters deep, there are two powerful underwater springs, which form cup-shaped domes on the surface. In this place, karst water flows to the surface under pressure. The water in this lake never freezes and has a constant temperature of plus 7-9 degrees Celsius. Near the lake there are ponds in which trout are bred.

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Volhynia is a region with a very rich history. Control over this territory many times passed from one state to another. Here is just a summary of the main historical events. In the 6th - the beginning of the 7th centuries, Volhynia was inhabited by associations of the tribes of the Dulebs.

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About Education System from Our Ministry

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About Education System from Our Ministry

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General Secondary Education

School education is compulsory. Previously, it lasted 11 years, but with the start of the New Ukrainian School reform in 2018, school education will last 12 years.

School education is divided into 3 levels of education:

primary education (grades 1-4)

basic secondary education (grades 5-9)

specialized secondary education (grades 10-11 (12))

The content of school education shall be approved by the government in state standards separate for each level of school education. They define the competencies that should be formed at certain levels of school education, as well as the requirements for mandatory learning outcomes. To implement the requirements of state standards, each educational institution has an educational program and curricula - the schools can develop them independently or use those recommended by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.

The content of school education has 2 components:

invariant (mandatory);

variable (subjects/courses to choose from).

The subjects taught can be separated or integrated into certain courses - this is decided by educational institutions within the framework of academic autonomy.

School evaluation differs at different levels: in grades 1-4 a formative assessment is carried out, and in grades 5-11 a 12-point assessment system is used.

Based on the results of each level of education, students pass the state final examination in particular, after receiving a specialized secondary education, the state final examination takes place in the form of external independent assessment. On that basis, students are awarded certificates of a particular level of education.

The forms of school education: institutional and individual, for example, full-time, evening, extramural, remote, external, homeschooling, pedagogical patronage. Students/parents have the right to choose one of them and even combine several forms.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19, teachers began to use distance learning tools. All-Ukrainian Online School was launched to provide students with access to education.

Even outside of Ukraine, with the help of All-Ukrainian Online School children can continue their studies remotely at their school or independently, for example, due to loss of contact with the school due to military operations or temporary occupation. MOES offers an all-Ukrainian lesson schedule to be used for self-education.

The instructions for using All-Ukrainian Online School are available here.

In 2018, Ukraine participated for the first time in the international study on the quality of education - PISA. To learn more about the results of the Ukrainian education system here.

Children with special educational needs can receive special education (in institutions or classes for children with separate nosologies) or inclusive education. In addition to training, students with special educational needs are provided with psychological, pedagogical and correctional development services, which can be provided directly by a special school or an inclusive resource center (in the case of inclusive education). There are 5 levels of support that can be provided to children with special educational needs - first of all, depending on their needs, and not on the diagnosis.

Download the file to find out more about inclusive education:

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Education System in Ukraine - Ukrainian education in emergency

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Everyone in Ukraine has the right to high-quality and affordable education. This includes the right to receive a lifelong education, the right to access education, and the right to free education. In Ukraine, no one can be restricted in the right to receive an education.

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Formed

8 July 1992

Preceding agency

Ministry of Education and Science, Youth and Sports

Jurisdiction

Ukraine

Headquarters

10, Victory Sq., Kyiv

Minister responsible

Child agencies

Service for intellectual property

Agency of Science, Innovations, and Informativeness

Website
Official website

Starting in September 2018, 12-year secondary education will replace 11-year which was mandatory before that. As a rule, schooling begins at the age of 6, unless your birthday is on or after 1 September. In 2016/17 the number of students in primary and secondary school reached 3,846,000, in vocational school 285,800, and in higher education 1,586,700 students. According to 2017 EduConf speech of the Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, Liliya Hrynevych, the amount of budget financing for the sphere of education will reach about UAH 53 billion in 2017 (compared to 42 in 2016).

The Human Rights Measurement Initiative finds that Ukraine is fulfilling 84.2% of what they should be fulfilling on the right to education, based on their level of income.

The Ukrainian educational system is organized into five levels: preschool, primary, secondary, upper secondary and postgraduate education.

In 2010 a total of 56% of children aged one to six years old had the opportunity to attend preschool education, the Education and Science Ministry of Ukraine reported in August 2010.

Schools receive 50% of their funding from the city budget and 50% from the national Government budget. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine intends to give general education schools the option to independently manage the financial resources assigned from the state budget starting from 1 January 2010.

Currently in Ukraine, school attendance is designated for children and teenagers from age 6 to 17. Ukraine has several types of general education institutions. Some schools may be boarding schools and named school-internat or lyceum-internat.

Middle School of General Education (ZOSh) or Middle School

Lyceum (Technikum in the Soviet times)

Grammar school

The institution is called Middle School of General Education (ZOSh) or simply Middle School, and usually combines primary and secondary levels of education. The system was first introduced in 1958 and included a 12-grade system, while in 1965 it was a 10-grade system. Most middle schools have all three levels of accreditation for General Education. Some remote schools have only two levels, which is the minimum requirement for all middle schools.

Primary and secondary education is divided into three levels of accreditation of general education: I - "younger", II - "middle", and III - "senior". Level 1 comprises grades 1 to 4. Grades 5-9 are usually considered a II level of accreditation or a base secondary education, while 10-12 are a III level. Despite the names, students usually study in the same school throughout their primary and secondary education. Elementary schooling lasts for 4 years, middle school for 5 and high school for 3.

The objective of general schooling is to give younger students knowledge of the arts and sciences, and teach them how to use it practically. The middle school curriculum includes classes in the Ukrainian language, Ukrainian Literature, a foreign language, world literature, Ukrainian history, world history, geography, algebra, geometry, biology, chemistry, physics, physical education, music, and art. At some schools, students also take environment and civics classes. Students attend each class only once or twice a week. Part of the school day is also spent in activities such as chess, karate, drama, learning folktales and folk songs, choir, and band. After school, students might also have music lessons, soccer, hockey, or tennis.

During grades 9 and 12, which is usually around the age of 15 and 17, students take various exams. The current examination system is undergoing change. In grades 9 and 12 students take Independent Government Tests (IGTs), which allows eleventh graders to enter university without taking separate entrance exams. In 2008, entrance exams were abolished and the IGTs became the standard for determining entrance eligibility. However, the system was changed again in 2010.

In school year 2009-2010 potential graduates are scheduled to undergo external independent testing after the final state examination, in the following subjects: Ukrainian language and literature, history of Ukraine, mathematics, biology, physics, chemistry, geography, and one foreign language (of the pupil's choice) in either English, German, French, or Spanish. The results of the testing will have the same status as entrance examinations to institutions of higher education. But some universities can convert points in the external independent test certificate according to their own rating system.

Since 2018, pre-higher education now lasts for 12 years. This means all students who entered grade 1 in 2018 will graduate after completing grade 12; however this does not apply to students who have completed grade 1 prior to 2018.

Educating children at home is legal in Ukraine and expressly allowed for in Articles 59 and 60 of Ukraine's Education Law.

University level (Post-secondary education)

Higher education is either state funded or private. Students who study at state expense receive a standard scholarship if their average marks at the end-of-term exams and differentiated test is at least 4 (see the 5-point grade system below); this rule may be different in some universities. In the case of all grades being the highest (5), the scholarship is increased by 25%. For most students the level of government subsidy is not sufficient to cover their basic living expenses. Most universities provide subsidized housing for out-of-city students. Also, it is common for libraries to supply required books for all registered students.

There are two degrees conferred by Ukrainian universities: the bachelor's degree (4 years) and the master's degree (5-6th year). These degrees are introduced in accordance with Bologna process, in which Ukraine is taking part. Historically, Specialist's Degree (usually 5 years) is still also granted; it was the only degree awarded by universities in the Soviet times. Almost all major universities are located in oblast centers.

Upon obtaining a master's degree or Specialist, a student may enter a university or a scientific institute to pursue postgraduate education. The first level of postgraduate education is aspirantura that usually results in the Kandydat Nauk degree ( Candidate of Sciences). Candidates must pass three or more qualifying exams (one or more in the field of specialty, one in a foreign language of their choice and one in philosophy), publish at least five papers in peer reviewed journals (according to requirements existed up to 2013 they had to publish at least three papers), write a dissertation and defend it. This degree is roughly equivalent to the Ph.D. in the United States. After graduation a student may continue postgraduate education. This takes from two to four years of study in doctorantura. Significant scientific results must be obtained and published, and a new thesis written. This produces a Doctor Nauk degree (Doctor of Sciences), but the more typical way is working in a university or scientific institute with parallel preparation of a thesis. The average time between obtaining and Doctor degrees is roughly 10 years, and most of new Doctors are 40 and more years old. Only one of four Kandidats reaches this grade. Kandidat Nauk may keep the position Associate Professor in universities, or Researcher/Senior Researcher in scientific institutes. Doctor Nauk can hold position of full Professor, Head of Laboratory or an equal/higher positions. The Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science is considering changing the Soviet style Kandidat Nauk and Doctor Nauk degrees to Doctor of Philosophy and Doctor Habilitation, as has happened in several other post-Soviet countries.[citation needed ]

2017 law "On Education"

On 25 September 2017 a new law on education was signed by President Poroshenko (draft approved by Rada on 5 September 2017) which will make Ukrainian the language of education from the fifth grade on. The law makes exceptions for one or more subjects that are allowed to be taught in two or more languages, namely English or one of the other official languages of the European Union, and allows any languages to be taught as separate subjects. The 2017 law stipulated a three-year transitional period, later extended until 2023.

The law was condemned by PACE that called it "a major impediment to the teaching of national minorities". The law also faced criticism from officials in Hungary, Romania and Russia. ( Hungarian and Romanian are official languages of the European Union, Russian is not.) Ukrainian officials stressed that the new law complies fully with European norms on minority rights. The law does state that "Persons belonging to indigenous peoples of Ukraine are guaranteed the right to study in public facilities of preschool and primary education in the language of instruction of the respective indigenous people, along with the state language of instruction" in separate classes or groups. PACE describes this as a significant curtailing of the rights of indigenous peoples carried out without consultations with their representatives. On 27 June 2018 Ukrainian foreign minister Pavlo Klimkin stated that following the recommendation of the Venice Commission the language provision of the (September 2017) law on education will not apply to private schools and that every public school for national minorities "will have broad powers to independently determine which classes will be taught in Ukrainian or their native language."

Ukraine has a 99.4 literacy rate. Ukrainian universities use a traditional 5-point scale:

"5", "4", "3" can be described as "Passed", "2" - as "Fail". Students who get a failing grade of "2", have two more chances to pass an examination. Since 2006 (and even earlier in some universities), university students are graded on a rating scale of 0 to 100. These grades can be transformed to the 5-point scale approximately as follows (this system may vary a little from university to university and may change from time to time):

from 90 to 100 means "5" -- A

from 74 to 89 means "4" -- B, C

from 60 to 73 means "3" -- D, E

from 0 to 59 means "2" -- F

Both the rating scale and the 5-point scale are used in university registers. Some lecturers prefer to use A-F-point scale to rate students during their passing the exams.

As for secondary schools, they also used the above-mentioned 5-point scale till 2000. Since 2000 secondary schools use a 12-point scale, which could be transformed into the traditional 5-point scale as follows:[citation needed ]

Here signs "+" and "-" denote respectively better and worse version of a mark, for example, "4-" means "somewhat worse than good".

Since the 2017 law "On Education" the language of instruction in Ukrainian schools is the state language, which is Ukrainian (national minorities are guaranteed the right to study in public educational facilities including their language alongside Ukrainian).

In 2000/2001 academic year, 70% of students attended Ukrainian-language schools (that is where Ukrainian is the primary language of instruction), while 29% were studying in Russian-language schools. There are schools with instruction in Romanian, Crimean Tatar, Hungarian, and Polish in regions populated by those groups. Historically, the language of instruction has often changed in Ukraine. When Ukraine was part of the Russian Empire, the Ukrainian language was proscribed, and Russian predominated among the elite, who had access to schools. The initial policies of the Bolsheviks were supportive of local languages, and many Ukrainian-language schools were opened, with the long-term goal of getting rid of illiteracy. From the mid-1930s to the mid-1980s, the Soviet government policies favoured Russification. In the 1970s and 1980s, the number of Russian-language schools constantly increased at the expense of Ukrainian-language schools. After Ukraine obtained independence the trend was reversed. However, reintroduction of formal Ukrainian-language study has taken longer than expected. In some schools that have tried to switch to Ukrainian, part or most of the instruction is still given in Russian. In universities there are similar trends. In 1991/92 academic year, according to the Razumkov Centre, 49% of high school students were receiving their education in Ukrainian, and 50% in Russian.

Ukraine is a popular destination for education among Asian and African students. There are more than 63,000 students from 130 countries of the world now. A lot of non-government companies try to help students from all over the world apply to one of the universities in Ukraine. An example of this is the Ukrainian Educational Agency.

According to British economist Frances Cairncross (in April 2010) "Ukrainian education is too inward-looking, too corrupt and too poor to do a good job". According to Swedish economist Anders Åslund (in October 2012) the best parts of the Ukrainian education system are basic education in mathematics and science;

Ukrainian professor O. Bazaluk reports that the Ukrainian education provides for a student nothing more than an illusion of training. As a result the majority of the Ukrainian graduates do not possess even a basic level of professional knowledge when they leave their schools. Due to extremely ineffective educational policy of the Ukrainian government and ubiquitous corruption the everyday life of the society has been significantly changed. The new developed qualities of the social transformation include aggression, rudeness, intolerance, boastfulness, reticence etc.

In 2013 the education system received the third highest percentage among Ukrainians of having given a bribe too with 33%.

The Battlefront of Civilizations: Education in Ukraine / S. Kvit. - Kyiv : Kyiv-Mohyla Academy Publishing House, 2015. - 207 p. - ISBN 978-966-518-685-4.

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Formed 8 July 1992 Preceding agency Ministry of Education and Science, Youth and Sports Jurisdiction Ukraine Headquarters 10, Victory Sq., Kyiv Minister responsible Child agencies Service for intellectual property Agency of Science, Innovations, and Informativeness Website Official website Starting in September 2018, 12-year secondary education will replace 11-year which was mandatory before that.

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Міністерство розвитку економіки, торгівлі та сільського господарства України

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Experience Ukraine! We are open for Tourism

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Ukraine in historical and geographical regions

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Ukraine in historical and geographical regions

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Ukraїner is one of the largest Ukrainian volunteer media projects that tells the world about Ukrainian people, places, business, art, and traditions. After Russia and Belarus treacherously attacked Ukraine, we couldn't stay silent. On our platform, we expose the fakes of Russian propaganda, record Russian crimes, and show the powerful resistance of the Ukrainian people.

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UkraineConnection: famous people connected to Ukraine

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UkraineConnection: famous people connected to Ukraine

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Ukrainians, Russians, Poles, Jews, Greeks, Romanians, Georgians, Armenians, Germans, Austrians, and people from many other ethnic backgrounds were born here, studied or worked here, or had parents who were born in Ukraine.

Ukrainian cultural heritage is far from being monoethnic and monolingual. #UkraineConnection, which is an overview of famous people linked to Ukraine, is an attempt to reflect this multi-cultural heritage.

It is an attempt to bear in mind that one of the biggest 20th century German-speaking poets was born in Chernivtsi, that one of the biggest 20th century British novelists was born near Berdychiv, that the person who invented the concept of "genocide" studied in Lviv, that an economist who invented the concept of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) lived in Rivne and Kharkiv, that a doctor who accomplished the first organ transplant was born near Poltava and the father of contemporary astronautics was born in Zhytomyr.

Let's do a very brief overview of some of these people.
Visual arts
Kazimir Malevich , prominent avant-garde painter of XX century. Malevich is the founder of new waves in non-figurative art called Cubo-Futurism and Suprematism. He was born in 1878 in Kyiv to a Polish family. Up till the early 1900s he lived in many Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, Kharkiv, Chernihiv Regions.

Oleksandra Exter (1882 - 1949), a Ukrainian painter, one of the prominent representatives of the Cubism and Futurism art movements in Europe. Lived and worked in Kyiv, where she created her paintings and drawings, later emigrated to Paris.

Oleksandr Arkhypenko , famous avant-garde artist and sculptor. Born in Kyiv to a Ukrainian family in 1887, Arkhypenko held numerous exhibitions in Europe and the USA until he died in New York in 1964.
Cinema
Serhiy Paradzhanov (1924 - 1990), film director of Armenian descent. The bulk of his creative work and personal life relates to Ukraine, where he directed a number of films. "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors", a film based on the eponymous novel written by famous Ukrainian writer Mykhaylo Kotsiubynskiy, made Paradzhanov a celebrity. His second wife was Ukrainian, and his son still lives in Kyiv.

Watch Paradzhanov explain what it means for him to be a director

Oleksandr Dovzhenko (1894 - 1956), a famous Ukrainian film producer, director and writer. Born in Chernihiv Region, Dovzhenko worked a lot in other Ukrainian cities, namely Odesa, Kharkiv. His film "Earth" was included in the list of the 12 best movies in cinema history.
Music
Ihor Stravinskiy , a famous composer, one of the most prominent representatives of the world's music culture of the XX century. His parents, both singers, came from Ukraine: his father was born in Chernihiv Region, while his mother in Kyiv.

Watch Stravinskiy conduct the final three scenes of The Firebird in the New York Philarmony

Mykola Leontovych , a Ukrainian composer who is known for the "Shchedryk" folk chant, which was later rearranged into the "Carol of the Bells", one of the most popular Christmas songs. He was born in the Podillia area in 1877 to a Ukrainian family.

Watch and listen to Leontovych's "Shchedryk", the original Ukrainian version of "Carol of the Bells"

Solomiya Krushelnytska , world famous opera singer of the early XX century. Krushelnytska performed in many countries, including Spain, Italy, France, Austria, Egypt, Chile, etc. Born in 1872 near Ternopil to a Ukrainian family.

Listen to Krushelnytska sing "White geese were flying"

George Gershwin (1887 - 1964), an American pianist and composer. His works - Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris, among others, - enjoyed great success among the public, with many of them being used in films. Born in the USA, Gershwin was the son of a Ukrainian-Jewish family which emigrated from Odesa.

Leonard Bernstein , an American pianist, composer, conductor. Born in the United States in 1918, to a family of Ukrainian-Jewish emigrants who moved to the USA from Rivne Region before World War I.

Watch and listen to Bernstein conducting and playing the piano in a performance of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, New York, 1976
Literature
Paul Celan , one of the most prominent German-language poets of the post-World War II era. Born in Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) in 1920 to a Jewish family.

Martin Buber (1878 - 1965), a famous Jewish religious philosopher and first president of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Born to a family of Lviv-based Jewish book publishers; raised and lived in Lviv.

Leopold Ritter Sacher-Masoch , a prominent Austrian writer and novelist. In his novels and stories, Sacher-Masoch focused a lot on his homeland, Galicia. The term "masochism" was coined by Austrian psychiatrist Kraft-Ebing based on his work (specifically Venus in Furs) but his texts and topics have much wider significance. Born in Lviv in 1836.

Svetlana Alexievich , a writer, essayist and journalist, 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature winner. Born in Ivano-Frankivsk in 1948, her father was Belarusian and mother Ukrainian.

Joseph Conrad , prominent British writer of XIX-XX centuries of Polish origin. Author of the famous "Heart of Darkness" (which later became the basis for the plot of Coppola's " Apocalypse Now") and many other famous novels and short stories. Born in Berdychiv in 1857 to a Polish family.

Joseph Roth (1894 - 1939), an Austrian journalist and writer of Ukrainian-Jewish descent, known for numerous novels (including the famous Radetzky March, 1932) and shorter texts. Roth was born and raised in the small city of Brody, near Lviv.
Mass Culture
Milla Jovovich , a famous Hollywood actress, model and singer. Born in 1975 in Kyiv to a Russian-Serbian family.

Watch and listen to young Jovovich sign a Ukrainian folk song

Vira Farmiga , a well-known American actress and director of Ukrainian descent. Born 1973 to a Ukrainian family that emigrated to the USA, Farmiga did not learn English until she was 6 years of age. She attending Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and was a member of Plast, one of the largest Ukrainian scouting organizations.

Watch Farmiga explain her Ukrainian origins during an American TV show with extracts from some of her parts where she speaks Ukrainian

David Duchovny , a modern American actor of Ukrainian descent, best known for his parts in two TV series, The X-Files and Californication. Duchovny's grandfather emigrated to the USA from Berdychiv. In 2014, Duchovny wrote in his Twitter feed: "I grew up thinking I was Russian only to find recently I have been Ukrainian all along."
Technologies
Steve Wozniak , an inventor and pioneer in the sphere of computer technologies, a co-founder of Apple Inc. Called himself ethnic Ukrainian on numerous occasions.

Ivan Puliuy , a famous physicist and inventor, who is believed to be early developer of the use of X-rays for medical purposes. Born in Ternopil in 1845, Puliuy is also known for his active support and promotion of Ukrainian culture.

Oleksandr Morozov , a construction engineer, one of the designers of the T-34 tank, acknowledged to be the best tank in World War II. Born in Russia, Morozov lived and worked in Kharkiv, where he died in the late 1970s.

Yuriy Kondratyuk (1897 - 1942), a prominent scientist and engineer, a pioneer of astronautics and space exploration. Kondratyuk's space-related research work was used during the planning of the moon landing by American astronauts. One of the moon's craters is named after this Poltava-born scientist.

Serhiy Korolyov , prominent rocket engineer, father of practical astronautics. Koroliov was involved in the development of the first artificial Earth satellite, as well as the first human space flight, among other projects. Born in 1906 in Zhytomyr to Ukrainian-Belarusian parents.

Jan Koum , co-founder of WhatsApp and executive director of Facebook. Born in 1976 in Kyiv to a Ukrainian-Jewish family.

Max Levchin , a USA-based entrepreneur, scientist and one of the co-founders of PayPal international payment system. Born in 1974 in Kyiv, Levchin moved to the USA at the age of 16.
Healthcare
Yuriy Voroniy , a doctor and surgeon, holder of a post-doctoral degree in medicine, he was born in a village in Poltava Region. Voroniy conducted the first ever human kidney transplantation in 1933, when he transplanted a dead man's kidney to a woman.

Mykola Amosov , a doctor and heart surgeon, scientist and best-selling author, known for his invention of numerous surgery treatments of various heart illnesses. He lived and worked in Kyiv for 49 years, where he died in 2002.

Mykola Hamaliya , world-renowned microbiologist and epidemiologist. Hamaliya launched the Bacteriological Station in 1886 in Odesa, and vaccinations of human beings against rabies were carried out for the first time in the Russian Empire.

Ilya Mechnikov , a famous biologist, pathologist and immunologist, winner, alongside Paul Ehrlich, of the 1908 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine as an acknowledgement of his contribution to immunology issues. Born in a village in Kharkiv Region in 1845.

Selman Waksman , famous biochemist and microbiologist who triggered the discovery and development of many antibiotics. In 1952, Waksman was awarded the Nobel Prize for his contribution to the discovery of antibiotic against tuberculosis. Born in 1888 near Vinnytsia to Jewish parents.
Architecture
Vladyslav Horodetskiy , a world famous architect, who designed, among others, Saint Nicholas Roman Catholic Cathedral and Chimeras House in Kyiv. Born in Vinnytsia Region to a Polish family in 1863, Horodetskiy, also named the "Kyiv Gaudí", lived and worked in Kyiv for almost 30 years.
Politics
Anne de Kyiv , the queen consort of Henry I of France and queen of France (1051 - 1060), founded Saint Vincent Abbey in Senlis. She was the daughter of Yaroslav the Wise, Grand Prince of Kyiv and Prince of Novgorod.

Golda Meir , Israel's first and only woman to hold the office of the country's Prime Minister (1969-1974). Born in Kyiv in 1898 to a Jewish family.

Raphael Lemkin (1900 - 1959), Polish and American lawyer and scientist of Jewish descent, best known for coining the word "genocide" and initiating the Genocide Convention. Lemkin was the first scientist to determine the Stalin-ruled communist regime's policy against Ukrainians as genocide and analyzed the Holodomor in Ukraine in the context of international law.
Economics
Simon Kuznets , a famous economist and statistician, described as "the father of GDP", the winner of the 1971 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. Before he emigrated to the USA, Kuznets lived in Rivne and studied in Kharkiv.

Milton Friedman , a world-famous American economist, winner of the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory, and the demonstration of the complexity of stabilization policy. Born in the USA in 1912 to Jewish parents that emigrated from the city of Berehove, Zakarpattia Region.
Pioneering action
Pyotr Nesterov , a pilot, aerobatics pioneer and aircraft designer. In 1913, Nesterov performed the so-called "dead loop" over Syrets aerodrome in Kyiv, where he lived and worked. He was the first person in the world to perform the loop. Died in Lviv Region, and is buried at Lukianivske cemetery in Kyiv.
This article has been published with the financial support of International Renaissance Foundation

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UkraineConnection: famous people connected to Ukraine

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Ukrainians, Russians, Poles, Jews, Greeks, Romanians, Georgians, Armenians, Germans, Austrians, and people from many other ethnic backgrounds were born here, studied or worked here, or had parents who were born in Ukraine. Ukrainian cultural heritage is far from being monoethnic and monolingual.

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Our college was founded in 1958 as Novovolynsk Mining Technical School, now it is the State Higher Educational Establishment “Novovolynskiy Electromechanical College”, which has such specialties: Computer Engineering, Applied Mechanics, Power Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Electromechanics (4 years) and Entrepreneurship, Trade and Exchange (3 years). For the whole time Novovolynskiy Electromechanical College has trained about 20,000 specialists. Every year we teach more than 500 students in all courses. We always try to keep up with the times.

That is why we actively use available digital content and try to generate our own as part of the educational process.  In particular, the college's educational process is reproduced in the Google Classroom corporate account, as it is convenient to have access to materials 24/7, especially since some students are abroad.

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The Ukrainian land has given the world not only colourful folklore and national costumes. Famous Ukrainian artists and designers brought fame to their homeland in New York and Paris. It is difficult to determine how much one masterpiece will be sold from the auction. But the original works of brilliant Ukrainians are immediately noticeable against the background of other canvases in the most prestigious art galleries in the world.

Taras Shevchenko

The name of Taras Grigorievich Shevchenko is known to all lovers of Ukrainian literature. He is not only a classic poet and the founder of the literary form of the Ukrainian language, he is also the founder of the Ukrainian baroque in painting. The most famous painting is "Katerina".

Contemporary Ukrainian artists consider the former serf to be an apologist for national painting, although some of his works were painted in St. Petersburg, Orenburg and Kazakhstan, like this "Askold's Grave".

Art critics argue about the authorship of some of his paintings, they are so diverse. Naked nature was no stranger to him, like this "Odalisque", written from a sleeping model, tired of entertaining the audience with oriental dances.

Once upon a time, his paintings were considered illustrations for his own literary works. Then they were recognised as masterpieces, along with other canvases by famous Ukrainian artists. Now, they are replicated in the form of patterns for embroidery and colouring by numbers.

Ivan Marchuk

Is the author of these masterpieces also Ukrainian? This question is often asked by art historians and critics who first saw the work of Ivan Marchuk. However, connoisseurs unmistakably recognise his creations among the paintings of other great Ukrainian artists. His "Eve" fascinates with something really primordial.

According to the British edition of The Daily Telegraph, in 2007 Marchuk was included in the list of 100 geniuses of our time. In the West, his "Coloured Preludes", "New Expressions", "White Planet" and "Gaze into Infinity" are well known.

Tenderness. 1984, cardboard, tempera,

Maria Primachenko

A simple peasant woman who was born and lived in a remote village near Kyiv gave the world a new genre. A typical representative of "naive art" strikes the imagination with the simplicity and originality of the paintings.

In her life there were titles, awards and state awards. During the Soviet era, foreigners wanted at least from a distance to look at the amazing works of her studio school, when exhibitions of Ukrainian artists were closed.

The sculptural figures were as simple and intricate as the drawings of a rural girl with poliomyelitis, who made her way to the title of People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR. By the way, her husband and son were also recognised artists. It seems to be nothing special, but neither a child nor an adult would have thought of portraying animals like this.

Kateryna Bilokur

The list of famous artists of Ukraine would be incomplete without the name of Katerina Belokur, whose work amazes the imagination of people of different generations. She grew up in a well-to-do family that earned money from agriculture, but went through a difficult path to art. Today, the whole world knows it, and collectors gave a fortune for the stamp with "Flowers Behind the Fence".

Sketches, landscapes, still lifes and portraits by Belokur are inspired by the original culture of his people. She tried her hand at "naive art" until she found her own style of painting. Most of all she loved fresh flowers. Imitation of her technique is often used for voluminous photo wallpapers and textile designs.

Mikhail Andreenko-Nechitaylo

Many great Ukrainian artists, especially after the 1917 revolution, worked abroad. Therefore, the work of "Michel Andreenko" is better known to Parisians than to our compatriots.

Was born on December 29, 1894 in Odessa. The painter and decorator worked in Bucharest and Prague, but most of all he loved Paris, where he lived for 60 years. He prepared hundreds of bright scenery for performances, operas and ballets.

Scenography was a favourite hobby and the main source of income of the emigrant. Art critics consider him a great French modernist artist with Ukrainian roots.

"Composition", 1924

"Landscape B", pastel, 1960

Georgy Narbut

Georgy Narbut is the "father of Ukrainian money". Under any power, he was given the opportunity to work productively in any genre. No one else could so skillfully perform small curls for the manufacture of banknotes, stamps, coats of arms, alphabet, illustrations for the reprint of old folios, as did the famous Ukrainian artist from Chernihiv region.

The artist himself most of all liked to prepare covers for various publications. With the greatest enthusiasm he worked on illustrations for "Aeneid" by I. Kotlyarevsky, which he read with gusto (then it was published without textbook abbreviations). At that time he was fond of popular prints depicting war scenes, some of which "passed" into serious publications.

Mikhail Boychuk

A prominent representative of monumental painting was born in Western Ukraine, graduated from the Munich and Krakow Academy of Arts, giving birth to a new trend called "boychukism".

He had many students and followers, but the greatest interest is caused by his creative "handwriting" based on national traditions. This is how he portrayed the biblical prophet Elijah, who, according to the books of the Old Testament, was fed by crows in a desolate place.

Unfortunately, many of his works were destroyed, his family was shot by the Bolsheviks in 1937, and his students were repressed. Such was the bitter fate of the Ukrainian intelligentsia, which did not want to submit to the new government, since it was working "in the wrong direction."

He was accused of having "a lot of religion" in the subject of images. But famous Ukrainian artists often had to work with frescoes in temples and seminaries. This gave additional earnings, the ability to update approaches in creative search, finding a new channel. This is his version of The Last Supper.

Victor Sidorenko

The works of Viktor Sidorenko are too original, they cannot be confused with the paintings of other authors. They can only be painted in red on a white background, but these canvases are unmistakably recognised at any international exhibition.

Among the famous Ukrainian artists, there are few who left to work abroad, and then willingly returned to their homeland with personal inserts, a big name and new ideas.

The genius of the famous Ukrainian is recognised all over the world; large loans for investment are given on the security of his paintings. Another personal exhibition with paintings by Viktor Sidorenko has opened at the Saatchi Gallery in London. What is it about them? It's hard to say, let art critics argue over this. For example, one of his series of works, "Levitation".

Alexander Bogomazov

The very name of the famous Ukrainian artist Alexander Bogomazov speaks of creative genetics. "Bogomaz" were once called icon painters and masters of wall painting in Orthodox churches. In what generation it began, no one knows, but his talent and craving for art, which was noticed in childhood, is obvious. He practiced in different ways, and this is how the famous cubo-futurist saw "Cityscape".

He is rightly called "Ukrainian Picasso", but his work has been largely lost and forgotten. But even what has survived to this day gives an idea of ​​how the brilliant "descendant of godmazes" owned the palette.

Someone admires painting in the manner of avant-gardists, futurists or abstractionists, most do not understand this. However, the art of the twentieth century was further built on the creative searches of daring experimenters.

Initially, she was seen only a children's literature illustrator. Over time, Evgenia Gapchinskaya became a recognized master, along with famous artists of Ukraine. Her works are recognisable, there is so much optimism and childish naivety in them! They seem to remind that somewhere in the depths of their souls all people remain children.

You're my space" ("Ty moy kosmos"), 2019

There are "Galleries of Happiness" Gapchinskaya in the largest cities of the country. Others copied her work, but no one can think in the inimitable manner of a Ukrainian artist.

Plots, imbued with warmth and some kind of naive light, are sold for thousands of dollars. The most famous are "Watermelon", "You and Me" and "The Botanical in Love"!

The article is based on the materials of ArtHolst

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10 famous Ukrainian artists | odessa-journal.com

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The Ukrainian land has given the world not only colourful folklore and national costumes. Famous Ukrainian artists and designers brought fame to their homeland in New York and Paris. It is difficult to determine how much one masterpiece will be sold from the auction.

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Ukrainian Inventions That Changed The World

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Ukrainian Inventions That Changed The World

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