In 1991, Ukraine achieved independence with the dissolution of the USSR. On Feb. 23, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in what has been reported as "the biggest attack by one state against another in Europe since World War II." Several world leaders have denounced the attack and promise sanctions against Russia.

Check this page regularly for updated news and information related to the invasion.

Troy Becker / The Forum

• Capital: Kyiv
• Population: 43.7 million (July 2021 est.)
• Population Growth: -0.49% (2021 est.)
• Legislature: Unicameral Supreme Council or Verkhovna Rada (450 seats)
• Area: 233,031 square miles
• Historical: 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. Ukraine achieved independence in 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR.
• Economy: Lower middle-income non-EU Eastern European economy; major reforms after Maidan revolution; major wheat producer; industrial and energy exporter; persistent Russian interference and corruption weaken growth and investments; negatively impacted by COVID-19 pandemic.
• Language: Ukrainian (official) 67.5%, Russian (regional language) 29.6%, other 2.9% (2001 est.)
• Religion: Orthodox, Ukrainian Greek Catholic, Roman Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Jewish (2013 est.)
• Natural resources: Ukraine has more recoverable reserves of uranium ores than any other European nation, and is second in the world in iron ore reserves (2010). The nation is third in Europe for shale gas reserves and has the world's fourth-largest natural gas pipeline system. “Roughly 20% of Europe’s gas passes through Ukraine and the country has the third-largest gas production and the fourth-largest gas market in Europe,” according to a 2007 Oxford Institue for Energy Studies report.
• Agriculture: Ukraine has more arable land than any other nation in Europe. It is the number one exporter of sunflowers and sunflower oil in the world (2019). The country is the world's fourth-largest exporter of corn (2019-2020), third in potato production (2019), and the number five exporter of wheat in the world (2020).
• More info about Ukraine.

Sources: CIA World Factbook; Snopes.com