"text":"<p>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 overwhelmingly voted for independence in 1991 around the time of the dissolution of the USSR, democracy and prosperity remained elusive as the legacy of state control, patronage politics, and endemic corruption stalled efforts at economic reform, privatization, and civil liberties.</p> <p>A peaceful mass protest referred to as the \"Orange Revolution\" in the closing months of 2004 and early 2005 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 legislative (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 and fed up with blatant corruption 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.</p> <p>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\"asbaselessandinvalidandconfirmingthesovereignty,politicalindependence,unity,andterritorialintegrityofUkraine.Inmid-2014,RussiabegansupplyingproxiesintwoofUkraine'seasternprovinceswithmanpower,funding,andmaterielbeginninganarmedconflictwiththeUkrainianGovernment.RepresentativesfromUkraine,Russia,andtheunrecognizedRussianproxyrepublicssignedtheMinskProtocolandMemoranduminSeptember2014withtheaimofendingtheconflict.However,thisagreementfailedtost
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> approximately 43,133 sq km, or about 7.1% of Ukraine's area, is Russian occupied; the seized area includes all of Crimea and about one-third of both Luhans'k and Donets'k oblasts"
"text":"temperate continental; Mediterranean only on the southern Crimean coast; precipitation disproportionately distributed, highest in west and north, lesser in east and southeast; winters vary from cool along the Black Sea to cold farther inland; warm summers across the greater part of the country, hot in the south"
},
"Terrain":{
"text":"mostly fertile plains (steppes) and plateaus, with mountains found only in the west (the Carpathians) or in the extreme south of the Crimean Peninsula"
"text":"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<br><strong>note</strong> – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth"
"text":"densest settlement in the eastern (Donbas) and western regions; noteable concentrations in and around major urban areas of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Donets'k, Dnipropetrovs'k, and Odesa"
},
"Natural hazards":{
"text":"occasional floods; occasional droughts"
},
"Geography - note":{
"text":"strategic position at the crossroads between Europe and Asia; second-largest country in Europe after Russia"
"text":"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"
"text":"<br>Свiтова Книга Фактiв – найкраще джерело базової інформації. (Ukrainian)<br><br>The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information."
"text":"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":"<strong>note:</strong> 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; theOCU 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"
"text":"densest settlement in the eastern (Donbas) and western regions; noteable concentrations in and around major urban areas of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Donets'k, Dnipropetrovs'k, and Odesa"
"text":"air and water pollution; land degradation; solid waste management; biodiversity loss; deforestation; radiation contamination in the northeast from 1986 accident at Chornobyl' Nuclear Power Plant"
"text":"Air Pollution-Heavy Metals, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds"
}
},
"Climate":{
"text":"temperate continental; Mediterranean only on the southern Crimean coast; precipitation disproportionately distributed, highest in west and north, lesser in east and southeast; winters vary from cool along the Black Sea to cold farther inland; warm summers across the greater part of the country, hot in the south"
"text":"<em>due to conflict</em> - planting of 2023 winter crops was completed by mid‑November 2022 and crops are currently in winter dormancy phase; the area sown with wheat amounts to about 3.8 million hectares, well below the 6.5 million hectares planted in 2021; overall, the area sown with the 2023 winter cereal crops is estimated to be 40 percent below the average level; despite decreased cereal production, food availability at the national level is reported to be adequate, but access remains a major challenge; the country had already been experiencing elevated levels of food price inflation in the past, due to the economic impact of the conflict in eastern parts of the country; according to the 2023 Humanitarian Needs Overview, at least 17.6 million people are estimated to be in need of multi-sectoral humanitarian assistance in 2023 due to the war, including over 11 million in need of food security and livelihood interventions (2023)"
"text":"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<br><strong>note</strong> – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth"
"text":"Ukrainian National Republic, Ukrainian State, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic"
},
"etymology":{
"text":"name derives from the Old East Slavic word \"ukraina\" meaning \"borderland or march (militarized border region)\" and began to be used extensively in the 19th century; originally Ukrainians referred to themselves as Rusyny (Rusyns, Ruthenians, or Ruthenes), an endonym derived from the medieval Rus state (Kyivan Rus)"
"text":"the name is associated with that of Kyi, who along with his brothers Shchek and Khoryv, and their sister Lybid, are the legendary founders of the medieval city of Kyiv; Kyi being the eldest brother, the city was named after him"
"note":"<strong>note 1:</strong> 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 <br><br><strong>note 2:</strong> 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\"; neither does the US Government recognize Russia's claimed annexation of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts"
"text":"24 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union); notable earlier dates: ca. 982 (VOLODYMYR I consolidates Kyivan Rus); 1199 (Principality (later Kingdom) of Ruthenia formed); 1648 (establishment of the Cossack Hetmanate); 22 January 1918 (from Soviet Russia)"
"text":"Independence Day, 24 August (1991); note - 22 January 1918, the day Ukraine first declared its independence from Soviet Russia, and the date the short-lived Western and Greater (Eastern) Ukrainian republics united (1919), is now celebrated as Unity Day"
},
"Constitution":{
"history":{
"text":"several previous; latest adopted and ratified 28 June 1996"
},
"amendments":{
"text":"proposed by the president of Ukraine or by at least one third of the Supreme Council members; adoption requires simple majority vote by the Council and at least two-thirds majority vote in its next regular session; adoption of proposals relating to general constitutional principles, elections, and amendment procedures requires two-thirds majority vote by the Council and approval in a referendum; constitutional articles on personal rights and freedoms, national independence, and territorial integrity cannot be amended; amended several times, last in 2019"
}
},
"Legal system":{
"text":"civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts"
},
"International law organization participation":{
"text":"has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt"
},
"Citizenship":{
"citizenship by birth":{
"text":"no"
},
"citizenship by descent only":{
"text":"at least one parent must be a citizen of Ukraine"
},
"dual citizenship recognized":{
"text":"no"
},
"residency requirement for naturalization":{
"text":"5 years"
}
},
"Suffrage":{
"text":"18 years of age; universal"
},
"Executive branch":{
"chief of state":{
"text":"President Volodymyr ZELENSKYY (since 20 May 2019)"
},
"head of government":{
"text":"Prime Minister Denys SHMYHAL (since 4 March 2020)"
"text":"president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 31 March and 21 April 2019 (next to be held in March 2024); prime minister selected by the Verkhovna Rada"
"text":"<em>2019:</em> Volodymyr ZELENSKYY elected president; percent of vote in the first round Volodymyr ZELENSKYY (Servant of the People) 30.2%, Petro POROSHENKO (BPP-Solidarity) 15.6%, Yuliya TYMOSHENKO (Fatherland) 13.4%, Yuriy BOYKO (Opposition Platform-For Life) 11.7%, 35 other candidates 29.1%; percent of vote in the second round Volodymyr ZELENSKYY (Servant of the People) 73.2%, Petro POROSHENKO (BPP-Solidarity) 24.5%, other 2.3%; Denys SHMYHAL (independent) elected prime minister; Verkhovna Rada vote - 291-59<br><br><em>2014: </em>Petro POROSHENKO elected president in the first round; percent of vote - Petro POROSHENKO (independent) 54.5%, Yuliya TYMOSHENKO (Fatherland) 12.9%, Oleh LYASHKO (Radical Party) 8.4%, other 24.2%; Volodymyr HROYSMAN (BPP) elected prime minister; Verkhovna Rada vote - 257-50"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> there is also a National Security and Defense Council or NSDC originally created in 1992 as the National Security Council; the NSDC staff is tasked with developing national security policy on domestic and international matters and advising the president; a presidential administration helps draft presidential edicts and provides policy support to the president"
"text":"unicameral Supreme Council or Verkhovna Rada (450 seats; 225 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote and 225 directly elected in a single nationwide constituency by closed, party-list proportional representation vote; members serve 5-year terms)"
"text":"percent of vote by party - Servant of the People 43.2%, Opposition Platform-For Life 13.1%, Batkivshchyna 8.2%, European Solidarity 8.1%, Voice 5.8%, other 21.6%; Servant of the People 254, Opposition Platform for Life 43, Batkivshchyna 26, European Solidarity 25, Voice 20, Opposition Bloc 6, Svoboda 1, Self Reliance 1, United Centre 1, Bila Tserkva Together 1, Independents 46; note - voting not held in Crimea and parts of two Russian-occupied eastern oblasts leaving 26 seats vacant; although this brings the total to 424 elected members (of 450 potential), article 83 of the constitution mandates that a parliamentary majority consists of 226 seats"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> Legislative and presidential elections cannot be held under martial law.;the Verkhovna Rada declared martial law in February 2022 following Russia's full-scale invasion"
"text":"Supreme Court of Ukraine or SCU (consists of 100 judges, organized into civil, criminal, commercial and administrative chambers, and a grand chamber); Constitutional Court (consists of 18 justices); High Anti-Corruption Court (consists of 39 judges, including 12 in the Appeals Chamber)"
"text":"Supreme Court judges recommended by the High Qualification Commission of Judges (a 16-member state body responsible for judicial candidate testing and assessment and judicial administration), submitted to the High Council of Justice, a 21-member independent body of judicial officials responsible for judicial self-governance and administration, and appointed by the president; judges serve until mandatory retirement at age 65; High Anti-Corruption Court judges are selected by the same process as Supreme Court justices, with one addition – a majority of a combined High Qualification Commission of Judges and a 6-member Public Council of International Experts must vote in favor of potential judges in order to recommend their nomination to the High Council of Justice; this majority must include at least 3 members of the Public Council of International Experts; Constitutional Court justices appointed - 6 each by the president, by the Congress of Judges, and by the Verkhovna Rada; judges serve 9-year nonrenewable terms <p></p>"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> specialized courts were abolished as part of Ukraine's judicial reform program; in November 2019, President ZELENSKYY signed a bill on legal reforms"
"text":"Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) [Yuliya TYMOSHENKO]<br>European Solidarity or YeS [Petro POROSHENKO] <br>Holos (Voice or Vote) [Kira RUDYK]<br>Opposition Bloc [Evgeny MURAYEV] (formerly known as Opposition Bloc — Party for Peace and Development, successor of the Industrial Party of Ukraine, and resulted from a schism in the original Opposition Bloc in 2019; banned in court June 2022; ceased to exist in July 2022)<br>Opposition Bloc or OB (divided into Opposition Bloc - Party for Peace and Development and Opposition Platform - For Life in 2019; ceased to exist in July 2022)<br>Opposition Platform - For Life [Yuriy BOYKO] (resulted from a schism in the original Opposition Bloc in 2019; activities suspended by the National Security and Defense Council in March 2022; dissolved in April 2022)<br>Platform for Life and Peace [Yuriy BOYKO]<br>Radical Party or RPOL [Oleh LYASHKO]<br>Samopomich (Self Reliance) [Oksana Ivanivna SYROYID]<br>Servant of the People [Olena Oleksiivna SHULIAK]<br>Svoboda (Freedom) [Oleh TYAHNYBOK]"
"note":"<strong>note</strong>: Ukraine is an EU candidate country whose satisfactory completion of accession criteria is required before being granted full EU membership"
"text":"two equal horizontal bands of azure (top) and golden yellow; although the colors date back to medieval heraldry, in modern times they are sometimes claimed to represent grain fields under a blue sky"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> music adopted 1991, lyrics adopted 2003; song first performed in 1864 at the Ukraine Theatre in Lviv; the lyrics, originally written in 1862, were revised in 2003"
"text":"Kyiv: Saint Sophia Cathedral and Related Monastic Buildings, Kyiv Pechersk Lavra (c); Lviv Historic Center (c); Residence of Bukovinian and Dalmatian Metropolitans, Chernivtsi (c); Ancient City of Tauric Chersonese, Sevastopol (c); Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region (c); Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians (n); Struve Geodetic Arc (c)"
"text":"lower middle-income non-EU Eastern European economy; major wheat producer; industrial and energy exporter; big fiscal reallocations toward defenses; seeking $2 billion in monthly US wartime aid to combat Russia; mass war-related emigration and homelessness"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> Excluding the temporarily occupied territories of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the city of Sevastopol and part of the anti-terrorist operation zone"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> 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)"
"note":"<strong>note </strong>- This information does not take into account the effects from the current conflict in Ukraine and should be considered the prewar status"
"text":"there has been considerable damage and destruction to the communications infrastructure in more than 10 out of 24 regions of Ukraine since the war started (2023)"
"text":"country code - 380; landing point for the Kerch Strait Cable connecting Ukraine to Russia; 2 new domestic trunk lines are a part of the fiber-optic TAE system and 3 Ukrainian links have been installed in the fiber-optic TEL project that connects 18 countries; additional international service is provided by the Italy-Turkey-Ukraine-Russia (ITUR) fiber-optic submarine cable and by an unknown number of earth stations in the Intelsat, Inmarsat, and Intersputnik satellite systems"
"text":"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; Kyiv created a unified news platform to broadcast news about the war following Russia's full-scale invasion; the government's \"United News\" television marathon is a round-the clock framework which untied the Ukrainian public broadcaster and top commercial TV channels' programming; Ukraine television serves as the principal source of news; the largest national networks are controlled by oligarchs: 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)"
"text":"a sorting code to expeditiously handle large volumes of mail was first set up in Ukraine in the 1930s (then the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, part of the Soviet Union); the sophisticated, three-part (number-letter-number) postal code system, referred to as an \"index,\" was the world's first postal zip code; the system functioned well and was in use from 1932 to 1939 when it was abruptly discontinued"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control"
"note":"<strong>note 1:</strong> in the event that martial law is declared, all National Guard units, with certain exceptions such as those tasked with providing for diplomatic security of embassies and consulates, would come under the command of the Ministry of Defense as auxiliary forces to the Armed Forces<br><br><strong>note 2:</strong>the Territorial Defense Forces (TDF) were formally established in July 2021; the TDF evolved from former Territorial Defense Battalions and other volunteer militia and paramilitary units that were organized in 2014-2015 to fight Russian-backed separatists in the Donbas; in January 2022, the TDF was activated as a separate military branch; it is organized into 25 brigades of varying size representing each of the 24 oblasts, plus the city of Kyiv"
"text":"up to 700,000 active-duty personnel, including the Armed Forces, Territorial Defense Forces, National Guard, and State Border Guard (July 2022)",
"note":"<strong>note 1:</strong> following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, President ZELENSKY announced a general mobilization of the country; prior to the invasion, approximately 200,000 active Armed Forces 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; approximately 40,000 State Border Guard"
"text":"the Ukrainian military is equipped mostly with Russian-origin and Soviet-era weapons systems, although it has a growing inventory of Western-origin equipment; since the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022, it has received considerable quantities of weapons, including Soviet-era and more modern Western systems, from European countries and the US; Ukraine has a broad defense industry capable of building, maintaining, and upgrading a variety of its Russian/Soviet-era weapons systems, including armored vehicles, combat aircraft, missiles, and air defense systems (2023)"
"text":"conscription abolished in 2012, but reintroduced in 2014; 20-27 years of age for compulsory military service; prior to the Russian invasion of February 2022, conscript service obligation was 12-18 months, depending on the service (2023)",
"note":"<strong>note 1: </strong>following the Russian invasion in 2022, all nonexempt men ages 18 to 60 were required to register with their local recruitment offices and undergo medical screening for possible service; the Territorial Defense Forces (TDF) accepts volunteers, 18-60 years of age; since the invasion, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have volunteered for the regular armed forces, the TDF, or to work in civilian defense activities<strong><br><br></strong><strong>note 2: </strong>women have been able to volunteer for military service since 1993; as of 2023, approximately 60,000 women were serving in the armed forces<br><br><strong>note 3:</strong> since 2015, the Ukrainian military has allowed foreigners and stateless persons, 18-45 (in special cases up to 60), to join on 3-5-year contracts, based on qualifications; following the Russian invasion in 2022, the military began accepting medically fit foreign volunteers on a larger scale, with an emphasis on persons with combat experience; wartime volunteers typically serve for 6 months"
"text":"<strong>note:</strong> prior to the Russian invasion in 2022, Ukraine contributed 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; units affiliated with the multinational brigade remain within the structures of the armed forces of their respective countries until the brigade is activated for participation in an international operation"
"text":"Ukraine has a relationship with NATO dating back to the early 1990s when Ukraine joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (1991) and the Partnership for Peace program (1994); the relationship intensified in the wake of the 2014 Russia-Ukraine conflict and Russian seizure of Crimea to include NATO support for Ukrainian military capabilities development and capacity-building; NATO further increased its support to the Ukrainian military following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 (2023)"
"text":"<p><em>Ukraine-Belarus</em>: in 1997, Ukraine and Belarus signed a boundary delimitation treaty; the instruments of ratification were exchanged in 2013; a joint commission should be established to enable the actual demarcation to begin</p> <p><em>Ukraine-Hungary</em>: hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees are crossing the border to Hungary to escape the Russian invasion in their country</p> <p><em>Ukraine-Moldova</em>: hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees are crossing the border to Moldova to escape the Russian invasion in their country; 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</p> <p><em>Ukraine-Poland</em>: hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees are crossing the border to Poland to escape the Russian invasion in their country</p> <p><em>Ukraine-Romania</em>: hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees are crossing the border to Romania to escape the Russian invasion in their country, the ICJ in 2009 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</p> <p><em>Ukraine-Russia</em>: 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</p> <p><em>Ukraine-Slovakia</em>: tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees are crossing the border to Slovakia to escape the Russian invasion of their country</p>"
"text":"<p>1,461,700 (Russian-sponsored separatist violence in Crimea and eastern Ukraine) (2021); 5.1 million (Russian invasion); 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</p>"
"text":"36,459 (2022); 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"
"text":"<br><br>a transit country for non-domestically produced drugs, such as cocaine and heroin, bound for consumer markets in the European Union and Russia; overland corridors for the movement of these drugs exists, but Ukraine’s southern ports on the Black Sea, notably Odesa and Pivdennyi, are disrupted due to the war; domestically produced amphetamine, methamphetamine, methadone, alpha-PVP, and new psychoactive substances (NPS) remain threats to Ukrainian society; production and consumption of cannabis remains significant"
