title: Right to keep and bear arms

text: Furthermore, the law does not allow an offensive weapon or ordinary item intended or adapted as an offensive weapon to be carried in public before the threat of violence arises. This would only be acceptable in the eyes of the law if the person armed themselves immediately preceding or during an attack (in a public place). This is known as a "weapon of opportunity" or "instantaneous arming".


title: Right to keep and bear arms

text: Under Sharia law, there is an intrinsic freedom to own arms. However, in times of civil strife or internal violence, this right can be temporarily suspended to keep peace and prevent harm, as mentioned by Imam ash-Shatibi in his works on Maqasid ash-Shari'ah (The Intents and Purposes of Shari'ah). Citizens not practicing Islam are prohibited from bearing arms and are required to be protected by the military, the state for which they pay the jizyah. In exchange they do not need to pay the zakat.


title: Right to keep and bear arms

text: Yemen recognizes statutory right to keep and bear arms. Firearms are both easily and legally accessible.


title: Right to keep and bear arms

text: Legal restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms are usually put in place by legislators in an attempt to reduce firearm-based violence and crime. Their actions may be the result of political groups advocating for such regulations. The Brady Campaign, Snowdrop Campaign, and the Million Mom March are examples of campaigns calling for tighter restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms. Accident statistics can be hard to obtain, but much data is available on the issue of gun ownership and gun related deaths.


title: Right to keep and bear arms

text: The United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) has made comparisons between countries with different levels of gun ownership and investigated the correlation between gun ownership levels and gun homicides, and between gun ownership levels and gun suicides. A "substantial correlation" is seen in both.


title: Right to keep and bear arms

text: UNICRI also investigated the relationship between gun ownership levels and other forms of homicide or suicide to determine whether high levels of gun ownership added to or merely displaced other forms of homicide or suicide. They reported that "widespread gun ownership has not been found to reduce the likelihood of fatal events committed with other means. Thus, people do not turn to knives and other potentially lethal instruments less often when more guns are available, but more guns usually means more victims of suicide and homicide." The researchers concluded that "all we know is that guns do not reduce fatal events due to other means, but that they go along with more shootings. Although we do not know why exactly this is so, we have a good reason to suspect guns to play a fatal role in this".


title: Right to keep and bear arms

text: This research found that guns were the major cause of homicides in three of the fourteen countries it studied: Northern Ireland, Italy, and the United States. Although some data indicates that reducing the availability of one significant type of arms—firearms—leads to reductions both in gun crimes and gun suicides and moderate reductions in overall crimes and overall suicides, the author did caution that "reducing the number of guns in the hands of the private citizen may become a hopeless task beyond a certain point," citing the American example where gun laws remain a subject of heated debate (see also Gun politics in the United States).


title: Right to keep and bear arms

text: A posterior study by UNICRI researchers from 2001 examined the link between household gun ownership and overall homicide, overall suicide, as well as gun homicide and gun suicide rates amongst 21 countries. The researchers declared "The results show very strong correlations between the presence of guns in the home and suicide committed with a gun, rates of gun-related homicide involving female victims, and gun-related assault." There were no significant correlations detected for total homicide and suicide rates, as well as gun homicide rates involving male victims.


title: Right to keep and bear arms

text: Some other research indicates that gun levels do not affect the total number of homicides or the total number of suicides, but rather affect the share of homicides or suicides committed with guns.


title: Right to keep and bear arms

text: Public-health critic, gun-rights proponent, and editor-in-chief of "Surgical Neurology International" Miguel Faria contended in 2012 that keeping and bearing arms not only has constitutional protection, but also that firearms have beneficial aspects that have been ignored by the public health establishment in which he played a part. He also contended that guns are beneficial in self-defense, collective defense, and in protecting life and property.


title: Right to keep and bear arms

text: A 2012 study in the journal "Annual Review of Public Health" found that suicide rates are greater in households with firearms than those without them.


title: We Have Always Lived in the Castle (film)

text: We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a 2018 American mystery thriller film directed by Stacie Passon, written by Mark Kruger, and starring Taissa Farmiga, Alexandra Daddario, Crispin Glover, and Sebastian Stan. It was based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Shirley Jackson.


text: It premiered at the LA Film Festival on September 22, 2018, to generally favorable reviews. It was released on May 17, 2019 by Brainstorm Media.


text: 18-year-old Mary Katherine "Merricat" Blackwood lives on the family estate with her older sister Constance and their ailing uncle Julian. Constance has not left the house in the six years since she was tried and acquitted of the death of her parents by poisoning. Every Tuesday, Merricat goes to the village to shop while the villagers harass her. Merricat practices her own brand of protective magic by burying articles of power in the ground to keep evil forces at bay and protect Constance. It's unclear whether this power is real or imaginary.


text: Constance sees only a single family friend, Helen Clarke, who comes to tea every week. Helen tries to convince Constance that she should rejoin the outside world. This enrages and terrifies Merricat, who creates magic to prevent Constance from leaving. On Thursday, Constance sends Merricat on an errand to town. Merricat is distressed at the thought of going into town on the wrong day and has no time to check her magical safeguards. When she returns, she finds all her wards have been unearthed. Before she can warn her sister, she is introduced to their estranged cousin, Charles.


text: Over the next few days, Charles attempts to lure Constance away with the promise of seeing the world while setting his sights on the family fortune, locked in a safe. Constance is charmed and subservient toward him. However, Charles behaves condescendingly to Julian and taunts Merricat with the idea of stealing her sister. Merricat retaliates by casting magical spells on Charles, vandalizing his room and belongings, and speaking to him only in descriptions of poisonous plants. When Charles threatens to punish her, Merricat throws everything on his desk, including his lit pipe, into a wastebasket. Charles beats her until he discovers that his room is on fire.


text: The fire department arrives, along with the villagers, who call to let the house burn. Constance and Merricat hide downstairs as the fire is extinguished. The villagers rush into the house and vandalize it. The mob seems ready to attack the sisters, but Helen Clarke's husband announces that Uncle Julian has died of smoke inhalation. The mob disperses, and the sisters take refuge in the woods.


text: The following morning, the sisters return home and barricade the doors and windows. With the upper floors destroyed, the remains resemble a turreted castle. Merricat announces that she intends to poison the whole village; Constance reveals that this is what Merricat did once before to their parents and expresses gratitude that Merricat saved her from their wicked father. The villagers leave gifts of food at their door and apologize for destroying their property, but the sisters never respond. Charles returns, begging Constance to let him in. When they remain silent, Charles enters the house by force and attacks Constance. Merricat bludgeons him to death with a snow globe, and they bury him in the garden.


text: In the present, the sisters are cleaning what remains of their house when two village children arrive to taunt them. Merricat steps outside, and the children flee in fear. Constance tells Merricat that she loves her, and Merricat, for the first time in the film, smiles.


text: The film, the first screen adaptation of Shirley Jackson's novel of the same name, was originally reported to be in development in August 2009, when Michael Douglas's production company Further Films announced its attachment to the project written by Mark Kruger. Jackson's eldest son, Laurence Hyman, was also reported to be producing in some capacity. In August 2016, Stacie Passon was reported to be directing the film, with Jared Ian Goldman and Robert Mitas producing, and Douglas and Robert Halmi Jr. serving as executive producers.


text: In March 2010, it was revealed that Douglas would star in the film, and Rachel McAdams and Saoirse Ronan were also rumored to be attached. On August 9, 2016, Sebastian Stan's casting as Charles Blackwood was announced. That same day, Taissa Farmiga, Alexandra Daddario, Willem Dafoe, and Joanne Crawford were confirmed to star in the film. Farmiga and Daddario were cast in the main roles of protagonist Merricat Blackwood and her sister Constance Blackwood, respectively. On August 11, 2016, Crispin Glover was cast as Uncle Julian Blackwood, replacing Dafoe in the role. Peter O'Meara joined the cast on August 21, in the supporting role of Sam Clarke.


text: Principal photography began on August 8, 2016 in Bray and Dublin, Republic of Ireland. Farmiga, Stan, and Peter Coonan were spotted on set for the second day of filming in the village of Enniskerry, County Wicklow. Production continued in Dublin, where it concluded on September 9, 2016.


text: The film had its world premiere at the LA Film Festival on September 22, 2018 and was released on May 17, 2019, by Brainstorm Media.


text: On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The site's critical consensus reads, ""We Have Always Lived in the Castle" draws on Shirley Jackson's classic tale to deliver a skillfully crafted mystery that engrosses and unsettles in equal measure." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 63 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Raza Murad

text: He has over 250 Bollywood film credits. Murad has also appeared in Bhojpuri and other regional-language films and on Hindi television.


title: Raza Murad

text: He is the son of the Bollywood character actor Hamid Ali Murad. Murad is the first cousin of Zeenat Aman and nephew of Amanullah Khan, writer of "Mughal-e-Azam" and "Pakeezah". His nieces, Sonam and Sanober Kabir, are also performers.


title: Raza Murad

text: Murad began his career in film Ek Nazar (1972 film), and played sympathetic brothers (and brother figures) in the 1970s. Since the 1980s, he has primarily appeared in supporting roles as a father, uncle, or villain.


title: Raza Murad

text: Murad studied at the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune from 1969 to 1971, and received a diploma in film acting. With a distinctive baritone voice, one of his memorable roles as a character actor was the despondent poet in 1973's "Namak Haraam" with Amitabh Bachchan and Rajesh Khanna.


title: Raza Murad

text: Murad had significant roles in successful Bollywood films such as Raj Kapoor's "Prem Rog", "Henna" and "Ram Teri Ganga Maili" as well as "Khud-daar", "Ram Lakhan", "Tridev", "Pyar Ka Mandir", "Aankhen", "Mohra", and "". He appeared in 1993's "Ek Hi Raasta" with Ajay Devgn as a terrorist who attempts to rule India. Murad played a supporting role in Ashutosh Gowariker's "Jodhaa Akbar". Murad starred in several Punjabi films, including "Jatt Punjabi". He acted in Dharam Jeet (1975) with Punjabi actor Veerendra (Dharmendra's cousin) He received a lifetime achievement award for his contributions to Punjabi cinema at the February 2011 PTC Punjabi Film Awards. Murad has been nominated for seven Filmfare Awards as a villain, winning one. He appeared in the TV series "Madhubala – Ek Ishq Ek Junoon". Murad has appeared in several Telugu films, including "Indra" (2002). He played Jalal-ud-din Khalji, the founder and the first ruler of the Khalji Dynasty of the famous Delhi Sultanate, in a 2018 romantic period drama "Padmaavat".


title: Three Imaginary Boys

text: Three Imaginary Boys is the debut studio album by English rock band The Cure, released on 11 May 1979 by Fiction Records. It was later released in the United States, Canada, and Australia with a different track listing as a compilation album titled "Boys Don't Cry".


title: Three Imaginary Boys

text: "Three Imaginary Boys" was released on 11 May 1979 by record label Fiction. The record company decided which songs were put on the album, as well as the cover artwork, without Robert Smith's consent. For all Cure albums since, Smith has ensured that he is given complete creative control over the final product before it goes on sale. The "Foxy Lady" soundcheck, with vocals sung by Michael Dempsey, was not supposed to be on the album, and was removed for the American release. Smith has stated that "songs like 'Object' and 'World War' and our cover of 'Foxy Lady' were Chris Parry's choice".


title: Three Imaginary Boys

text: The album was reissued on 29 November 2004 and featured a second disc of unreleased material, including songs recorded under the band name Easy Cure with Porl Thompson. It was originally supposed to be released in early 2004 along with the band's next three studio albums ("Seventeen Seconds", "Faith" and "Pornography"), but was delayed multiple times before being released by itself at the end of 2004. As it featured a variety of old songs, it was the only Deluxe Edition by the band that did not include an alternate version of each song on the first disc. Some of the early booklets in the reissue had missing lyrics, which were made available on the Cure's website in PDF form. All copies since contain the lyrics. A one-disc reissue was released on 5 September 2005, containing only the original album. It was also released in the standard jewel case rather than in a box. In some countries, the Deluxe Edition has become a collector's item as production was phased out, being replaced by the more economic single-disc version.


title: Three Imaginary Boys

text: Despite Smith's displeasure with the record, "Three Imaginary Boys" was well received critically at the time of its release. "Sounds" Dave McCullough praised it in a 5-star review and noted: "The Cure are going somewhere different on each track, the ideas are startling and disarming." McCullough noted the variety of the material and qualified "Grinding Halt" as a "pop song that reminds you of the Isley Brothers or the Buzzcocks." Red Starr, writing in "Smash Hits", described the album as a "brilliant, compelling debut." However, "NME"s Paul Morley did not share the same point of view and wrote: "Most of the time, it's a voice catching its breath, a cautiously primitive riff guitar, toy drumming and a sprightly bass."


title: Three Imaginary Boys

text: Chris True of AllMusic retrospectively called the album "a very strong debut" and a "semi-detached bit of late-'70s English pop-punk". Nitsuh Abebe of "Pitchfork" likened the album to a "new wave Wire... [or] Joy Division" and called it "as original a record as anything else to spin off from the tail end of punk." He also called the album "spiky post-punk." BBC Music critic Simon Morgan said "Smith was forging his own take on the post-punk zeitgeist," while author Martin C. Strong said it "remains among the Cure's finest work," adding that "their strangely accessible post-punk snippets lent an air of suppressed melancholy." The album was also described as "a collection of melodic but slightly kooky power-pop" by Chris Gerard of "PopMatters".


title: Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI

text: The resignation of Pope Benedict XVI took effect on 28 February 2013 at 20:00 CET, following his announcement of it on 11 February. It made him the first pope to relinquish the office since Gregory XII was forced to resign in 1415 to end the Western Schism, and the first pope to voluntarily resign since Celestine V in 1294.


title: Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI

text: All other popes in the modern era have held the position from election until death. Benedict cited declining health due to old age. The conclave to select his successor began on 12 March 2013 and elected Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina, who took the name of Francis.


title: Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI

text: Pope Benedict XVI announced his intention to resign in Latin at the Apostolic Palace in the Sala del Concistoro, at an early morning gathering on 11 February 2013—the World Day of the Sick, a Vatican holy day. The gathering was officially to announce the date of the canonisation of 800 Catholic martyrs, Antonio Primaldo and companions, and the Latin American nuns Laura Montoya Upegui and Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala. At the ceremony, known as the "Consistory for the canonization of the martyrs of Otranto", he told those present that he had made "a decision of great importance for the life of the church". In a statement, he cited his deteriorating strength due to old age and the physical and mental demands of the papacy. He also declared that he would continue to serve the Church "through a life dedicated to prayer".


title: Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI

text: Two days later, he presided over his final public Mass, Ash Wednesday services that ended with congregants bursting into a "deafening standing ovation that lasted for minutes" while the pontiff departed St. Peter's Basilica. On 17 February 2013, Benedict, speaking in Spanish, requested prayers for himself and the new pope from the crowd in St. Peter's Square.


title: Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI

text: According to Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi, Benedict would not have the title of cardinal upon his retirement and would not be eligible to hold any office in the Roman Curia. On 26 February 2013, Father Lombardi stated that the pope's style and title after resignation are "His Holiness Benedict XVI, Roman Pontiff Emeritus", or "Pope Emeritus". In later years, Benedict expressed his desire to be known simply as "Father Benedict" in conversation.


title: Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI

text: He continues to wear his distinctive white cassock without the mozzetta. Instead of the red papal shoes, he wears a pair of brown shoes that he received during a state visit to Mexico. Cardinal Camerlengo Tarcisio Bertone destroyed the Ring of the Fisherman and the lead seal of Benedict's pontificate. Benedict now wears a regular ecclesiastical ring.


title: Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI

text: After his resignation, Benedict took up residence in the Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo. As the Swiss Guard serves as the personal bodyguard to the pope, their service at Castel Gandolfo ended with Benedict's resignation. The Vatican Gendarmerie ordinarily provides security at the Papal summer residence; they became solely responsible for the former pope's personal security. Benedict moved permanently to Vatican City's Mater Ecclesiae on 2 May 2013, a monastery previously used by nuns for stays of up to several years. According to anonymous Vatican officials, his continued presence in Vatican City will assist with the provision of security, prevent his retirement location from becoming a place of pilgrimage, and protect him from potential lawsuits.


title: Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI

text: Politicians around the globe reacted to the news. Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff, Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, United Kingdom's Prime Minister David Cameron and United States' President Barack Obama praised Benedict and his pontificate; while Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti and Philippines' President Benigno Aquino III expressed shock and regret, respectively.


title: Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI

text: Cardinal Walter Brandmüller revealed that he initially thought the news of the renunciation was a "carnival joke", according to an interview he gave with the Germany daily newspaper, "Bild".


title: Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI

text: Metropolitan Archbishop of Lagos Alfred Adewale Martins said of the resignation:We do not have this sort of event happening . But at the same time, we know that the Code of Canon Law promulgated in 1983 makes provision for the resignation of the pope, if he becomes incapacitated or, as with Benedict XVI, if he believes he is no longer able to effectively carry out his official functions as head of the Roman Catholic Church due to a decline in his physical ability. This is not the first time that a pope would resign. In fact, we have had not less than three who resigned, including Pope Celestine V in 1294 and Pope Gregory XII in 1415. Pope Benedict XVI was not forced into taking that decision. Like he said in his own words, he acted with "full freedom", being conscious of the deep spiritual implication of his action. ...By his decision, the Holy Father has acted gallantly and as such we must commend and respect his decision.


title: Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI

text: Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, the archbishop of New York, said that Benedict "brought a listening heart to victims of sexual abuse".


title: Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI

text: One year before the pope's resignation, historian Jon M. Sweeney alluded to the possibility of it in his book "The Pope Who Quit".


title: Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI

text: George W. Rutler, pastor of St. Michael's church in New York City, having the Regensburg lecture in mind, referred to Mark and Jeremiah: "If a prophet is not without honor save in his own country, a great prophet is not without honor save in the whole world. ...Of one thing we may be certain: like the bold prophet Jeremiah, the benign prophet Benedict will never say in this world or from the next, 'I told you so.' Reality has said that already by events more than words."


title: Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI

text: A spokesman for Yona Metzger, the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel, stated: "During his period there were the best relations ever between the [Catholic] Church and the chief rabbinate, and we hope that this trend will continue. I think [Benedict] deserves a lot of credit for advancing inter-religious links the world over between Judaism, Christianity and Islam." He also said that Metzger wished Benedict XVI "good health and long days."


title: Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI

text: Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama and spiritual head of the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism, expressed sadness over the resignation, while noting "his decision must be realistic, for the greater benefit to concern the people."


title: Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI

text: "New York Times" columnist Ross Douthat expressed that "nothing in his papacy became him like the leaving of it: His stunning 2013 resignation was the kind of revolutionary gesture that the church so badly needed." On "Catholic Family News," Roberto de Mattei concluded: "The resignation of Benedict XVI [...] is for me the symbol of the surrender of the Church to the world."


title: Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI

text: It was reported at the time in "La Repubblica" that the pope's resignation was linked to a "gay mafia" operating within the Vatican: an underground network of high-ranking homosexual clergy, holding sex parties in Rome and the Vatican, and involved with corruption in the Vatican Bank. The pope's resignation was supposedly prompted by a 300-page dossier on the Vatican leaks scandal. In a 2016 book, "The Last Conversations", the Pope Emeritus downplayed the "gay mafia" rumour, describing it as a group of four or five people who were seeking to influence Vatican decisions that he had succeeded in breaking up.


title: Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI

text: Benedict XVI delivered his final Angelus on Sunday, 24 February. He told the gathered crowd, who carried flags and thanked the pope, "Thank you for your affection. [I will take up a life of prayer and meditation] to be able to continue serving the church." The pope appeared for the last time in public during his regular Wednesday audience on 27 February 2013. By 16 February, 35,000 people had already registered to attend the audience. On the evening of 27 February there was a candlelight vigil to show support for Pope Benedict XVI at St. Peter's Square. On his final day as pope, Benedict held an audience with the college of Cardinals, and at 16:15 (4:15 pm) local time he boarded a helicopter and flew to Castel Gandolfo. At about 17:30 (5:30 pm), he addressed the masses from the balcony for the last time as pope. After this speech Benedict waited out the final hours of his papacy, which ended at 20:00 CET (8:00 pm) and promptly the see of Rome became vacant.


title: K21

text: The K21 is a South Korean infantry fighting vehicle. A replacement for the K200-series, it was formerly designated as K300 or XK21 KNIFV (Korea Next-generation Infantry Fighting Vehicle). The initial production began in 2009, with the Republic of Korea Army planning to field approximately 466 units. It is designed to effectively defeat other IFVs as heavily armed and armored as the BMP-3.


title: K21

text: Development began in 1999. A $77 million contract was awarded to Doosan DST for the NIFV prototype in 2003. Three prototype vehicles were delivered to the ROK Army in 2005. A contract for the first batch of K21 vehicles was signed in October 2008 worth $386.7 million. Production began in November 2009 after a ten-year development period. K21s will be deployed from 2013 through 2016.


title: K21

text: The K21 KNIFV's chassis is constructed entirely out of aluminium with certain parts, like hatches, made of fiberglass, reducing the weight of the vehicle and enabling it to travel at higher speeds without bulky and powerful engines. The NIFV is to be lighter than other IFVs, including the American Bradley series, increasing both speed and payload.


title: K21

text: The design was finally deemed production-ready in 2009, following 10 years in development and a research budget expenditure of approximately USD $80 million. More than 85% of the vehicle's design is domestic. However a redesign is in order following the sinking of two vehicles while engaged in amphibious operations. A board of inquiry found that the problem was a lack of buoyancy, a malfunctioning wave plate, and a technical problem with the drain pump, all of which are to be corrected in the new design.


title: K21

text: The two-man turret on the K21 is armed with an S&T Dynamics K40 40 mm cannon. The K40 40 mm automatic gun was developed based on the design of the Nobong 40 mm twin naval cannon, which was developed to replace the OTO Melara DARDO CIWS, which was serviced by the South Korean Navy, capable of firing APFSDS, high-explosive, smoke and multipurpose munitions, and a 7.62 mm machine gun. This is combined with an advanced fire-control system and gun stabilizer usually found on third-generation main battle tanks that makes the K21, together with the German Puma, able to move and engage the targets with high degree of accuracy at the same time. The ammunition for the autocannon is stored under the turret. The 40 mm cannon can fire up to 300 rounds per minute, with a projectile velocity of up to . The improved APFSDS rounds fired from it is able to penetrate up to of armor, slightly higher than other APFSDS rounds, due to the self-sharpening process as the round penetrates the armour.


title: K21

text: The multipurpose munition (한글: 복합기능탄) has several modes including proximity, air burst, armour-piercing and fragmentation. The mode is configured by the K21's FCS, which then transmits the necessary data to a small programmable fuse system inside the round before it is fired. This allows more control over the trajectory and impact of the round, expanding the scope of possible targets from medium armored vehicles to aircraft and infantry personnel.


title: K21

text: Anti-tank armament includes an indigenous 3rd-generation ATGM, with performance similar to the Israeli Spike and armour penetration of of RHA base.


title: K21

text: The fire-control system is able to spot and track targets as far away as away and identify them from up to away. IFF sensors are also present. The vehicle also has hunter-killer capabilities with its separate commander's sight (IFV Commander's Panoramic Sight or ICPS) and gunner's sight (IFV Gunner's Primary Sight or IGPS), which can detect both ground and aerial targets. The sights are designed by Samsung Thales.


title: K21

text: The gunner's sight is equipped with a third generation thermal viewer and a 1.54 μm laser rangefinder. It can detect targets from 6,000 meters away and identify them from 3,000 meters away. The commander's sight is equipped with the same system as the gunner's. This allows the gunner to use the commander's sight to engage targets if his own sight is disabled or destroyed. The commander of the vehicle also has the ability to override the command to take control of the turret and gun from the gunner.


title: K21

text: Although not much is known about the composition of the K21's armour, the frontal armour of the vehicle is specifically designed to protect against large caliber automatic cannon rounds, primarily the 30 mm APDS munitions (30×165mm) for 2A72 automatic cannon used on BMP-3, which has approximately armour penetration at ranges of 1,000 m. The side armour is designed to protect against 14.5 mm AP rounds, which have approximately armour penetration at 1,000 m. The top can withstand fragments from 152 mm artillery shells exploding as close as 10 meters. It has been confirmed that the composite armour comprises S2-glass fibre and Al2O3 ceramic including lightweight aluminium alloy.


title: K21

text: The vehicle has a soft self-sealing fuel tank that can absorb the impact of a projectile. There is also an automatic fire suppression system inside the vehicle to extinguish any internal fires that might erupt.


title: K21

text: The K21 PIP (Product Improvement Program) will include an active protection suite and hard-kill anti-missile system similar to the AWiSS that will also be utilized for the K2 PIP. This will increase the vehicle's ability to defend itself against various ATGMs.


title: K21

text: The K21 is able to carry a total of 9 passengers and 3 more vehicle crew members. With the Battle Management System, the vehicle crew and passengers inside the vehicle can be instantly notified about the environment around them, improving their situational awareness. A screen is installed inside the passenger compartment, which provides various data from the BMS. The vehicle is mounted with an external CCD camera, and the passengers inside can survey the environment using the same screen.


title: K21

text: The K21 is equipped with a turbocharged Doosan D2840LXE V-10 diesel engine. The vehicle weight is approximately 25.6 tonnes which, combined with the total output of the engine, gives it a power/weight ratio of approximately 29 hp/t. The K21 PIP will feature an improved version of the engine that will give the vehicle an increased power of 840 hp.


title: K21

text: A newly developed semi-active ISU, or In-arm Suspension Unit, is available for the K21. The same unit is to be used on the K2 Black Panther. Despite having the same ISU used on the K2 Black Panther, the K21 cannot change its posture.


title: K21

text: The vehicle can travel on both land and water. A pontoon system gives more buoyancy to float on water when additional weight is put on to the vehicle.


title: K21

text: Doosan DST and Belgian firm Cockerill joined together in early 2013 to develop the Cockerill XC-8 turret for the K21 to provide a medium weight direct fire capability. The XC-8 is based on the Cockerill CT-CV 105HP turret and is fitted with a 105 mm or 120 mm gun. The 105 mm version fires all NATO 105 mm ammunition and can also use the Cockerill Falarick 105 Gun-Launched Anti-Tank Guided Missile (GLATGM). It has a maximum elevation of 42 degrees, allowing for a max indirect fire range of . The 120 mm version fires all NATO 120 mm ammunition and can utilize the Cockerill Falarick 120 GLATGM. The missile can engage heavy armor beyond . Both turrets have a two-man crew, are autoloaded, and are digital, fully stabilized, day/night weapon systems.


title: K21

text: In 2014, CMI Defence and Doosan DST publicly revealed the K21-105, a light tank version of the K21 chassis fitted with a CMI Defence CT-CV 105HP turret. Referred to as a medium tank by its developers, the vehicle weighs around 25 tons with a 3-man crew, and is cheaper to produce and maintain and has better mobility than actual tanks. The vehicle's main role is direct fire support for infantry against armored and soft-skinned vehicles, buildings, and fortifications. Main armament is a 105 mm rifled low-recoil gun that fires standard NATO and newly developed smart ammunition with a max direct fire range of ; although the gun would not be effective against modern main battle tanks, it can defeat older tanks that North Korea still has in widespread service. The gun can also fire the Ukrainian-designed laser-guided Falarick 105 GLATGM, which has a range of and a tandem warhead capable of penetrating of armor behind ERA. The turret has a bustle-mounted automatic ammunition loading system capable of firing 8 rounds per minute and stores rounds in the bustle compartment, separated from the crew. Secondary armament is a coaxial 7.62 mm machine gun plus an optional roof-mounted 12.7 mm machine gun in a remote weapon station. The K21-105 retains the protection level and amphibious capability of the K21 IFV.


title: K21

text: Hanwha Defense have proposed a development of the K21 known as the AS21 Redback, equipped with a 30mm caliber automatic cannon for the Australian Army's Land 400 Phase 3 IFV competition. In mid-September 2019, Rheinmetall's Lynx KF41 Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) and Hanwha's Redback AS21 IFV were shortlisted for consideration for the Australian Army’s project Land 400 Phase 3. In 2021, prototype AS21s were delivered to the Australian Army for testing purposes.


title: K21

text: Oshkosh Defense is developing a version of the Redback as its entry under a competitive contract for the U.S. Army Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle program.


title: K21

text: As a part of a wider strengthening of Polish Korean cooperation in the armaments sector, in October 2022, The Polish government showed interest in the Redback, in order to replace its obsolete fleet of BMP-1 vehicles. The Polish army has begun testing the Redback in trials in anticipation of a decision to either acquire the vehicle in conjunction with the Polish "BWP Borsuk".


title: Universal Camouflage Pattern

text: The Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP) is a digital military camouflage pattern formerly used by the United States Army in their Army Combat Uniform. Technicians at Natick Soldier Systems Center attempted to devise a uniform pattern that would mask the wearer in all seasonal environments. Laboratory and field tests from 2003 to 2004 showed a pattern named All-Over-Brush (MultiCam Contractor Developed Mod) to provide the best concealment of the patterns tested. All-Over-Brush was selected as the winner over ten other patterns, It was observed at the time that the universal disadvantage of an all-in-one pattern meant compromise and lowered effectiveness in all environments versus a more effective coloration for each environment. Further, the winning All-Over-Brush pattern was not in fact chosen as the final UCP. Instead, U.S. Army leadership utilized pixellated images taken from Canadian CADPAT and US Marine Corps MARPAT, then recolored them based on three universal colors developed in the Army's 2002-2004 tests, to be called the UCP. While the pixelated pattern of the UCP is similar to the MARPAT and CADPAT camouflage patterns used by the United States Marine Corps and the Canadian Armed Forces, its coloration differs significantly. The final UCP was then adopted without field testing against other patterns.


title: Universal Camouflage Pattern

text: Soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan questioned the effectiveness of the UCP in concealing them from enemy observation, and that the uniform was in fact endangering their missions and their lives. In response, the US Army conducted several studies to find a modification or replacement for the standard issue pattern. In July 2014, the Army announced that Operational Camouflage Pattern would replace all UCP-patterned ACU uniforms by the end of September 2019. However, UCP does remain in service in limited capacities, such as on some cold weather overgear and older body armor.


title: Universal Camouflage Pattern

text: Additionally, after having used the OCP for several years as their own deployment uniform, the United States Air Force also decided to adopt the OCP as their sole utility uniform for all airmen, both in-garrison and deployed, to replace their current pixelated utility uniform, the Airman Battle Uniform, which was similar in appearance to UCP. The wear-out date for the Air Force ABU was 1 April 2021.


title: Universal Camouflage Pattern

text: Three patterns were developed, called "All Over Brush", "Track", and "Shadow/Line." For each pattern, there were four color combinations, which corresponded to a specific type of terrain, however, all four patterns used tan as their base color. The three remaining colors were green, brown, and black for the Woodland pattern, dark tan, khaki, and brown for the Desert pattern, light gray, medium gray, and black for the Urban pattern, and dark tan, light gray, and brown for the Desert/Urban pattern.


title: Universal Camouflage Pattern

text: There were fifteen evaluations, which took place at Fort Benning, Fort Polk, Fort Irwin, Fort Lewis, and Yakima, Washington. The camouflage patterns were then rated on their blending, brightness, contrast, and detection by U.S. Army soldiers, during the daytime, and also at night using night vision devices.


title: Universal Camouflage Pattern

text: Following testing, the Shadow Line pattern was eliminated entirely, along with the urban and desert/urban patterns of All Over Brush. All four of the Track patterns were accepted along with All Over Brush's woodland and desert patterns.


title: Universal Camouflage Pattern

text: The patterns were then modified and tested alongside a newly introduced "Contractor-Developed Mod" pattern, MultiCam. Near infrared testing determined that black, medium gray, and medium tan were the only colors that gave acceptable performance.


title: Universal Camouflage Pattern

text: All four remaining patterns, desert Brush, MultiCam, Woodland Track, and Urban Track were then tested alongside each other in urban, woodland, and desert environments.


title: Universal Camouflage Pattern

text: The desert Brush design received the best overall mean daytime visual rating. Contractor developed pattern received highest rating in woodland environments, but low ratings in desert and urban environments. Urban Track was generally the 3rd or 4th worst performer at each site, but was the best performer in nighttime environments. Infrared testing showed negligible differences in the performance of the four patterns. Natick rated the patterns from best to worst as: Desert Brush, Woodland Track Mod, Contractor-Developed Mod, and Urban Track.


title: Universal Camouflage Pattern

text: The color scheme of the Army Combat Uniform is composed of tan (officially named Desert Sand 500), gray (Urban Gray 501), and sage green (Foliage Green 502). The pattern is notable for its elimination of the color black. Justification given for the omission of black was that black is a color not commonly found in nature. Pure black viewed through night vision goggles can appear extremely dark and create an undesirable high-contrast image.


title: Universal Camouflage Pattern

text: The U.S. Army incorrectly reported to the media that the basis for the UCP was the Urban Track pattern, which had been modified through the removal of black from the pattern and pixelated. Pattern comparisons subsequently established that the information provided by the U.S. Army was incorrect, and that the pattern was simply a three-colored version of MARPAT, a derivative of the Canadian CADPAT scheme. No evidence has been presented by the U.S. Army that the new UCP pattern had undergone proper field testing.


title: Universal Camouflage Pattern

text: Following building criticism of the poor effectiveness of the pattern in most terrains like the Afghan and Middle Eastern theatres of operations, the use of the pattern was discussed within the U.S. Senate.


title: Universal Camouflage Pattern

text: When passed by the Senate, House of Representatives Bill 2346 required the Department of Defense to "take immediate action to provide combat uniforms to personnel deployed to Afghanistan with a camouflage pattern that is suited to the environment of Afghanistan." The Army subsequently initiated re-evaluation of existing and alternative camouflage patterns to determine if this was a necessary action. In recent tests conducted by the U.S. Army's Natick Soldier Systems Center (NSRDEC), results indicated that three other patterns did significantly better than UCP in desert and woodland environments. Four commercial submissions were tested to replace UCP for Army use.


title: Universal Camouflage Pattern

text: In 2014, the United States Army discontinued the Universal Camouflage Pattern, and Army researchers worked on a new and better camouflage. Four new patterns were tested to give soldiers different patterns suitable for different environments, plus a single neutral pattern, to be used on more expensive body armor and other gear.


title: Universal Camouflage Pattern

text: The selection involved hundreds of computer trials as well as on-the-ground testing at half a dozen locations around the world. In May 2014, the Army announced that a pattern called Scorpion, a pattern similar to MultiCam that was developed for the Objective Force Warrior program in 2002 and modified in 2009 (W2 version), had been chosen as the replacement for UCP. On 31 July 2014, the Army formally announced that the Operational Camouflage Pattern would begin being issued on uniforms in summer 2015.


title: Universal Camouflage Pattern

text: The name "Operational Camouflage Pattern" is to emphasize its use beyond Afghanistan to all combatant commands, with a family of versions, including a dark jungle-woodland variant and a lighter pattern for deserts. The Universal Camouflage Pattern was discontinued by the Army at the end of September 2019 for uniforms, though still sees some limited usage on other gear such as some body armor and cold weather overgear. As the military began phasing out the UCP, many state defense forces began adopting it as their uniform.


title: Sydney funnel-web spider

text: The Sydney funnel-web spider ("Atrax robustus") is a species of venomous mygalomorph spider native to eastern Australia, usually found within a radius of Sydney. It is a member of a group of spiders known as Australian funnel-web spiders. Its bite is capable of causing serious illness or death in humans if left untreated.


title: Sydney funnel-web spider

text: The Sydney funnel-web has a body length ranging from . Both sexes are glossy and darkly coloured, ranging from blue-black, to black, to shades of brown or dark-plum coloured.


title: Sydney funnel-web spider

text: Octavius Pickard-Cambridge was the first to describe the Sydney funnel-web spider, from a female specimen housed in the British Museum in 1877. Establishing the genus "Atrax", he named it "Atrax robustus". The species name is derived from the Latin "robustus", "strong/sturdy/mature". Some years later, William Joseph Rainbow described a male Sydney funnel-web as a new species—"Euctimena tibialis"—from a spider he found under a log in Turramurra, and another from Mosman. He coined the scientific name from Ancient Greek "euktimenos", "well-built", and Latin "tibialis", "of the tibia", having noted its prominent tibial spur. In the same paper, he described a female Sydney funnel-web spider as yet another species—"Poikilomorpha montana"—from a specimen collected from Jamison Valley and Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains. Its species name was derived from "poikilomorphia", "variety of form", referring to the eyes of different sizes, and "montana", "of the mountains".


title: Sydney funnel-web spider

text: In February 1927, a young boy died after being bitten on the hand after playing with a big black spider on the laundry steps of his home in the Sydney suburb of Thornleigh. He fell gravely ill and perished later that evening. Public interest in the spiders surged, and the police brought the dead spider to the Australian Museum, where Anthony Musgrave identified the creature as "Euctimena tibialis". He examined a series of male and female spiders collected around Sydney and concluded based on anatomical similarities that "Euctimena tibialis" was the male "Atrax robustus".


title: Sydney funnel-web spider

text: "Atrax robustus" is one of three species of the genus "Atrax" in the family Atracidae. The Sydney funnel-web spider shares its name with some members of the genus "Hadronyche". It remains, together with the northern tree-dwelling funnel-web, the only two species of Australian funnel-web spider known to have inflicted fatal bites on humans.


title: Sydney funnel-web spider

text: The Sydney funnel-web is medium to large in size, with body length ranging from . Both sexes are glossy and darkly coloured, ranging from blue-black, to black, to brown or dark-plum coloured. The carapace covering the cephalothorax is almost hairless and appears smooth and glossy. Another characteristic are finger-like spinnerets at the end of their abdomen.


title: Sydney funnel-web spider

text: The shorter-lived male is smaller than the female, but longer-legged. The average leg length for the spider in general is six to seven centimeters.


title: Sydney funnel-web spider

text: Distribution is centred on Sydney, extending north to the Central Coast and south to the Illawarra region, and west to the Blue Mountains in New South Wales.


title: Sydney funnel-web spider

text: Sydney funnel-web spiders are mostly terrestrial spiders, favouring habitats with moist sand and clays.


title: Sydney funnel-web spider

text: They typically build silk-lined tubular burrow retreats with collapsed "tunnels" or open "funnel" entrances from which irregular trip-lines radiate over the ground. In some exceptions, which lack trip-lines but may have trapdoors, the silk entrance tube may be split into two openings, in a Y or T form. The spiders burrow in sheltered habitats where they can find a moist and humid climate; for instance under rocks, logs or borer holes in rough-barked trees. The long-lived female funnel-web spend most of the time in their silk-lined tubular burrow retreats. When potential prey, which includes insects, lizards or frogs, walks across the trip-lines, they rush out, subduing their prey by injecting their venom.


title: Sydney funnel-web spider

text: Males, recognized by the modified terminal segment of the palp, tend to wander during the warmer months of the year, looking for receptive females to mate with. This makes encounters with male specimens more likely as they sometimes wander into backyards or houses, or fall into swimming pools. The spiders can survive such immersion for up to twenty-four hours, trapping air bubbles on hairs around their abdomen. Sydney funnel-web spiders are mainly active at night, as typical day-time conditions would dehydrate them. During the day, they seek cover in cool, moist hideaways. After heavy rain, spider activity is increased as their burrows may be flooded.


title: Sydney funnel-web spider

text: When threatened or provoked, funnel-web spiders will display aggressive behaviour, rearing up on their hind legs and displaying their fangs. When biting, the funnel-web spider maintains a tight grip on its victim, often biting repeatedly.


title: Sydney funnel-web spider

text: The lethal dose of venom in humans is not known. The lethal dose of venom from male Sydney funnel-web spiders for the crab-eating macaque ("Macaca fascicularis") is . Higher figures were found for other experimental animals, such as for two-day-old mice. The average venom yield for a male is . In doses like 5 mg / kg intravenously, Delta atracotoxin kills monkeys in 3–4 hours, the symptoms seen in monkeys were dyspnea, blood pressure fluctuations, culminating in severe hypotension, lacrimation, salivation, skeletal muscle fasciculation and death. "Guinness World Records" has ranked the Sydney funnel-web spider as the world's most venomous spider, defining the term "most venomous" as "having the venom most toxic to humans", although it has also given this title to the Brazilian wandering spider.


title: Sydney funnel-web spider

text: Sydney funnel-web spider venom contains a compound known as Delta-Atracotoxin, an ion channel inhibitor, which makes the venom highly toxic for humans and other primates. However, it does not affect the nervous system of other mammals. These spiders typically deliver a full envenomation when they bite, often striking repeatedly, due to their defensiveness and large cheliceral fangs. There has been no reported case of severe envenoming by female Sydney funnel-web spiders, which is consistent with the finding that the venom of female specimens is less potent than the venom of their male counterparts.


title: Sydney funnel-web spider

text: In the case of severe envenomation, the time to onset of symptoms is less than one hour, with a study about Sydney funnel-web spider bites finding a median time of 28 minutes. This same study revealed that children are at particular risk of severe Sydney funnel-web spider envenoming, with 42% of all cases of severe envenoming being children.


title: Sydney funnel-web spider

text: There is at least one recorded case of a small child dying within 15 minutes of a bite from a funnel-web.


title: Sydney funnel-web spider

text: The bite of a Sydney funnel-web is initially very painful, with clear fang marks separated by several millimetres. The size of fangs is responsible for the initial pain. In some cases the spider will remain attached until dislodged by shaking or flicking it off. Physical symptoms can include copious secretion of saliva, muscular twitching and breathing difficulty, disorientation and confusion, leading to unconsciousness.


title: Sydney funnel-web spider

text: A Sydney funnel-web bite is regarded as a medical emergency requiring immediate hospital treatment. Current guidelines for antivenom recommend two vials, or four vials if symptoms of envenomation are severe. Patients are assessed every 15 minutes, with further vials recommended if symptoms do not resolve. The most vials used to treat a bite is 12. The patient was a 10-year-old boy who was bitten in February 2017 by a male Sydney funnel-web that was hiding in a shoe.


title: Sydney funnel-web spider

text: The antivenom was developed by a team headed by Struan Sutherland at the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories in Melbourne. Since the antivenom became available in 1981, there have been no recorded fatalities from Sydney funnel-web spider bites. In September 2012, it was reported that stocks of antivenom were running low, and members of the public were asked to catch the spiders so that they could be milked for their venom. One dose of antivenom requires around 70 milkings from a Sydney funnel-web spider.


title: Sydney funnel-web spider

text: The Australian Reptile Park receives Sydney funnel-web spiders as part of its milking program. In January 2016, they received a male Sydney funnel-web with a leg span. The spider was described by the park as the largest specimen that it had ever seen.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: Ukraine emerged as the concept of a nation, and the Ukrainians as a nationality, with the Ukrainian National Revival which began in the late 18th and early 19th century. The first wave of national revival is traditionally connected with the publication of the first part of "Eneyida" by Ivan Kotlyarevsky (1798). In 1846, in Moscow the "Istoriya Rusov ili Maloi Rossii" (History of Ruthenians or Little Russia) was published. During the Spring of Nations, in 1848 in Lemberg (Lviv) the Supreme Ruthenian Council was created which declared that Galician Ruthenians were part of the bigger Ukrainian nation. The council adopted the yellow and blue flag, the current Ukrainian flag.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: Ukraine first declared its independence with the invasion of Bolsheviks in late 1917. Following the conclusion of World War I and with the Peace of Riga, Ukraine was partitioned once again between Poland and the Bolshevik Russia. The Bolshevik-occupied portion of the territory became the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, with some boundary adjustments.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: In 1922, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, together with the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, became the founding members of the Soviet Union. The Soviet famine of 1932–33 or Holodomor killed an estimated 6 to 8 million people in the Soviet Union, the majority of them in Ukraine.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: In 1941, the Soviet Union was invaded by Germany and its other allies. Many Ukrainians initially regarded the Wehrmacht soldiers as liberators from Soviet rule, while others formed an anti-German partisan movement. Some elements of the Ukrainian nationalist underground formed a Ukrainian Insurgent Army that fought both Soviet and Nazi forces. In 1945, Ukraine was made one of the founding members of the United Nations even though it was part of the Soviet Union. In 1954 the Crimean Oblast was transferred from the RSFSR to the Ukrainian SSR.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War, Ukraine became an independent state, formalized with a referendum. With the enlargement of the European Union in 2004, Ukraine became an area of overlapping spheres of influence between the European Union and the Russian Federation. This manifested in a political division between the "pro-European" Western Ukraine and the "pro-Russian" Eastern Ukraine, which led to an ongoing series of political turmoil, including the Orange Revolution, the Euromaidan protests, and the Russian invasion.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: Following the 17th century failed attempt to regain statehood in the form of the Cossack Hetmanate, the future Ukrainian territory again ended up divided between three empires: the Russian Empire, the Ottoman Empire and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: In the second half of the 18th century, Catherine the Great instigated hysteria in the local Eastern Orthodox population by promising protection from Catholicism and support leading to an armed conflict Koliivshchyna in the neighboring right-bank Ukraine which was part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and resulting in the Polish Bar Confederation, Russian military invasion of Poland and its internal affairs, and successful partitions of the last. By the end of the 18th century, most of Ukraine was completely annexed by Russia. At the same time the Russian Empire gradually gained control over the area of the Black Sea coast (northern Pontic coast) which was part of the Ottoman realm at the conclusion of the Russo-Turkish Wars of 1735–39, 1768–74, 1787–92.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: The lands were generously given to the nobility, and the unfree peasantry were transferred to cultivate the Pontic steppe. Forcing the local Nogai population out and resettling the Crimean Greeks, Catherine the Great renamed all populated places and invited other European settlers to these newly conquered lands: Poles, Germans (Black Sea Germans, Crimea Germans, Volga Germans), Swiss, and others. Some Estonian Swedes were deported to southern Ukraine. Since then there exists the old Swedish village of Gammalsvenskby–Zmiivka.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: Ukrainian writers and intellectuals were inspired by the nationalistic spirit stirring other European peoples existing under other imperial governments. Russia, fearing separatism, imposed strict limits on attempts to elevate the Ukrainian language and culture, even banning its use and study. The Russophile policies of Russification and Panslavism led to an exodus of a number some Ukrainian intellectuals into Western Ukraine, while others embraced a Pan-Slavic or Russian identity, with many Russian authors or composers of the 19th century being of Ukrainian origin (notably Nikolai Gogol and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky).


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: In the Austrian Empire most of the elite that ruled Galicia were of Austrian or Polish descent, with the Ruthenians mostly representing the peasantry. During the 19th century, Russophilia was a common occurrence among the Slavic population, but the mass exodus of Ukrainian intellectuals escaping from Russian repression in Eastern Ukraine, as well as the intervention of Austrian authorities, caused the movement to be replaced by Ukrainophilia, which would then cross-over into the Russian Empire.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: When World War I and series of revolutions across Europe, including the October Revolution in Russia, shattered many existing empires such as the Austrian and Russian ones, people of Ukraine were caught in the middle. Between 1917 and 1919, several separate Ukrainian republics manifested independence, the Makhnovshchina, the Ukrainian People's Republic, the Ukrainian State, the West Ukrainian People's Republic, and numerous Bolshevik revkoms.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: As the area of Ukraine fell into warfare and anarchy, it was also fought over by German and Austrian forces, the Red Army of Bolshevik Russia, the White Forces of General Denikin, the Polish Army, anarchists led by Nestor Makhno. Kyiv itself was occupied by many different armies. The city was captured by the Bolsheviks on 9 February 1918, by the Germans on 2 March 1918, by the Bolsheviks a second time on 5 February 1919, by the White Army on 31 August 1919, by Bolsheviks for a third time on 15 December 1919, by the Polish Army on 6


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: The defeat in the Polish-Ukrainian War and then the failure of the Piłsudski's and Petliura's "Warsaw agreement of 1920" to oust the Bolsheviks during the 1920 Kiev Offensive led almost to the occupation of Poland itself. This led to the Polish–Soviet War, which culminated in the signing of the Peace of Riga in March 1921. The Peace of Riga divided the disputed territories between Poland and Soviet Russia. Specifically, the part of Ukraine west of the Zbruch river was incorporated into Poland, while the eastern portion became part of the Soviet Union as the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. The first capital of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was Kharkiv; in 1934, the capital was relocated to Kyiv.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: The Ukrainian national idea lived on during the inter-war years and was even spread to a large territory with the traditionally mixed population in the east and south that became part of the Ukrainian Soviet republic. The Ukrainian culture even enjoyed a revival due to Bolshevik concessions in the early Soviet years (until the early-1930s) known as the policy of Korenization ("indigenization"). In these years, an impressive Ukrainization program was implemented throughout the republic. Alongside this a number of national territorial units were set aside for non-Ukrainian ethnic groups. As well as an autonomous republic in the west for Ukraine's Molovian people several national raions including 8 Russian, 7 German, 4 Greek, 4 Bulgarian, 3 Jewish and 1 Polish national raion existed in this period.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: The rapidly developed Ukrainian language-based education system dramatically raised the literacy of the Ukrainophone rural population. Simultaneously, the newly literate ethnic Ukrainians migrated to the cities, which became rapidly largely Ukrainianised—in both population and in education. Similarly expansive was an increase in Ukrainian language publishing and overall eruption of Ukrainian cultural life.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: At the same time, the usage of Ukrainian was continuously encouraged in the workplace and in government affairs as the recruitment of indigenous cadre was implemented as part of the korenisation policies. While initially, the party and government apparatus was mostly Russian-speaking, by the end of the 1920s the ethnic Ukrainians composed over one half of the membership in the Ukrainian communist party, the number strengthened by the accession of Borotbists, a formerly indigenously Ukrainian "independentist" and non-Bolshevik communist party.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: Despite the ongoing Soviet Union-wide antireligious campaign, the Ukrainian national Orthodox church was created called the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC). The Bolshevik government initially saw the national church as a tool in their goal to suppress the Russian Orthodox Church always viewed with the great suspicion by the regime for its being the cornerstone of pre-revolutionary Russian Empire and the initially strong opposition it took towards the regime change. Therefore, the government tolerated the new Ukrainian national church for some time and the UAOC gained a wide following among the Ukrainian peasantry.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: The change in the Soviet economic policies towards the fast-pace industrialization was marked by the 1928 introduction of Joseph Stalin's first piatiletka (a five-year plan). Industrialization brought about a dramatic economic and social transformation in traditionally agricultural Ukraine. In the first piatiletkas the industrial output of Ukraine quadrupled as the republic underwent a record industrial development. The massive influx of the rural population to the industrial centers increased the urban population from 19% to 34%.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: However, industrialization had a heavy cost for the peasantry, demographically a backbone of the Ukrainian nation. To satisfy the state's need for increased food supplies and finance industrialization, Stalin instituted a program of collectivization of agriculture, which profoundly affected Ukraine, often referred to as the "breadbasket of the USSR". In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the state combined the peasants' lands and animals into collective farms. Starting in 1929, a policy of enforcement was applied, using regular troops and secret police to confiscate lands and materials where necessary.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: Many resisted, and a desperate struggle by the peasantry against the authorities ensued. Some slaughtered their livestock rather than turn it over to the collectives. Wealthier peasants were labeled "kulaks", enemies of the state. Tens of thousands were executed and about 100,000 families were deported to Siberia and Kazakhstan.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: Forced collectivization had a devastating effect on agricultural productivity. Despite this, in 1932 the Soviet government increased Ukraine's production quotas by 44%, ensuring that they could not be met. Soviet law required that the members of a collective farm would receive no grain until government quotas were satisfied. The authorities in many instances exacted such high levels of procurement from collective farms that starvation became widespread.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: The Soviet famine of 1932–33, called Holodomor in Ukrainian, claimed up to 10 million Ukrainian lives as peasants' food stocks were forcibly removed by Stalin's regime by the NKVD secret police. As elsewhere, the precise number of deaths by starvation in Ukraine may never be precisely known. That said, the most recent demographic studies suggest that over 4 million Ukrainians perished in the first six months of 1933 alone, a figure that increases if population losses from 1931, 1932 and 1934 are also included, along with those from adjacent territories inhabited primarily by Ukrainians (but politically part of the Russian Federated Soviet Socialist Republic), such as the Kuban.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: The Soviet Union suppressed information about this genocide, and as late as the 1980s admitted only that there was some hardship because of kulak sabotage and bad weather. Non-Soviets maintain that the famine was an avoidable, deliberate act of genocide.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: The times of industrialization and collectivization also brought about a wide campaign against "nationalist deviation" which in Ukraine translated into an assault on the national political and cultural elite. The first wave of purges between 1929 and 1934 targeted the revolutionary generation of the party that in Ukraine included many supporters of Ukrainization. The next 1936–1938 wave of political purges eliminated much of the new political generation that replaced those that perished in the first wave and halved the membership of the Ukrainian communist party.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: The purged Ukrainian political leadership was largely replaced by the cadre sent from Russia that was also largely "rotated" by Stalin's purges. As the policies of Ukrainisation were halted (1931) and replaced by massive Russification approximately four-fifths of the Ukrainian cultural elite, intellectuals, writers, artists and clergy, had been "eliminated", executed or imprisoned, in the following decade. Mass arrests of the hierarchy and clergy of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church culminated in the liquidation of the church in 1930.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: Following the end of World War I, the eastern part of the former Austrian province of Galicia, as well as Volhynia, which had belonged to the Russian Empire, became the area of a Polish-Ukrainian War. The Ukrainians claimed these lands because they made up the majority of the population there (except for cities, such as Lviv), while the Poles saw these provinces as Eastern Borderlands, a historical part of their country. The war was won by the Poles, and their rule over these disputed lands was cemented after another Polish victory, in the Polish-Soviet War. While some Ukrainians supported Poland, their hopes for independence or autonomy were quickly dashed.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: In the interbellum period, eastern Galicia was divided into three administrative units — Lwów Voivodeship, Stanisławów Voivodeship, and Tarnopol Voivodeship, while in Volhynia, Wołyń Voivodeship was created. The Ukrainian majority of these lands was often treated as second-class citizens by the Polish authorities. The conflict escalated in the 1930s, with terrorist actions of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists resulting in increasingly heavy-handed actions by the Polish government. The tensions were further exacerbated by the arrival of thousands of osadniks, or Polish settlers, who were granted land, especially in Volhynia. Henryk Józewski advocated a self-governance autonomy for Ukrainians in Volhynia 1928–1938.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: Polish rule over the provinces ended in September 1939, following Nazi and Soviet attack. After the Battle of Lviv, units of the Red Army entered regional capital, Lviv, and following the staged Elections to the People's Assemblies of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus, both eastern Galicia and Volhynia were annexed by the Soviet Union.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: A few days after the Germans invaded Poland, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin told an aide his long-term goal was the spread of Communism in Eastern Europe:


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: Now [Poland] is a fascist state, oppressing the Ukrainians, Belorussians and so forth. The annihilation of that state under current conditions would mean one fewer bourgeois fascist state to contend with! What would be the harm if as a result of the rout off Poland we were to extend the socialist system onto new territories and populations.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: Historian Geoffrey Roberts notes that the comments marked a change from the previous "popular front" policy of Communist Party cooperation with other parties. He adds, "Stalin's immediate purpose was to present an ideological rationale for the Red Army's forthcoming invasion of Poland" and his main message was the need to avoid a revolutionary civil war." Historian Timothy D. Snyder suggests that, "Stalin may have reasoned that returning Galicia and Volhynia to Soviet Ukraine would help co-opt Ukrainian nationalism. Stalin perhaps saw a way to give both Ukrainians and Poles something they wanted, while binding them to the USSR."


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: Following the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact, in September 1939, German and Soviet troops divided the territory of Poland, including Galicia with its Ukrainian population. Next, after France surrendered to Germany, Romania ceded Bessarabia and northern Bukovina to Soviet demands. The Ukrainian SSR incorporated northern and southern districts of Bessarabia, the northern Bukovina, and additionally the Soviet-occupied Hertsa region, but ceded the western part of the Moldavian ASSR to the newly created Moldavian SSR. All these territorial gains were internationally recognized by the Paris Peace Treaties, 1947.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: When Nazi Germany with its allies invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, many Ukrainians and Polish people, particularly in the west where they had experienced two years of harsh Soviet rule, initially regarded the Wehrmacht soldiers as liberators. Retreating Soviets murdered thousands of prisoners. Some Ukrainian activists of the national movement hoped for momentum to establish an independent state of Ukraine. German policies initially gave some encouragement to such hopes through the vague promises of sovereign 'Greater Ukraine' as the Germans were trying to take advantage of anti-Soviet, anti-Ukrainian, anti-Polish, and anti-Jewish sentiments. A local Ukrainian auxiliary police was formed as well as Ukrainian SS division, 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Galicia (1st Ukrainian). However, after the initial period of limited tolerance, the German policies soon abruptly changed and the Ukrainian national movement was brutally crushed.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: Some Ukrainians, however, utterly resisted the Nazi onslaught from its start and a partisan movement immediately spread over the occupied territory. Some elements of the Ukrainian nationalist underground formed a Ukrainian Insurgent Army that fought both Soviet and Nazi forces. In some western regions of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army survived underground and continued the resistance against the Soviet authorities well into the 1950s, though many Ukrainian civilians were murdered in this conflict by both sides.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: The Nazi administrators of conquered Soviet territories made little attempt to exploit the population's possible dissatisfaction with Soviet political and economic policies. Instead, the Nazis preserved the collective-farm system, systematically carried out genocidal policies against Jews, and deported many Ukrainians to forced labour in Germany. In their active resistance to Nazi Germany, the Ukrainians comprised a significant share of the Red Army and its leadership as well as the underground and resistance movements.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: Total civilian losses during the war and German occupation in Ukraine are estimated at seven million, including over a million Jews shot and killed by the "Einsatzgruppen".


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: Many civilians fell victim to atrocities, forced labor, and even massacres of whole villages in reprisal for attacks against Nazi forces. Of the estimated eleven million Soviet troops who fell in battle against the Nazis, about 16% (1.7 million) were ethnic Ukrainians. Moreover, Ukraine saw some of the biggest battles of the war starting with the encirclement of Kyiv (the city itself fell to the Germans on 19 September 1941 and was later acclaimed as a "Hero City") where more than 660,000 Soviet troops were taken captive, to the fierce defense of Odessa, and on to the victorious storming across the Dnieper river. According to the researcher Rolf Michaelis who is referring to the SS-Hauptamt's document No. 8699/42, the Police Battalion "Ostland" (Field Post Number 47769) resided in the Reichskommissariat Ukraine in 1941–1942, and was one of the main executioners of the Jews. The Police Battalion "Ostland" was an Ordnungspolizei unit that served in World War II under the command of the Schutzstaffel. The battalion established in October 1941 carried out punitive duties.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: On June 28, 1941, the town of Rivne (Równe) was captured by Nazi Germany, which later established the city as the administrative center of the Reichskommissariat Ukraine. In July 1941 the 1st company of the Police Battalion "Ostland" was in Frankfurt, the rest of the battalion was in Rivne. In October 1941 the battalion was sent to Lviv (Lwów). At the time, roughly half of Równe's inhabitants were Jewish. About 23,000 of these people were taken to a pine grove in Sosenki and slaughtered by the 1st company of the Police Battalion "Ostland" between November 6, and 8, 1941 (1st company). A ghetto was established for the remaining ca 5,000 Jews. As reported on May 11, 1942, ca 1,000 Jews were executed in Minsk.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: On July 13–14, 1942, the remaining population of the Równe ghetto – about 5,000 Jews – was sent by train some 70 kilometres north to Kostopil (Kostopol) where they were murdered by the 1st company of the Police Battalion "Ostland" in a quarry near woods outside the town. The Równe ghetto was subsequently liquidated. As reported on July 14, 1942: The battalion or elements of it provided security along with the Ukrainische Hilfspolizei for a transport of the Jews from the Riga Ghetto to the Riga Central Station using the wagons (1st company). July 15, 1942 another thousand Jews were executed in the same place. As reported on June 27, 1942, ca 8,000 Jews were executed near the town of Słonim. As reported on July 28, 1942, ca 6,000 Jews were executed in Minsk.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: In November 1942 the Police Battalion Ostland together with an artillery regiment, and three other German Ordnungspolizei battalions under the command of "Befehlshaber der Ordnungspolizei im Reichskommissariat Ukraine" and "SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Polizei" , took part in a joint anti-partisan operation near Ovruch (Owrucz) with over 50 villages burnt down and over 1,500 people executed. In a village 40 people were burnt alive for revenge for the killing of the SS-Untersturmführer Türnpu(u). In February 1943 the battalion was sent to Reval, Estland with Polizei Füsilier Bataillon 293. By March 31, 1943, the Estnische Legion had 37 officers, 175 noncoms and 62 privates of the Police Battalion "Ostland".


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: During a period of March 1943 to the end of 1944 Ukrainian Insurgent Army committed several massacres on the Polish civilian population in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia having every signs of genocide (Massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia). The death toll numbered up to 100 000, mostly children and women.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: Late October 1944 the last territory of current Ukraine (near Uzhhorod, then part of the Kingdom of Hungary) was cleared of Germany troops; this is annually celebrated in Ukraine (on 28 October) as the "anniversary of the liberation of Ukraine from the Nazis".


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: Late March 2019 former members of armed units of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, former Ukrainian Insurgent Army members and former members of the Polissian Sich/Ukrainian People's Revolutionary Army, members of the Ukrainian Military Organization and Carpathian Sich soldiers were officially granted the status of veterans. This meant that for the first time they could receive veteran benefits, including free public transport, subsidized medical services, annual monetary aid, and public utilities discounts (and will enjoy the same social benefits as former Ukrainian soldiers Red Army of the Soviet Union). (There had been several previous attempts to provide former Ukrainian nationalist fighters with official veteran status, especially during the 2005-2009 administration President Viktor Yushenko, but all failed.)


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: After World War II some amendments to the Constitution of the Ukrainian SSR were accepted, which allowed it to act as a separate subject of international law in some cases and to a certain extent, remaining a part of the Soviet Union at the same time. In particular, these amendments allowed the Ukrainian SSR to become one of founding members of the United Nations (UN) together with the Soviet Union and the Byelorussian SSR. This was part of a deal with the United States to ensure a degree of balance in the General Assembly, which, the USSR opined, was unbalanced in favor of the Western Bloc. In its capacity as a member of the UN, the Ukrainian SSR was an elected member of the United Nations Security Council in 1948–1949 and 1984–1985.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: Over the next decades, the Ukrainian republic not only surpassed pre-war levels of industry and production but also was the spearhead of Soviet power. Ukraine became the centre of Soviet arms industry and high-tech research. The republic was also turned into a Soviet military outpost in the cold war, a territory crowded by military bases packed with the most up-to-date weapons systems.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: Such an important role resulted in a major influence of the local elite. Many members of the Soviet leadership came from Ukraine, most notably Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev a Soviet leader from 1964 to 1982, as well as many prominent Soviet sportsmen, scientists and artists. In 1954, the Russian-populated oblast of Crimea was transferred from the Russian to the Ukrainian Soviet Republic.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: However, the relatively underdeveloped industrial branches such as coal- and iron ore mining, metallurgy, chemical and energy industry dominated the republic's economy. Once a Cossack steppe, the southern oblasts of Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia were turned into a highly industrialised area with rapidly increasing impact on its environment and public health. A pursuit to energy production sufficient for growing industry led to the gigantic nature-remastering: turning the Dnieper River into a regulated system of large reservoirs.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: The products of the rapidly developed high-tech industry in Ukraine were largely directed for military consumption, similarly to much of the Soviet economy, and the supply and quality of consumer goods remained low compared even to the neighboring countries of the Eastern bloc. A state-regulated system of production and consumption lead to gradual decrease of quality of life and growing "shadowisation" of retail infrastructure as well as of corruption.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: The town of Pripyat, Ukraine was the site of the Chernobyl disaster, which occurred on April 26, 1986, when a nuclear plant exploded. The fallout contaminated large areas of northern Ukraine and even parts of Belarus. This spurred on a local independence movement called the Rukh that helped expedite the break-up of the Soviet Union during the late 1980s.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: On January 21, 1990, over 300,000 Ukrainians organised a human chain for Ukrainian independence between Kyiv and Lviv, in memory of the 1919 unification of the Ukrainian People's Republic and the West Ukrainian National Republic. Citizens came out to the streets and highways, forming live chains by holding hands in support of unity.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: On July 16, 1990, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine. On October 2–17, 1990, the Revolution on Granite took place in Ukraine, the main purpose of the action was to prevent the signing of a new union treaty of the USSR. The demands of the students were satisfied by signing a resolution of the Verkhovna Rada, which guaranteed their implementation.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: Ukraine officially declared itself an independent state on August 24, 1991, when the communist Supreme Soviet (parliament) of Ukraine proclaimed that Ukraine would no longer follow the laws of the USSR, and only follow the laws of the Ukrainian SSR, de facto declaring Ukraine's independence from the Soviet Union. On December 1, Ukrainian voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum formalising independence from the Soviet Union. Over 90% of Ukrainian citizens voted for independence, with majorities in every region, including 56% in Crimea, which had a 75% ethnic Russian population. The Soviet Union formally ceased to exist on December 26, when the presidents of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia (the founding members of the USSR) met in Belovezh Pushcha to formally dissolve the Union in accordance with the Soviet Constitution. With this, Ukraine's independence was formalized de jure and recognised by the international community.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: The history of Ukraine between 1991 and 2004 was marked by the presidencies of Leonid Kravchuk and Leonid Kuchma. This was a time of transition for Ukraine. While it had attained nominal independence from Russia, its presidents maintained close ties with their neighbours.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: On June 1, 1996, Ukraine became a non-nuclear nation, sending the last of the 1,900 strategic nuclear warheads it had inherited from the Soviet Union to Russia for dismantling. Ukraine had committed to this by signing the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances in January 1994.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: The Cassette Scandal of 2000 was one of the turning points in the post-independence history of the country.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: In 2004, Leonid Kuchma announced that he would not run for re-election. Two major candidates emerged in the 2004 presidential election. Viktor Yanukovych, the incumbent Prime Minister, supported by both Kuchma and by the Russian Federation, wanted closer ties with Russia. The main opposition candidate, Viktor Yushchenko, called for Ukraine to turn its attention westward and eventually join the EU.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: In the runoff election, Yanukovych officially won by a narrow margin, but Yushchenko and his supporters cried foul, alleging that vote rigging and intimidation cost him many votes, especially in eastern Ukraine. A political crisis erupted after the opposition started massive street protests in Kyiv and other cities, and the Supreme Court of Ukraine ordered the election results null and void. A second runoff found Viktor Yushchenko the winner. Five days later, Viktor Yanukovych resigned from office and his cabinet was dismissed on January 5, 2005.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: In March 2006, the Verkhovna Rada elections took place and three months later the official government was formed by the "Anti-Crisis Coalition" among the "Party of Regions", "Communist", and "Socialist" parties. The latter party switched from the "Orange Coalition" with "Our Ukraine", and the "Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc". The new coalition nominated Viktor Yanukovych for the post of Prime Minister. Yanukovych once again became Prime Minister, while the leader of the Socialist Party, Oleksander Moroz, managed to secure the position of chairman of parliament, which is believed by many to have been the reason for his leaving the Orange Coalition, where he had not been considered for this position.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: On April 2, 2007, President Yushchenko dissolved the Verkhovna Rada because members of his party were defecting to the opposition. His opponents called the move unconstitutional. When they took the matter to the Constitutional Court, Yushchenko dismissed 3 of the court's 18 judges, accusing them of corruption.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: During the Yushchenko term, relations between Russia and Ukraine often appeared strained as Yushchenko looked towards improved relations with the European Union and less toward Russia. In 2005, a highly publicized dispute over natural gas prices took place, involving Russian state-owned gas supplier Gazprom, and indirectly involving many European countries which depend on natural gas supplied by Russia through the Ukrainian pipeline. A compromise was reached in January 2006, and in early 2010 a further agreement was signed locking the price of Russian gas at $100 per 1,000 cubic meters in an exclusive arrangement.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: By the time of the presidential election of 2010, Yushchenko and Tymoshenko — allies during the Orange Revolution — had become bitter enemies. Tymoshenko ran for president against both Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovych, creating a three-way race. Yushchenko, whose popularity had plummeted, refused to close ranks and support Tymoshenko, thus dividing the anti-Yanukovych vote. Many pro-Orange voters stayed home. Yanukovych received 48% of the vote and Yushchenko less than 6%, an amount which, if thrown to Tymoshenko, who received 45%, would have prevented Yanukovych from gaining the presidency; since no candidate obtained an absolute majority in the first round of voting the two highest polling candidates contested in a run-off second ballot which Yanukovych won.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: During Yanukovych's term he has been accused of tightening of press restrictions and a renewed effort in the parliament to limit freedom of assembly. When young,


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: Yanukovych was sentenced to three years because of theft, looting and vandalism and later had his sentenced doubled. One frequently-cited example of Yanukovych's alleged attempts to centralize power is the August 2011 arrest of Yulia Tymoshenko. Other high-profile political opponents also came under criminal investigation since. On 11 October 2011, a Ukrainian court sentenced Tymoshenko to seven years in prison after she was found guilty of abuse of office when brokering the 2009 gas deal with Russia. The conviction is seen as "justice being applied selectively under political motivation" by the European Union and other international organizations.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: In November 2013, President Yanukovych did not sign the Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement and instead pursued closer ties with Russia. This move sparked protests on the streets of Kyiv. Protesters set up camps in Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square), and in December 2013 and January 2014 protesters started taking over various government buildings, first in Kyiv and, later, in Western Ukraine. Battles between protesters and police resulted in about 80 deaths in February 2014.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: Following the violence, the parliament turned against Yanukovych and on February 22 voted to remove him from power, and to free Yulia Tymoshenko from prison. The same day Yanukovych supporter Volodymyr Rybak resigned as speaker of the parliament, and was replaced by Tymoshenko loyalist Oleksandr Turchynov, who was subsequently installed as interim president. Yanukovych fled Kyiv.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: Civil unrest broke out in Kyiv as part of Ukraine's Euromaidan protest movement against the government.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: The conflict escalated rapidly, leading to the overthrow of the government of President Viktor Yanukovych and the setting up of a new government to replace it within a few days.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: Yanukovych fled to Russia and is wanted in Ukraine for the killing of protesters. Russia in particular holds that the transition was a "coup".


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: Conflict continued with the February–March Crimean crisis when Russian forces seized control of the Crimea region. Crimea was unilaterally annexed by Russia on 18 March 2014.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: The Crimean crisis was followed by pro-Russian unrest in east Ukraine and south Ukraine. In April 2014 Ukrainian separatists self-proclaimed the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic and held referendums on 11 May 2014; the separatists claimed nearly 90% voted in favour of independence. Later in April 2014 fighting between the Ukrainian army and pro-Ukrainian volunteer battalions against forces supporting the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic escalated into the War in Donbas. By December 2014 more than 6,400 people had died in this conflict and according to United Nations figures it led to over half a million people internally displaced within Ukraine and two hundred thousand refugees to flee to (mostly) Russia and other neighbouring countries. At the end of 2020 the death toll of the conflict had risen to more than 13,000 people and nearly 1.5 million people displaced.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: In the early presidential elections in June 2014, Petro Poroshenko won. His task was leading the country as it was in the worst condition compared to the state of the country for his predecessors — the parliamentary opposition, the economic crisis, the war. On June 20, a unilateral one-week truce was declared with a simultaneous ultimatum to pro-Russian mercenaries and local militants to leave the country, after which the liberation of the state began, which was thwarted by the already open Russian armed aggression. With the help of Western countries, Ukraine managed to freeze the war on the line of demarcation, and Russia to consolidate the permanent state of uncertainty in the Donbass in the Minsk agreements.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: The economic part of the Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement was signed on 27 June 2014 by the President, Petro Poroshenko.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: In October 2014, parliamentary elections were held. The People's Front (22%), the Bloc of Petro Poroshenko (22%), the Association "Samopomich" (11%), the Opposition Bloc (9%), the Radical Party of Oleh Liashko (7%), the Fatherland (5, 5%). For the first time, the later banned communists did not get there. In 2015, the president signed a "decommunization package of laws" and began dismantling the totalitarian legacy. Poroshenko managed to radically reform the Armed Forces in a few years, but, due to opposition from the old school command, only brought them closer to NATO standards. Similarly, the reform of another power wing, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, remained half-baked. The transformation of the Militsiia into the National Police of Ukraine, the creation of a powerful National Guard was combined with the development of a personal "internal empire" by Minister Arsen Avakov. In February 2014, due to the depletion of gold and foreign exchange reserves, the national currency began to fall rapidly, further war and falling world prices for metals and food lowered its exchange rate to ₴25 per dollar in 2015. The country's real GDP in 2014 fell by 6.0%, in 2015 - by 43.3%; inflation in 2014 was 24.9%.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: On 1 January 2016, Ukraine joined the DCFTA with the EU. Ukrainian citizens were granted visa-free travel to the Schengen Area for up to 90 days during any 180-day period on 11 June 2017 and the Association Agreement formally came into effect on 1 September 2017.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: With the help of the IMF and tough monetary and fiscal policy, it was possible to stabilize the country's financial situation and fill the empty state treasury. In economic reforms, Poroshenko relied on foreign specialists who were involved in the government. Among them was former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who will eventually stand in opposition to the president and significantly lower his confidence rating. At the same time, he enlisted the support of oligarchic circles for major changes, except for the nationalization of Nadra Bank by Dmytro Firtash, and in the process of breaking the system of large property built by Kuchma did not happen. On the contrary, the flight abroad of Ihor Kolomoiskyi, a Dnipro representative who helped fight separatists backed by Donetsk, and the nationalization of PrivatBank reminded many of the struggle for redistribution of property in the 1990s.Significant achievements in the foreign policy arena: support for anti-Russian sanctions, obtaining a visa-free regime with the countries of the European Union, combined with the need to overcome extremely difficult tasks within the country. The old local authorities also did not want any changes: the authorities were cleansed of anti-Maidan activists (lustration), but in part. The fight against corruption was launched, limited to sentences of petty officials and electronic declarations, and the newly established NABU and NAPC were marked by scandals in their work. Judicial reform was combined with the appointment of old, compromised judges. The investigation of crimes against Maidan residents was delayed. In order to counteract the massive global Russian anti-Ukrainian propaganda in the "information war", the Ministry of Information Policy was created, which for 5 years, except for the ban on Kaspersky Lab, Dr.Web, 1С, Mail.ru, Yandex and Russian social networks VKontakte or Odnoklassniki and propaganda media, did not show effective work. In 2017, the president signed the law "On Education", which met with opposition from national minorities and quarreled with the Government of Hungary.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: On May 19, 2018, Poroshenko signed a Decree, which put into effect the decision of the National Security and Defense Council on the final termination of Ukraine's participation in the statutory bodies of the Commonwealth of Independent States. As of February 2019, Ukraine has minimized its participation in the Commonwealth of Independent States to a critical minimum and has effectively completed its withdrawal. The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine did not ratify the accession, and Ukraine became a member of the CIS.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: The Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce satisfied Naftogaz's claims for compensation for gas supplies for transit that were not supplied by Gazprom. According to the decision of the Stockholm Arbitration, Naftogaz has achieved compensation in the amount of 4.63 billion dollars for Gazprom's failure to supply the agreed volumes of gas for transit. According to the results of two arbitration proceedings in Stockholm, Gazprom has to pay $2.56 billion in favor of Naftogaz.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: The Kerch Strait incident occurred on 25 November 2018 when the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) coast guard fired upon and captured three Ukrainian Navy vessels attempting to pass from the Black Sea into the Sea of Azov through the Kerch Strait on their way to the port of Mariupol.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: On February 21, 2019, the Constitution of Ukraine was amended, the norms on the strategic course of Ukraine for membership in the European Union and NATO are enshrined in the preamble of the Basic Law, three articles and transitional provisions.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: Procrastination with the sale of its own confectionery factory in the Lipetsk oblast of Russia, the scandal with the use of offshore to minimize taxes paid (Panamagate) also did not contribute to the high rating of the president. Even the historic acquisition of autocephaly from Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I (tomos) and the creation of an independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine did not help restore the wasted trust in the Ukrainians. It was one of the most effective five years of Ukrainian state-building, but also one of the most controversial, when the president had to overcome the urgent challenges of the present, unable to break with the past.


title: Modern history of Ukraine

text: On April 21, 2019, in the second round of the presidential election, actor and showman Volodymyr Zelenskyy won, who managed to consolidate the protest mood of various political spectrums around his own charismatic personality and get 73.23% of the vote. An inauguration ceremony took place on May 20, after which Zelenskyy announced the dissolution of the Verkhovna Rada and called early elections. Early parliamentary elections on July 21 allowed the newly formed pro-presidential Servant of the People party to win an absolute majority of seats for the first time in the history of independent Ukraine (248). Dmytro Razumkov, the party's chairman, was elected speaker of parliament. The majority was able to form a government on August 29 on its own, without forming coalitions, and approve Oleksii Honcharuk as prime minister. On March 4, 2020, due to a 1.5% drop in GDP (instead of a 4.5% increase at the time of the election), the Verkhovna Rada fired Honcharuk's government and Denys Shmyhal became the new Prime Minister.