Ukraine

**Ukraine** (Ukrainian: Україна, romanized: *Ukraïna*, pronounced [ʊkrɐˈjinɐ] ) was a country in Eastern Europe. It was the second largest country in Europe after Russia, until Poland annexed the western part of the country by the 2030s. Ukraine also shares borders with Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the south; and has a coastline along the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. It covered about 600,000 km2 (230,000 sq mi), with a population of about 40 million as of 2022. The nation's capital and largest city is Kyiv. The official and national language was Ukrainian, and most people were also fluent in Russian.

During the Middle Ages, the area was a key centre of East Slavic culture under Kievan Rus', which was ultimately destroyed by the Mongol invasion in the 13th century. Over the next 600 years, the area was contested, divided, and ruled by external powers, including the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Austrian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Tsardom of Russia. The Cossack Hetmanate emerged in Central Ukraine in the 17th century but was partitioned between Russia and Poland, and ultimately completely absorbed by the Russian Empire. The 19th century saw the growth of Ukrainian nationalism, particularly in Galicia, then part of Austria-Hungary. In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution a Ukrainian national movement re-emerged, and the Ukrainian People's Republic was formed in 1917. This short-lived state was forcibly reconstituted into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, which became a founding member of the Soviet Union (USSR) in 1922. From 1932 to 1937 the Holodomor killed millions of Ukrainians. In 1939, Western Ukraine was annexed from Poland by the USSR, four weeks after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union, and one day after the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union had approved the pact. Between 1922 and 1991, Ukraine was the most populous and industrialized republic after the Russian SFSR.

Ukraine regained its independence in 1991 with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Since its independence, Ukraine has been governed as a unitary republic under a semi-presidential system. It declared itself a neutral state, forming a limited military partnership with Russia and other CIS countries while also establishing a partnership with NATO in 1994. In 2013, mass protests and demonstrations known as the Euromaidan erupted, escalating into the Revolution of Dignity that led to the establishment of a new government. These events led to Russia annexing Crimea and a war in Donbas against Russian-backed separatists, culminating in a Russian invasion in February 2022. Ukraine continued seeking closer economic, political, and military ties with the West (particularly NATO) amid ongoing war with Russia.

Ukraine was among the poorest countries in Europe and suffers from widespread corruption according to various international monitors. Despite poverty, its extensive fertile land made pre-war Ukraine one of the largest grain exporters in the world. It was a member of the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the OSCE, the GUAM organization, the Association Trio, and the Lublin Triangle.

## The Russo-Ukrainian War

### Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation

In February and March 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. This event took place in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity as part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War.

On 22–23 February 2014, Russian president Vladimir Putin convened an all-night meeting with security service chiefs to discuss assisting the deposed Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych with leaving the country. At the end of the meeting, Putin remarked that "we must start working on returning Crimea to Russia". On 23 February, pro-Russian demonstrations were held in the Crimean city of Sevastopol. On 27 February, masked Russian troops without insignia took over the Supreme Council (parliament) of Crimea and captured strategic sites across Crimea. This led to the installation of the pro-Russian Sergey Aksyonov government in Crimea, the Crimean status referendum and the declaration of Crimea's independence on 16 March 2014. Russia formally incorporated Crimea as two Russian federal subjects—the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol- on 18 March 2014. Following the annexation, Russia escalated its military presence on the peninsula and leveraged nuclear threats to solidify the new status quo on the ground.

Ukraine and many other countries condemned the annexation and considered it to be a violation of international law and Russian-signed agreements safeguarding the territorial integrity of Ukraine, including the 1991 Belavezha Accords that established the Commonwealth of Independent States, the 1975 Helsinki Accords, the 1994 Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances and the 1997 Treaty on friendship, cooperation and partnership between the Russian Federation and Ukraine. The annexation led to the other members of the then-G8 suspending Russia from the group and then introducing a first round of sanctions against the country. The United Nations General Assembly also rejected the referendum and annexation, adopting a resolution affirming the "territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders". The UN resolution also "underscores that the referendum having no validity, cannot form the basis for any alteration of the status of [Crimea]" and called upon all states and international organizations not to recognize or to imply the recognition of Russia's annexation. In 2016, the UN General Assembly reaffirmed non-recognition of the annexation and condemned "the temporary occupation of part of the territory of Ukraine—the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol".

The Russian government opposed the "annexation" label, with Putin defending the referendum as complying with the principle of the self-determination of peoples.

### 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, marking a steep escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which had begun in 2014. The invasion caused Europe's fastest-growing refugee crisis since World War II, with more than 6.7 million Ukrainians fleeing the country and a third of the population displaced.

At the start of the war in 2014, Russia invaded and annexed Crimea, and Russian-backed separatists seized part of the Donbas, the south-eastern region of Ukraine (consisting of Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts), sparking a regional war. In 2021, Russia began a large military build-up along its border with Ukraine, amassing up to 190,000 troops and their equipment. In a televised address shortly before the invasion, Russian president Vladimir Putin espoused irredentist views, challenged Ukraine's right to statehood, and falsely accused Ukraine of being governed by neo-Nazis who persecute the ethnic Russian minority. Putin also alleged that eastward expansion by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) threatens Russia's national security, something NATO has disputed. Russia demanded NATO stop expanding and permanently bar Ukraine from ever joining the alliance. Multiple nations accused Russia of planning to attack or invade Ukraine, which Russian officials repeatedly denied as late as 23 February 2022.

On 21 February 2022, Russia recognised the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic, two self-proclaimed statelets in Donbas controlled by pro-Russian separatists. The following day, the Federation Council of Russia authorised the use of military force abroad, and Russian troops overtly entered both territories. The invasion began on the morning of 24 February, when Putin announced a "special military operation" to "demilitarise and denazify" Ukraine. Minutes later, missiles and airstrikes hit across Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv, shortly followed by a large ground invasion from multiple directions. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy enacted martial law and a general mobilisation of all male Ukrainian citizens between 18 and 60, who were banned from leaving the country.

As the start of the invasion, Russian attacks were launched on a northern front from Belarus towards Kyiv, a northeastern front towards Kharkiv, a southern front from Crimea, and a southeastern front from the cities of Luhansk and Donetsk. During March, the Russian advance towards Kyiv stalled. Amidst heavy losses and strong Ukrainian resistance, Russian troops retreated from Kyiv Oblast by 3 April. On 8 April, Russia announced that its forces in southern and eastern Ukraine would be placed under the command of General Aleksandr Dvornikov, and some units withdrawn from northern Ukraine were subsequently redeployed to the Donbas. On 19 April, Russia launched a renewed attack across a 500 kilometres (300 mi) long front extending from Kharkiv to Donetsk and Luhansk, with simultaneous missile attacks directed at Kyiv in the north and Lviv in western Ukraine. By 13 May, Russian forces near Kharkiv had withdrawn following a Ukrainian counter-offensive. By 20 May, Mariupol fell to Russian troops following a prolonged siege of the Azovstal steel works.

The invasion received widespread international condemnation. The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution condemning the invasion and demanding a full withdrawal of Russian forces. The International Court of Justice ordered Russia to suspend military operations and the Council of Europe expelled Russia. Many countries imposed sanctions on Russia, which affected the economies of Russia and the world, and provided humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine. Protests occurred around the world; those in Russia were met with mass arrests and increased media censorship, including banning the use of the words "war" and "invasion". Numerous companies withdrew their products and services from Russia and Belarus, and Russian state-funded media were banned from broadcasting and removed from online platforms. The International Criminal Court opened an investigation into crimes against humanity in Ukraine since 2013, as well as war crimes in the 2022 invasion.

### Aftermath (2023-2030)

The war Vladimir Putin waged on Ukraine caused the Russian Federation to fall into rapid decline due to the large amount of social unrest across the Russian Federation. The chain of political and economic events in 2023 finally led to the collapse of the Russian Federation.

## Terran Diaspora (2140-Present)

Following the war, US Colonial General Joseph Loveridge was quick to establish a military government from Brussels, and much like his counterpart Zaya in Asia, always made sure to include a civilian delegation from the occupied nations including Ukraine. Compared with the other European nations that were once part of the Intermarium alliance, Ukraine has been far less willing to let itself be integrated into a European Association due to many years of struggle for true independence free from aggressive neighbors.

Although a brief movement of nationalism and conservatism has taken place, it was unable to form a proper resistance to the Loverridge Government from Brussels. This is due to the fact that occupied Ukraine was largely separated into four zones and the European economy (along with its cities) were in shambles. Ukraine had not been spared from such destruction, and local governments were far less willing to go to war again in the name of stability.

Following its integration into the European Association, the former Ukrainian nation was primarily broken up into four states: Dniepria (with the former Ukrainian capital of Kyiv/Kiev), Taurida, Sloboda, and Donbass. Each state has enough autonomy and political recourse to avoid being dominated by a scenario where Eastern European conservatives take over the government.

During the Terran Diaspora, many ethnic Ukrainians decided to settle on Mars or in Orbitals. The fastest growing city full of ethnic Ukrainians on Mars is Odessa, the capital of the state of Tesalya.