Hundreds of cars flee to the west of the country, says correspondent in Kyiv 3:54
(CNN) --
Ukraine is the second largest European country in area after Russia.
It borders Moldova, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Belarus, Russia, and the Black Sea in Eastern Europe.
Here are some general facts about Ukraine, according to the CIA World Factbook.
This map shows the places where Russian explosions and attacks have been reported in Ukraine
Area:
603,550 km2 (slightly smaller than Texas)
Population:
43,745,640 (updated July 2021)
Average age:
41.2 years
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Capital:
Kyiv.
Ethnic groups: Ukrainian 77.8%.
Russian 17.3%.
Belarusian 0.6%.
Moldavian 0.5%.
Crimean Tatar 0.5%.
Bulgarian 0.4%.
Hungarian 0.3%.
Romanian 0.3%.
Polish 0.3%.
Jewish 0.2% and other 1.8% (Estimates for 2001)
Unemployment: 8.9% (2019 estimate)
Ukraine-Russia crisis: are we on the brink of a Third World War?
Some facts from Ukraine
Before the 20th century, the Ukrainian territories were controlled at different times by Russia, Poland, Lithuania, Mongols, Cossacks and others.
From the 18th to the 20th centuries, Russia and the Soviet Union carried out a Russification program to discourage Ukrainian national identity.
Russia invades Ukraine: breaking news, news and reactions to the attack live
Timeline and historical facts of Ukraine
1917-1920
— After the Russian Revolution of 1917 and towards the end of World War I, Ukraine is briefly an independent nation.
1920s
— Ukraine becomes part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
1921-1922
— A famine kills more than a million people.
1932-1933
— Soviet leader Joseph Stalin's collectivization policy leads to the Great Famine (Holodomor) in which millions of Ukrainians starve to death.
1941
— During World War II, Germany invades the Ukraine.
More than six million Ukrainians, the vast majority of them civilians, die in the war.
1944
— The Soviet Union regains control of Ukraine and expands its borders to include territory taken from Romania, Poland, and Czechoslovakia.
April 26, 1986
— Reactor 4 explodes at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Ukraine, releasing large amounts of radiation into the atmosphere.
More than 30 people died, and countless more later died of radiation symptoms.
The government is evacuating some 135,000 people from the area and the 30-kilometre exclusion zone around the plant remains uninhabitable.
Chernobyl from the sky, new tourist attraction 1:34
July 16, 1990
- Ukraine declares its sovereignty.
August 24, 1991
— Parliament declares independence, pending a referendum on December 1.
December 1, 1991
— The independence referendum passes with 90% approval.
December 8, 1991
- Ukraine joins the new Commonwealth of Independent States, along with Russia and Belarus.
Ukraine in the 21st century
2004
— President Leonid Kuchma refuses to run for a third term and endorses Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also supports Yanukovych's campaign.
September 2004
— Opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko develops a mysterious illness that leaves his face pockmarked.
Medical tests later show that he is suffering from dioxin poisoning.
October 31, 2004
— In the first round of the presidential election, Yanukovych and Yushchenko received about 40% of the vote.
November 21, 2004
— Preliminary exit polls for the second round give opposition Yushchenko a 52% lead to Yanukovych's 43%, but Yanukovych is officially declared the winner.
Independent election monitors allege fraud.
November 22, 2004
— Mass protests sweep the country, with demonstrators dressed in orange, Yushchenko's campaign color.
Activist Yulia Tymoshenko becomes a leading figure in the pro-Western Orange Revolution.
December 3, 2004
— The Supreme Court declares the previous runoff election invalid and orders a new runoff election.
December 26, 2004
- The opposition Viktor Yushchenko wins the elections with approximately 52% of the votes and takes office as president a month later.
January 2006
— Russian energy monopoly Gazprom briefly cuts off natural gas supplies to Ukraine.
January 2009
— Gazprom cuts off Ukraine's natural gas supply again over a payment dispute.
Second decade of the 21st century and the role of Russia in the country
This is how NATO forces are deployed in Eastern Europe
January 17, 2010
— Presidential elections are held.
Yushchenko receives only 5% of the votes.
Yanukovych gets 35% and Yulia Tymoshenko, Yushchenko's former prime minister, gets 25%, which requires a second round.
February 14, 2010
— In the second round, Yanukovych wins 48.95% of the vote against Tymoshenko's 45.47%.
Tymoshenko alleges fraud and openly criticizes Yanukovych.
She loses her post as prime minister in March.
June 2010
- Ukraine's parliament abandons plans to join NATO.
August 2011
— A court motion calls for the arrest of Yulia Tymoshenko.
The arrest is related to a 2009 gas contract negotiated when she was prime minister.
Tymoshenko dismisses all charges against her as political and calls the trial a "farce."
October 2011
— Tymoshenko is convicted of criminally "abusing office" over the 2009 gas deal with Gazprom.
She is sentenced to seven years in prison.
November 21, 2013
- President Yanukovych backs out of a trade deal with the European Union due to pressure from Russia.
Street protests begin in Kiev.
December 17, 2013
- Putin agrees to buy $15 billion of Ukraine's debt and reduce the price of natural gas supplied to the country.
What does Putin want in Ukraine?
The conflict explained
What sanctions will the US and the European Union apply to Russia?
8:16
The Crimean crisis begins
January 16, 2014 —
Yanukovych signs laws restricting the right to protest.
This leads to a large number of protesters in Kyiv and clashes with the police.
The law is repealed on January 28.
February 21, 2014 —
Negotiations lead to a deal that reduces Yanukovych's powers as president and reverses parts of the constitution.
February 22, 2014 —
Parliament votes to remove Yanukovych from office.
On the same day, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is released from prison.
February 24, 2014 —
An arrest warrant is issued for Yanukovych.
February 28, 2014 —
Andrii Parubii, Ukraine's national security and defense chief, says the country's military and police forces have prevented Russian military forces from seizing two airports in Crimea.
March 1, 2014 —
The upper house of the Russian parliament votes to send troops to Crimea on the same day Crimea's pro-Russian leader Sergey Aksyonov asks Putin to help keep the peace.
How the Russian invasion of Ukraine unfolded: what we know
Annexation of Crimea to Russia turned five years old 2:37
March 2, 2014
- Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk says of Russian troops on the Crimean peninsula: "This is a red alert. This is not a threat. Actually, it is a declaration of war on my country." ".
March 3, 2014
- Ukraine's ambassador, Yuriy Sergeyev, tells an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council that Russia used planes, ships and helicopters to flood Crimea with 16,000 troops.
March 4, 2014
– US Secretary of State John Kerry visits Ukraine and announces that the United States will provide Ukraine's new government with a $1 billion loan guarantee.
Senior US administration officials told CNN this will help insulate the Ukrainian economy from the effects of Russia's reduced energy subsidies.
March 6, 2014
- Crimea's parliament votes to hold a referendum on leaving Ukraine and becoming part of Russia.
March 16, 2014
— In the Crimean referendum, 96.7% vote to leave Ukraine and join Russia.
March 17, 2014
- United States and European Union officials announce sanctions on more than two dozen Russian officials and their allies in Crimea.
The Crimean regional parliament asks to join Russia, and in Moscow, Putin signs a decree recognizing the independence and sovereignty of the Republic of Crimea.
March 18, 2014
- In Moscow, Putin signs an annexation pact with the Prime Minister of Crimea and the mayor of the city of Sevastopol.
March 18, 2014
— In response to masked gunmen who killed one Ukrainian military member, wounded another, and arrested the rest of the staff at a base in Crimea, the Ministry of Defense authorizes its forces in Crimea to use weapons "to protect and preserve the lives of Ukrainian soldiers."
March 21, 2014
— Yatsenyuk in Brussels signs the political elements of a trade pact with the European Union.
March 22, 2014
- In Crimea, Russian special forces take control of the Belbek air base and pro-Russian self-defense forces take control of the Novofederoskoe military base and a Ukrainian ship, the Slavutych.
March 27, 2014
- The International Monetary Fund agrees to allow Ukraine to borrow up to $18 billion over the next two years.
UN General Assembly passes resolution declaring Ukraine's Crimean succession referendum invalid;
the vote on the resolution is 100-11, with 58 abstentions.
April 15, 2014
- Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov tells the country's parliament that an "anti-terrorist operation" is underway in Ukraine's troubled eastern Donetsk region.
Tensions have soared in recent days in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian rebels have seized government and police buildings in up to 10 towns and cities.
May 25, 2014
— Petro Poroshenko declares victory in Ukraine's presidential election, after preliminary exit polls suggested he won 56% of the vote.
May 27, 2014
- Authorities announce that a battle between pro-Russian rebels and government forces at Donetsk airport has claimed 40 lives.
June 7, 2014
– Poroshenko is sworn in as the new president of Ukraine.
June 27, 2014
- Ukraine signs a trade agreement with the European Union, the same agreement that Yanukovych backed out of in 2013.
July 17, 2014
— Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in eastern Ukraine after being shot down by a ground plane with an aerial missile, according to the United States.
All 298 people on board are killed.
July 24, 2014
- Yatsenyuk and his cabinet announce their resignation.
A week later, parliament rejects his resignation.
September 20, 2014
- Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists agree to a ceasefire.
October 26, 2014
- Ukrainians vote in parliamentary elections.
Ukrainian citizens in Russian-annexed Crimea and eastern areas controlled by pro-Russian separatists are not participating in the elections due to ongoing violence.
Poroshenko praises the results of the exit polls, saying the projected result provides "a powerful and irreversible endorsement of Ukraine's path to Europe."
January 26, 2015
- Poroshenko announces that Ukraine will ask the Hague court to investigate alleged "crimes against humanity" in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
February 11, 2015
- French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Poroshenko and Putin meet in Minsk, Belarus for peace talks.
February 12, 2015
— Peace talks end with a breakthrough: a ceasefire and an agreement for both sides to withdraw heavy weapons.
In March, heavy weapons are withdrawn from the front, but the violence continues.
April 10, 2016
— Yatsenyuk announces that he will resign.
February 20, 2017
- A ceasefire begins aimed at ending bloody fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists.
The ceasefire is a new attempt to enforce the Minsk peace protocol, an agreement that has failed repeatedly since it was first partially implemented in 2015.
The Zelensky-Biden scandal and the US elections
April 21, 2019
— Political newcomer and TV comedian Volodymyr Zelensky declares victory in Ukraine's presidential election after exit polls showed he is on track for a landslide victory against incumbent Poroshenko.
Zelensky's populist campaign focused on his promise to fight corruption and revive the economy.
May 1, 2019
— The New York Times publishes an article about allegations against former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, related to a Ukrainian energy company called Burisma Holdings.
Biden Jr. served on Burisma's board of directors, and in 2016 his father pressured Ukraine to remove a prosecutor who had investigated the company.
Rudy Giuliani, then-President Donald Trump's personal attorney, tells The New York Times that he is investigating the matter on behalf of his client, indicating the vice president's move was motivated by a desire to protect Trump. her son from the criminal charges.
Giuliani's claims are then undermined when Bloomberg reports that the Burisma investigation was "dormant" when Biden pressured the prosecutor to resign.
May 7, 2019
— The US Embassy in Kiev announces that Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch will be leaving her post ahead of schedule.
May 20, 2019
— Zelensky is sworn in as president.
He orders early elections for parliament.
July 21, 2019
— Zelensky's party wins a majority of seats in parliament during snap elections.
July 25, 2019
- Zelensky speaks with Trump on the phone.
Trump is asking Zelensky to work with Giuliani and Attorney General Bill Barr on an investigation of Biden, according to notes from the call released following a whistleblower complaint about the president's conduct.
Trump is later reported to have told his acting chief of staff that he would block nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine before speaking to Zelensky.
September 1, 2019
— Zelensky meets with US Vice President Mike Pence in Poland to mark the anniversary of the outbreak of World War II.
Pence is traveling to Poland in place of Trump, who has canceled his trip to monitor Hurricane Dorian as the storm approaches the southeastern United States.
Zelensky and Pence talk about military assistance and corruption in Ukraine.
September 7, 2019
— Ukrainian and Russian media reports that 70 people have been freed in a long-awaited prisoner swap between Ukraine and Russia, a move intended to ease tensions between the two countries.
September 25, 2019
— Zelensky meets with Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
During a joint news conference, Zelensky says he doesn't want to get involved in US politics, noting that he didn't feel pressured by Trump during the July phone call.
October 1, 2019
- Zelensky agrees to hold local elections in eastern Ukraine and signs agreements with Russia, European monitors and separatists in the region.
The deal could pave the way for peace talks between Zelensky, Putin and European leaders.
Ukrainian nationalists protest the deal, describing it as capitulation to Russia.
March 4, 2020
— Zelensky replaces the country's prime minister, saying he expects the new prime minister to "do the impossible."
Ukraine's parliament approves Denis Shmygal as the new prime minister, after accepting Oleksiy Honcharuk's resignation at an extraordinary session of Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament.
June 11, 2020
— In a statement to CNN, the Pentagon confirms that it is moving forward with a $250 million security assistance package for Ukraine, half of which was contingent on Kiev making progress on reforms and anti-corruption efforts.
The statement says the "funds, of which $125 million was conditional on Ukraine's progress on defense reforms, will provide equipment to support ongoing training programs and operational needs."
December 3, 2021
— After months of steady buildups along the Russia-Ukraine border, CNN reports that Russian forces have capabilities along the Ukraine border to carry out a swift and immediate invasion, including the construction of supply lines such as medical units and fuel.
that could sustain a protracted conflict, if Moscow decides to invade.
December 8, 2021
- Biden rules out sending US troops to Ukraine to defend the country from a Russian invasion a day after laying out the consequences of such an incursion during a phone call with Putin.
Russian invasion of Ukraine
February 24, 2022
— Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a speech early Thursday morning, saying he had decided to "carry out a special military operation... to protect people who have been abused." and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years," repeating an unsubstantiated claim about the Russian separatist-backed Donbas region of Ukraine.
The testimony of an Argentine who lives in Ukraine and asks the Foreign Ministry for help
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responded several hours later with a minute-long speech of his own, saying that he had spoken with US President Joe Biden and that the United States was mustering international support for Ukraine.
The attack began hours before dawn with a series of missiles against places near Kyiv, as well as the use of long-range artillery against the northeastern city of Kharkiv, near the border with Russia.
Several detonations east of Kyiv left huge plumes of gray smoke rising into the night sky.
One of the main targets was the main international airport in Boryspil.