Ukraine

Discover Ukraine

Fun Foods

Borscht, Varenyky, Holubtsi, Deruny, Salo, Kyiv Cake

Deep under Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, is a subway station called Arsenalna. It sits 105.5 meters (346 feet) underground, about as deep as a 30-story building is tall.

The escalator ride down is so long that riders switch escalators halfway.

For decades it was the deepest metro station in the world, until a station in China dug deeper in 2023.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, its depth turned it into something else: a bomb shelter where families hid from attacks.

Ukraine’s story begins over 1,000 years ago with Kyivan Rus, a state centered on Kyiv that in the 900s and 1000s was among the largest and most powerful in Europe.

In 988, its ruler, Volodymyr the Great, adopted Christianity and had the people of Kyiv baptized.

Over the centuries, Mongols, Poles, Lithuanians, and Russians all ruled parts of Ukraine. After Russia’s empire collapsed in 1917, Ukraine was briefly independent, but Soviet forces took it over.

Under Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, a man-made famine called the Holodomor, meaning “killing by hunger,” killed millions of Ukrainians in 1932 and 1933.

During World War II, Nazi Germany occupied Ukraine. At Babyn Yar, a ravine in Kyiv, Nazi forces murdered nearly 34,000 Jewish people in just two days in September 1941.

In 1986, a nuclear reactor exploded at the Chernobyl power plant, one of the worst nuclear disasters in history.

Then, as the Soviet Union fell apart, Ukraine declared independence on August 24, 1991, and that December, more than 90% of voters said yes.

In 2014, after protests pushed out Ukraine’s president, Russia seized the Crimean peninsula and backed fighters in eastern Ukraine. Most of the world’s countries didn’t recognize Russia’s takeover.

On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion, the biggest attack on a European country since World War II.

Ukrainian forces pushed Russian troops back from Kyiv, but the war has continued, killing tens of thousands of people and forcing millions to flee their homes.

Ukraine has beautiful places to explore. In Kyiv, see the golden domes of St. Sophia’s Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage Site more than 1,000 years old.

Wander the cobblestone old town of Lviv, and hike in the Carpathian Mountains to Hoverla, Ukraine’s highest peak at 2,061 meters (6,762 feet).

Ukrainians are also famous for pysanky, eggs decorated with bright, detailed patterns using beeswax and dye.

For food, try borscht, a bright red beet soup that UNESCO lists as heritage in urgent need of protection.

Fill up on varenyky, dumplings stuffed with potato, cheese, or cherries. And try deruny, crispy potato pancakes served with sour cream.

Sources: CIA World Factbook: Ukraine, Wikipedia: Arsenalna (Kyiv Metro), and World Vision UK: Facts About Ukraine.