Ukraine. Kyiv. Kharkiv. Mariupol. Before the war. A brief history. #ukraine #kiev #mariupol

Ukraine is a colorful multinational country with a good potential for the development of a tourist destination. The wide variety of traditions that arose from the mixing of different cultures make it unique. Each region has its own characteristics. The population of the state is just over 42.5 million people on an area of 603,549 m2, which allows it to remain one of the largest in Europe.

Despite the economic difficulties and numerous political reforms that the state is going through, it remains attractive to tourists from all over the world. Vacationers come here to get acquainted with the customs of the region, to improve their health in numerous sanatoriums, to enjoy historical and cultural monuments. Ukraine can offer any holiday options: from urban to beach. History of Ukraine
Modern Ukrainians are descendants of the ancient Slavs, who once displaced the Scythians and Sarmatians from this territory. Around the 5th century. the first princely associations arose, which gave rise to the formation of statehood. 882 is the date of the foundation of Kievan Rus, whose capital was Kiev. It was an economically and culturally developed power that had sufficient military power to withstand numerous nomadic raids for a long time and constantly expand its territories. An important milestone in the fate of not only Kievan Rus, but also the entire Orthodox world, is the adoption of Christianity in 988.

The history of a prosperous state practically ends after its conquest by the Mongol-Tatars, and later by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Later, the territory was divided between the Moldavian Principality, the Kingdom of Hungary and the Golden Horde, Poland and the Lithuanian state. A new page in the history of the Ukrainian people is the creation of the Hetmanate with the center in the Zaporozhye Sich. It was a unique state formation that began as an association of Cossacks – that's what ethnic Ukrainians called themselves, who for various reasons fled from the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Russian Kingdom. The largest uprisings occurred in the 17th century – under the leadership of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, significant territories were conquered both in the eastern and western directions. The inability to resist the military force of neighboring states was the reason for the Pereyaslav Rada, as a result of which an agreement was signed with Moscow – Ukraine was divided into Left-Bank and Right-Bank for a long time.
In the 19th century there was an active development of industry, but at the same time unfavorable conditions were created for the development of Ukrainian culture and the formation of a national idea. For example, the use of the Ukrainian language was banned in almost all spheres, except household. But, despite this, the theater continued to function, books were published.

In 1917, the Ukrainian People's Republic was created – an autonomous federation with an executive body in Kiev (Central Rada). In parallel, there were several political associations on the territory of the modern state, the struggle for power of which led to a civil war, in which the Bolsheviks won. Around the same time, the Western Ukrainian People's Republic was formed, which included Eastern Galicia. UPR and ZUNR merged in January 1919, and in 1922 Ukraine became part of the USSR.
In the early 1930s, the Soviet government carried out mass collectivization. For the Ukrainian peasantry, this period was a real tragedy, since a course was taken to suppress and literally physically destroy a strong independent peasant. At the same time, after a short period of Ukrainization, there is a wave of mass repressions, during which the NKVD services identified the so-called "enemies of the people". Most often they were representatives of the free–thinking intelligentsia - cultural and scientific figures.
At the beginning of the Second World War, by agreement between the USSR and Germany, Western Ukraine became part of the Ukrainian SSR.
On June 22, 1941, German troops attacked Kiev. For four years, the republic was under occupation. The First Ukrainian Front of the Red Army took an active part in the liberation of the territories, which finally took place in August 1944. After the war, an active restoration of industry was carried out.
Ukraine gained independence in 1991 – more than 70% of the population voted for secession from the USSR in a referendum. The young state continues to develop actively, but also faces numerous difficulties, has already experienced several revolutions (in 2004 and 2014).