History UsefulNotes / Ukraine

During Soviet times, Soviet planners wanted to prevent ''any'' one region from establishing totally independent arms production, and a lot of defence and aerospace plants (such as Antonov and Yangel) ended up in the Ukraine. When the USSR collapsed, the Russian Federation found itself in the unenviable position of having the vendors of many of its equipment and weapons systems in a foreign country and often they weren't very cooperative. Ukraine is sitting on top of a lot of old Soviet industrial bases, needless to say. Also for a while they inherited all the nuclear weapons and delivery vehicles the Soviets had stationed in the Ukraine, but they decided to give them up, as did Belarus and Kazakhstan, which had found themselves in similar positions.

We mentioned earlier that most Ukrainians object to being called Russians. While only Russian nationalists and ignorant people try and claim that the Ukrainian nation isn't real, a big number of Ukrainians in the east and south of the country, especialy the Crimea peninsula, are in fact Russian-speaking, Russophile, and in short Russian. Well, Crimea was only transferred under the administration of the USSR (Ukrainian Soviet Socialistic Republic, not the Soviet Union itself) in 1961, and as such remained part of Ukraine, even though it's an autonomous republic nowadays. Russian naval bases are still there, in Sevastopol, which for the past five years invoked much controversy and general hate. Somewhat ironic is that foreign troops and ships participating in joint military exercises in Crimea (notably the U.S. ones) come into dock at Sevastopol. Cue pro-Russian, anti-NATO demonstrations. Also cue a '''major''' BrokenBase, especially in the 2006/2010 elections.

Many Ukrainians will object if you call them Russians- the Russians were responsible for millions of deaths in the Ukrainian SSR, including a possible genocide in the Holodomor("death by hunger"), the 1932-33 famine in the country, caused by Soviet crop seizures. Similar seizures took place in Belarus and on the Volga, but consider the fact Ukraine was a heavily agrarian country back then. By comparison, pre-revolution Belarus made Ukraine look positively cosmopolitan--the poorer region fared better in the forced crop seizures due transfer of resources ''to'' rather than ''from'' as in Ukraine, since it was no breadbasket.

* The classic 19th century writer Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol ([[SmallReferencePools though he's often lumped together with Russian-born writers like Tolstoy and Chekhov]]).

This was a major factor in the Western Ukrainian population initially welcoming the Nazis, before realising that they weren't really distinguishing between Slavic groups. They then fought against them, with 15% of Soviet deaths in the GreatPatrioticWar being Ukrainian.

Many Ukrainians will object if you call them Russians- the Russians were responsible for millions of deaths in the Ukrainian SSR, including a possible genocide in the Holodomor("death by hunger"), the 1932-33 famine in the country, caused by Soviet crop seizures. Similar seizures took place in Belarus and on the Volga, but consider the fact Ukraine was a heavily agrarian country back then.

This was a major factor in the Western Ukrainian population initially welcoming the Nazis, before realising that they weren't really distinguishing between Slavic groups. They then fought against them, with a quarter of Soviet deaths in the GreatPatrioticWar being Ukrainian.

Ukraine is also known as the location of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. It is home to the former V.I. Lenin Memorial Nuclear Power Station (or something like that...) and the surrounding Zone of Alienation, most of that being in neighbouring Belarus.

* Olga Kurylenko. Actress from films like ''QuantumOfSolace''.
* MillaJovovich. ''ResidentEvil'' and ''TheFifthElement''. ''Her''. Born in the country (to a Russian mother and Montenegrin father), but moved to the US.

* A small-time politician who worked under Lenin during RedOctober, LevDavidovichBronstein.

Many Ukrainians will object if you call them Russians- the Russians were responsible for millions of deaths in the Ukrainian SSR, including a possible genocide in the [[MoralEventHorizon Holodomor]] ("death by hunger"), the 1932-33 famine in the country, caused by Soviet crop seizures. Similar seizures took place in Belarus and on the Volga, but consider the fact Ukraine was a heavily agrarian country back then.

We mentioned earlier that most Ukrainians object to being called Russians. While only Russian nationalists and ignorant people try and claim that the Ukrainian nation isn't real, a big number of Ukrainians in the east and south of the country, especialy the Crimea peninsula, are in fact Russian-speaking, Russophile, and in short Russian. Well, Crimea was only transferred under the administration of the USSR(Ukrainian Soviet Socialistic Republic, not the Soviet Union itself) in 1961, and as such remained part of Ukraine, even though it's an autonomous republic nowadays. Russian naval bases are still there, in Sevastopol, which for the past five years invoked much controversy and general hate. Somewhat ironic is that foreign troops and ships participating in joint military exercises in Crimea(notably the U.S. ones) come into dock at Sevastopol. Cue pro-Russian, anti-NATO demonstrations. Also cue a '''major''' BrokenBase, especially in the 2006/2010 elections.

* Viktor Yushchenko, the country's former President until his [[ZeroPercentApprovalRating epic defeat]] in the 2010 election. Him of the pockmarked face, which was the result of attempted poisoning.

* The guy we just call [[HistoryOfTheUSSR Nikita]], plus two other Soviet leaders (who proceeded to carry on being nasty to their own people).
** Nikita Khrushchev was actually Russian, he only built his career in Ukraine and liked to pretend that he was Ukrainian. Leonid Brezhnev was from Ukraine, but his parents were Russian. Konstantin Chernenko was born in Siberia, but his father was Ukrainian.
** Hold on, hold on! He ''built'' his career in the Ukraine? On what, exactly? The fucking Holodomor?... Actually that doesn't sound all that unlikely.
** Actually, no. Khrushchev had no hand in the Holodomor of 1932-33, and was banned from ''preventing'' another in 1946-47. So... yeah.

* the female singer Ruslana
* the classic 19th century writer Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol ([[SmallReferencePools though he's often lumped together with Russian-born writers like Tolstoy and Chekhov]]).

* And [[OldShame lest we forget]] the [[CompleteMonster Dnepropetrovsk Maniacs]], of [[MemeticMutation 3Guys1Hammer]] infamy.

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<<|UsefulNotes/{{Europe}}|>>

* Also the [[BuxomisBetter boobielicious]], [[CoolBigSis sweet]] and [[WaterWorks tearful]] MoeAnthropomorphism of Ukraine in AxisPowersHetalia.

** Actually, no. Khrushchev had no hand in the Holodomor of 1932-33, and was banned from preventing another in 1946-47. So... yeah.

** Oh and [[CompletelyMissingThePoint she's an important opposition figure and a powerful woman in her own right]], but let's [[MaleGaze just concentrate on her looks]].

* Milla Jovovich. ''ResidentEvil'' and ''TheFifthElement''. ''Her''. Born in the country (to a Russian mother and Montenegrin father), but moved to the US.

We mentioned earlier that most Ukrainians object to being called Russians. While only Russian nationalists and ignorant people try and claim that the Ukrainian nation isn't real, a big number of Ukrainians in the east and south of the country, especialy the Crimea peninsula, are in fact Russian-speaking, Russophile, and in short Russian. Well, Crimea was only transferred under the administration of the USSR(Ukrainian Soviet Socialistic Republic, not the Soviet Union itself) in 1961, and as such remained part of Ukraine, even though it's an autonomous republic nowadays. Russian naval bases are still there, in Sevastopol, which for the past five years invoked much controversy and general hate. Somewhat ironic is that foreign troops and ships participating in joint military exercises in Crimea(notably the U.S. ones) come into dock at Sevastopol. Cue pro-Russian, anti-NATO demonstrations. Also cue a '''major''' BrokenBase, especially in the 2006/2010 elections.

[[AC: the Ukrainian flag]]

** Oh and [[CompletelyMissingThePoint she's an important opposition figure and a powerful woman in her own right]], but let's [[MaleGaze just concentrate on her looks.]]

* Milla Jovovich. ''ResidentEvil'' and ''TheFifthElement''. ''Her''. Born in the country (to a Russian mother and Montenegrin father), but moved to the US.

<<|UsefulNotes/{{Europe}}|>>

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/125px-Flag_of_Ukraine_svg.png
[[caption-width:225:Golden wheat under a blue sky in the breadbasket of Eastern Europe.]]



Famous Ukrainians include:

[[AC: the Ukrainian flag]]
http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/125px-Flag_of_Ukraine_svg.png
[[caption-width:125:Golden wheat under a blue sky in the breadbasket of Eastern Europe.]]

[[AC: the Ukrainian flag]]
http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/125px-Flag_of_Ukraine_svg.png
[[caption-width:125:Golden wheat under a blue sky in the breadbasket of Eastern Europe.]]

Many Ukrainians will object if you call them Russians- the Russians were responsible for millions of deaths in the Ukrainian SSR, including a possible genocide in the Holodomor ("death by hunger"), the 1932-33 famine in the country, caused by Soviet crop seizures. Similar seizures took place in Belarus and on the Volga, but consider the fact Ukraine was a heavily agrarian country back then.

And despite what anyone might tell you, the best vodka does not come from Russia. It comes from Ukraine. But Ukrainian vodka is properly called ''horilka'', not ''vodka''. There's also the Polish vodka, which is pronounced ''voodka''. It's just like "whisky" (Scotch and Canadian) vs "whiskey" (Irish and American).

** Hold on, hold on! He ''built'' his career in the Ukraine? On what, exactly? The f*cking Holodomor?... Actually that doesn't sound all that unlikely.

Many Ukrainians will object if you call them Russians- the Russians were responsible for millions of deaths in the Ukrainian SSR, including a possible genocide in the Holodomor ("death by hunger"), the 1932-33 famine in the country, caused by Soviet crop seizures.

* Mila Kunis. ''That70sShow'' and ''FamilyGuy''. Born there, moved to the US.

[[caption-width:125:Golden wheat under a blue sky. Ukraine was famous for agriculture. Today it's more famous for apparently stealing gas from the pipelines. And we mean apparently.]]

During Soviet times, Soviet planners wanted to prevent any one region from establishing totally independent arms production, and a lot of defence and aerospace plants (such as Antonov and Yangel) ended up in the Ukraine. When the USSR collapsed, the Russian Federation found itself in the unenviable position of having the vendors of many of its equipment and weapons systems in a foreign country and often they weren't very cooperative. Ukraine is sitting on top of a lot of old Soviet industrial bases, needless to say. Also for a while they inherited all the nuclear weapons and delivery vehicles the Soviets had stationed in the Ukraine, but they decided to give them up, as did Belarus and Kazakhstan, which had found themselves in similar positions.

We mentioned earlier that most Ukrainians object to being called Russians. While only Russian nationalists and ignorant people try and claim that the Ukrainian nation isn't real, a big number of Ukrainians in the south of the country, especialy the Crimea peninsula, are in fact Russian-speaking, Russophile, and in short Russian. Well, Crimea was only transferred under the administration of the USSR(Ukrainian Soviet Socialistic Republic, not the Soviet Union itself) in 1961, and as such remained part of Ukraine, even though it's an autonomous republic nowadays. Russian naval bases are still there, in Sevastopol, which for the past five years invoked much controversy and general hate. Somewhat ironic is that foreign troops and ships participating in joint military exercises in Crimea(notably the U.S. ones) come into dock at Sevastopol. Cue pro-Russian, anti-NATO demonstrations.