o R t ep CHERNOBYL & GHOST-TOWN e u r Gaining infamy after the nuclear i b

LVIV TUNNEL OF LOVE l p

disaster of 1986, the region is deserted i c

Famous for its cofee, also coddles it Located on the railway stretch between m FACTS today – yet the of Pripyat E citizens with poems written on walls, music Klevan and Orzhiv, this tunnel is draws a number of extreme tourists as in the streets, a gorgeous Old Town and the formed by trees and bushes, making it P a e nature slowly recovers. r in POPULATION: stunning Ivan Franko park. Art galleries, a a favorite spot for couples. t VI. Ukra 42.5 MILLION (44.7 MILLION) famous opera and the delicious local chocolate round out the mix. KIEV AREA: 603,628 KM2 Ukraine’s capital boasts famous CAPITAL: KIEV churches, the awe-inspiring (2,800,000 INHABITANTS) Shevchenko university and big parks. GDP: €90 BILLION Visit the impressive and pivotal Maidan Square and the deepest subway station (€318 BILLION IN PPP) in the world, Arsenalna Metro Station. GDP PER CAPITA: €2,120 640TONS is the maximum takeoff weight (€7,517 IN PPP) NATIONAL ART MUSEUM OF UKRAINE of the ANTONOV AN-225 MRIYA Dedicated to Ukrainian art, the national KHARKIV (“dream” or “inspiration”), the heaviest museum in Kiev hosts an impressive Ukraine’s second city is the economic, Compiled by LYCHAKIV CEMETERY collection of paintings, icons and other cultural, scientific and administrative Anastasia Gromontova & aircraft ever built, which was Monumental sculptures guard many of artworks. the graves in Lviv’s biggest cemetery, center of the eastern half of the Benjamin Wolf assembled in Ukraine in 1988. transforming this necropolis into an country, with imposing churches, big open-air fine art museum. parks, the renowned Kharkiv Art Museum and Liberty Square, the second largest in the world.

For the IVANA KUPALA DAY, celebrated

on JULY 6, boys and girls join hands in SOFIYIVSKY PARK DNIPRO pairs and jump over a fire. When a couple Kiev’s botanical garden has over 2,000 Originally envisioned as the Russian Empire’s third types of flora, attracting more than capital city after Moscow and Saint Petersburg, the skips the fire without losing grip of each 500,000 visitors annually. centrally located city of Dnipro is a powerhouse of other, their love is destined to last a lifetime. business and politics with fittingly splendid architecture.

UZHHOROD CHERNIVTSI One of the world’s first modern constitutions was Settled since the 1st millennium AD, Sitting on the river , Chernivtsi’s OLBIA drafted and introduced in 1710 BY UKRAINIAN Uzhhorod’s Old Town, fortress, lovely cobbled streets, cozy cafes and churches and blossoming cherry trees old university from Habsburg times Once a flourishing trading hub for grain, HETMAN PYLYP ORLYK. It established an elected in spring make this castle town on the give it a charming flair. fish, slaves and goods, the ancient Greek border to Slovakia well worth a visit. city Pontic Olbia is a fascinating parliament, limited executive powers and outlined archaeological site today, with history BORSCHT (NATIONAL DISH) KAMIANETS-PODILSKYI bufs ogling the well-preserved ruins. rights and responsibilities. Popular throughout Eastern Europe. LAKE Founded by the ancient Dacians, Kamianets-Podilskyi is one of the oldest Ukraine’s national dish is a versatile, Part of the Synevyr national preserve, sour tasting soup that can be served hot the largest lake in the Carpathian cities in Ukraine, retaining its historical castles and fortress to this day. or cold and can include beetroots, THE TRADITION OF PAINTING EASTER EGGS Mountains is one of the Seven Natural KINBURN SPIT potatoes, onions, cabbage and sour ORIGINATED IN UKRAINE. Originally using Wonders of Ukraine. ODESSA This unusual nature preserve on the cream, but also meat or fish. Smachnoho! Laid back and idiosyncratic, Odessa is known Black Sea houses numerous rare wax and dye, later also dashing colors, as a city of humor and Jewish culture with an species of plants and animals among KARPATY REGION imposing and busy seaside. It’s also home to its sandy steppes, wetlands and KOYASHSKOYE SALT LAKE Ukrainians favor intricate designs and Ukraine’s majestic mountain range is a the gigantic Potemkin Stairs, the artificial pine plantations. Depending on the light, this lake can ornaments called pysankas. great place for hiking, skiing and riding Mother-In-Law Bridge, a stunning opera take on an otherworldly pink to scarlet horses, with deep forests, delectable building and picturesque food markets. color due to the presence of food and folksy weekend markets. microscopic algae living in the water. Perched on the Kerch Peninsula, the salt crystallizes on the shore, producing crystals and the scent of violets.

1253 14TH-17TH 1917-21 1945 2014 2017-18 MASTERS IN KINGDOM OF UKRAINIAN WAR OF UKRAINIAN SOVIET EUROMAIDAN A DREAM OF CENTURY INDEPENDENCE GALICIA-VOLHYNIA EXTERNAL 1932–33 1939-1945 REPUBLIC REVOLUTION EUROPE THEIR HOME After the devastations of the CONTROL Following the Russian HOLODOMOR FAMINE WORLD WAR II The re-established Ukrainian Protesters succeed in ousting In 2017, the EU and Ukraine Revolution in 1917, the newly 882 Kievan Rus’ by the Mongols Axis armies occupy Ukraine from Soviet Republic becomes a President Viktor Yanukovich and sign an Association Historically known as KIEVAN RUS’ The territory of today’s proclaimed Ukrainian People’s This man-made famine, called 1991 (1237-42), the Kingdom of 1772-95 1941-45, carrying out an founding member of the INDEPENDENCE setting Ukraine on a European Agreement, envisaging The earliest nucleus of the Ukraine comes under the A COUNTRY DIVIDED Republic (UNR) fights a Holodomor (meaning “to kill by Ruthenians or Cossacks, Galicia-Volhynia unprecedented campaign of United Nations (UN). Ukraine becomes independent, course. Russian resistance to closer cooperation in many later Russian Empire becomes rule of external powers: The three partitions of Poland and four-years civil war over its starvation”) cost the lives of emerges. terror and genocide. More than 7 following the dissolution of the these policies leads to the areas. In 2018, the EU the Ukrainians had to fight the most powerful state in the Golden Horde, the the Russian annexation of Crimea future. In 1922, Ukraine 3.3 to 7.5 million people in Soviet million civilians are killed, of . Its transformation annexation of Crimea and a grants Ukrainians Europe in the 10th and 11th Grand Duchy of Lithuania, in 1783 leave Ukraine divided becomes a founding member Ukraine. Some scholars consider for their independence and which 500,000 were Jews killed to a market economy, however, proxy war in eastern Ukraine. much-coveted visa-free centuries. the Kingdom of Poland, between the Habsburg Empire in of the Soviet Union (USSR). it genocide, planned by Joseph in the Holocaust. is marred by a deep recession. travel in the Schengen area. identity time and again. and the Crimean the west and the Russian Empire Stalin to eliminate the Ukrainian Commonwealth. in the center and east. independence movement.

54 SEPTEMBER 2018 ILLUSTRATIONS: KARIN DREHER; KARIN-GRAFIKDESIGN.COM, LEANDER SELGE; SHUTTERSTOCK. SEPTEMBER 2018 55