After the Soviet military aggression by the Soviet government at the beginning of 1918, Ukraine declared its full independence from the Russian Republic on 22 January 1918, as the Ukrainian People’s Republic which existed from 1917 to 1922.

The conflict had included the Russian annexation of Crimea (2014), the Donbas War (2014–present), naval incidents, cyberwarfare, and political tensions. After Russian military buildups near Ukraine’s borders in 2021, Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.

In February and March 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. This event took place in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity and is part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian conflict

It is the largest country in Europe after Russia itself, with an area of 603,550 sq km, or about 6% of the continent. Ukraine is, of course, dwarfed by Russia, which sprawls over almost 4 million sq km and 40% of Europe. In July 2021, Ukraine’s population was estimated at 43.7 million.

Galicia fell to the Austrian Empire, and the rest of Ukraine to the Russian Empire. While right-bank Ukraine belonged to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth until late 1793, left-bank Ukraine had been incorporated into Tsardom of Russia in 1667 (under the Treaty of Andrusovo).