/ . Health system, hospitals and clinics", "Ukrainian health care system and its chances for successful transition from Soviet legacies", "Health in Ukraine. By the end of the 10th century, the Kyivan domain covered a vast area from the edge of the open steppe in Ukraine as far north as Lake Ladoga and the upper Volga basin. [242] One 2022 estimate was that post-war reconstruction costs might reach half a trillion dollars. Trade along this route was controlled by Varangian merchant-warriors, and from their ranks came the progenitors of the Kyivan princes, who were, however, soon Slavicized. As part of modernization after the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2014, junior officers were allowed to take more initiative and a territorial defense force of volunteers was established. As of 1 January 1953, Ukrainians were second only to Russians among adult "special deportees", comprising 20% of the total. [300] In eastern and southern Ukraine, Russian is the primary language in some cities, while Ukrainian is used in rural areas. These tests are later used for university admissions. [143] However, during its transition to the market economy, the country experienced deeper economic slowdown than almost all of the other former Soviet Republics. [76] The Austrian part of Ukraine was particularly destitute, which forced hundreds of thousands of peasants into emigration, who created the backbone of an extensive Ukrainian diaspora in countries such as Canada, the United States and Brazil. The 24 oblasts and Crimea are subdivided into 136[235] raions (districts) and city municipalities of regional significance, or second-level administrative units. [141], Ukraine was initially viewed as having favourable economic conditions in comparison to the other regions of the Soviet Union,[142] though it was one of the poorer Soviet republics by the end of the Soviet Union. had been redrawn to include the western Ukrainian territories. In 2011, Ukraine was granted a right to organize EuroBasket 2015. 1237-40 -Mongols invade the Rus principalities, destroying many cities and ending Kievan Rus's power.The Tatars, as the Mongol invaders became known,establish the empire of the Golden Horde. ( . All cities have a certain degree of self-rule depending on their significance such as national significance (as in the case of Kyiv and Sevastopol), regional significance (within each oblast or autonomous republic) or district significance (all the rest of cities). b.^ Estimates on the number of deaths vary. [176] Air and water pollution affects the country, as well as deforestation, and radiation contamination in the northeast from the 1986 accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. [187][188], Ukraine has 457 cities, of which 176 are designated as oblast-class, 279 as smaller raion-class cities, and two as special legal status cities. National dress is woven and highly decorated. [103][104] Both organizations, the OUN and the UPA, supported the goal of an independent Ukrainian state on the territory with a Ukrainian ethnic majority. The outgoing finance minister said the country needed $35 billion to stave . To the southwest, the delta of the Danube forms the border with Romania. [253] The country is also a major global exporter of maize, barley and rapeseed. By Marc Santora. Ukraine is a unitary multiparty republic with one legislative body; its head of state is the president, and the head of government is the prime minister. [371][failed verification] These advances were then set back in the 17th and early 18thcenturies, as many Ukrainian authors wrote in Russian or Polish. Shortly thereafter, in March 2014, Crimea declared independence from Ukraine and was annexed by Russia.