Ukraine is one of Europe's largest countries, a place of extraordinary depth — ancient cities, rolling steppes, the forested Carpathians in the west, and the Black Sea coast in the south. Before the Russian invasion of February 2022, it was drawing more visitors every year, and Lviv had become one of the continent's most beloved cities for weekend breaks.
Since February 2022, Ukraine has been fighting a full-scale war against Russia. The country is still standing, still functioning, still proud — but the situation is severe. Most of the country is subject to regular missile and drone strikes. Several major cities in the east and south — Donetsk, Kherson, Kharkiv — have seen heavy fighting or remain under occupation or constant bombardment.
Western Ukraine — particularly Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, the Zakarpattia region and the Carpathians — is far from the front lines and continues to receive visitors. Travel there is possible, though no part of Ukraine is entirely safe.
The country
Ukraine covers 603,550 square kilometres. It borders Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova to the west and south-west; Russia and Belarus to the north and east. Kyiv is the capital, with a pre-war population of around 3 million. Lviv is the cultural heart of western Ukraine and the most visited city. Odessa on the Black Sea and Kharkiv in the northeast were the second and third cities before the war devastated both.
The Ukrainian language has been the official language since independence in 1991. Russian remains widely spoken, especially in cities, though its use has declined sharply since 2022. English is increasingly understood by younger people in larger cities.
History in brief
Kyiv was the centre of the first East Slavic state, Kyivan Rus, from the 9th century. The Mongol invasions of the 13th century shattered that civilisation. Ukraine later came under Polish-Lithuanian, then Russian imperial rule. The Cossack traditions of the 17th century remain a powerful part of Ukrainian identity.
Ukraine declared independence in 1991 following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the beginning of conflict in the Donbas that same year were preludes to the full-scale invasion of February 2022.
