Ukraine
Americannoun
noun
Usage
Is it Ukraine or the Ukraine? The official name of the country is simply Ukraine—it does not use the word "the." The use of the word the when referring to the country (once widespread but now less common) is thought to have been influenced by the period of its history when it was part of the Soviet Union. During this time, it was called the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, before gaining full independence with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Most Ukrainians object to the use of the before the name because it can suggest that the nation is not fully independent.
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Ukraine came under a succession of invaders and foreign rulers, including central Asian tribes, the Mongols, Lithuania, the Ottoman Empire, Poland, and finally Russia. Under oppressive Polish and Russian rule in the seventeenth century, Ukrainian fugitives, known as Cossacks, organized resistance movements.
Ukraine was traditionally home to a large Jewish population. Many Jews (see also Jews) left Ukraine under oppressive conditions in the nineteenth century, and thousands more were exterminated by the Nazis in World War II.
Of the former Soviet republics, it is second to Russia in population.
A nationalist and cultural revival in the nineteenth century was rewarded after World War I by independence, which was, however, short-lived. Invaded by Russian troops, Ukraine became one of the original Soviet republics in 1922.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The bank also counted a $5 billion IPO of a Czech defense company manufacturing drones for the war in Ukraine toward the initiative’s total that it likely would have done anyway.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 30, 2026
Poland is also Ukraine's main trading partner in Europe, and serves as a logistics hub for exports from Ukraine since its airspace has been closed since the war began.
From Barron's • Jun. 29, 2026
He promised to increase production of air defences to protect Russian energy infrastructure, and to speed up repairs to the refineries that Ukraine managed to hit.
From BBC • Jun. 29, 2026
His Endolink firm began transporting humanitarian aid to Ukraine at the start of the war.
From Barron's • Jun. 29, 2026
By late fall 1941, they overran the Ukraine and captured much Soviet territory.
From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
