1.
Ukrainian language
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Ukrainian /juːˈkreɪniən/ is an East Slavic language. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic script, historical linguists trace the origin of the Ukrainian language to the Old East Slavic of the early medieval state of Kievan Rus. After the fall of the Kievan Rus as well as the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, the Modern Ukrainian language has been in common use since the late 17th century, associated with the establishment of the Cossack Hetmanate. From 1804 until the Russian Revolution, the Ukrainian language was banned from schools in the Russian Empire and it has always maintained a sufficient base in Western Ukraine, where the language was never banned, in its folklore songs, itinerant musicians, and prominent authors. The Ukrainian language retains a degree of intelligibility with Belarusian and Russian. The first theory of the origin of Ukrainian language was suggested in Imperial Russia in the middle of the 18th century by Mikhail Lomonosov and this theory posits the existence of a common language spoken by all East Slavic people in the time of the Rus. Another point of view developed during the 19th and 20th centuries by linguists of Imperial Russia, like Lomonosov, they assumed the existence of a common language spoken by East Slavs in the past. This general point of view is the most accepted amongst academics worldwide, the supporters of this theory disagree, however, about the time when the different languages were formed. Soviet scholars set the divergence between Ukrainian and Russian only at time periods. During the time of the incorporation of Ruthenia into the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and this point of view is, however, at variance with some historical data. In fact, several East Slavic tribes, such as Polans, Drevlyans, Severians, Dulebes, White Croats, Tiverians, notably, some Ukrainian features were recognizable in the southern dialects of Old East Slavic as far back as the language can be documented. In contrast, Ahatanhel Krymsky and Alexei Shakhmatov assumed the existence of the spoken language of Eastern Slavs only in prehistoric times. According to their point of view, the diversification of the Old East Slavic language took place in the 8th or early 9th century, Ukrainian linguist Stepan Smal-Stotsky went even further, denying the existence of a common Old East Slavic language at any time in the past. Similar points of view were shared by Yevhen Tymchenko, Vsevolod Hantsov, Olena Kurylo, Ivan Ohienko, according to this theory, the dialects of East Slavic tribes evolved gradually from the common Proto-Slavic language without any intermediate stages during the 6th through 9th centuries. The Ukrainian language was formed by convergence of tribal dialects, mostly due to a migration of the population within the territory of todays Ukraine in later historical periods. This point of view was supported by George Shevelovs phonological studies. During the 13th century, when German settlers were invited to Ukraine by the princes of Galicia-Vollhynia and their influence would continue under Poland not only through German colonists but also through the Yiddish-speaking Jews. Often such words involve trade or handicrafts, examples of words of German or Yiddish origin spoken in Ukraine include dakh, rura, rynok, kushnir, and majster
2.
Ukraine
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Ukraine is currently in territorial dispute with Russia over the Crimean Peninsula which Russia annexed in 2014 but which Ukraine and most of the international community recognise as Ukrainian. Including Crimea, Ukraine has an area of 603,628 km2, making it the largest country entirely within Europe and it has a population of about 42.5 million, making it the 32nd most populous country in the world. The territory of modern Ukraine has been inhabited since 32,000 BC, during the Middle Ages, the area was a key centre of East Slavic culture, with the powerful state of Kievan Rus forming the basis of Ukrainian identity. Following its fragmentation in the 13th century, the territory was contested, ruled and divided by a variety of powers, including Lithuania, Poland, the Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary, and Russia. A Cossack republic emerged and prospered during the 17th and 18th centuries, two brief periods of independence occurred during the 20th century, once near the end of World War I and another during World War II. Before its independence, Ukraine was typically referred to in English as The Ukraine, following independence, Ukraine declared itself a neutral state. Nonetheless it formed a limited partnership with the Russian Federation and other CIS countries. In the 2000s, the government began leaning towards NATO, and it was later agreed that the question of joining NATO should be answered by a national referendum at some point in the future. Former President Viktor Yanukovych considered the current level of co-operation between Ukraine and NATO sufficient, and was against Ukraine joining NATO and these events formed the background for the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014, and the War in Donbass in April 2014. On 1 January 2016, Ukraine applied the economic part of the Deep, Ukraine has long been a global breadbasket because of its extensive, fertile farmlands and is one of the worlds largest grain exporters. The diversified economy of Ukraine includes a heavy industry sector, particularly in aerospace. Ukraine is a republic under a semi-presidential system with separate powers, legislative, executive. Its capital and largest city is Kiev, taking into account reserves and paramilitary personnel, Ukraine maintains the second-largest military in Europe after that of Russia. Ukrainian is the language and its alphabet is Cyrillic. The dominant religion in the country is Eastern Orthodoxy, which has strongly influenced Ukrainian architecture, literature, there are different hypotheses as to the etymology of the name Ukraine. According to the older and most widespread hypothesis, it means borderland, while more recently some studies claim a different meaning, homeland or region. The Ukraine now implies disregard for the sovereignty, according to U. S. ambassador William Taylor. Neanderthal settlement in Ukraine is seen in the Molodova archaeological sites include a mammoth bone dwelling
3.
Ukrainian Ground Forces
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The Ukrainian Ground Forces are the land force component of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They were formed from Soviet Ground Forces formations, units, and establishments, since Ukraines independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 Ukraine retained its Soviet-era army equipment and have not replaced nor upgraded it. Also the Armed Forces have been systematically downsized since 1991 and as a result it was dilapidated in July 2014. Since the start of the War in Donbass in April 2014 in eastern Ukraine Ukraine is upgrading its Armed Forces and its size of 129,950 in March 2014 had grown to 204,000 active personnel in May 2015. In 2016 75% of the army consisted of contract servicemen, prior to the October Revolution of 1917, three separate self-governing Ukrainian states existed on what is Ukraine today. Each of these states possessed armed forces, the largest of these, the Ukrainian Peoples Republic, itself comprised three separate regimes. The Ukrainian Peoples Army is an example of one of the national armed forces. Other armed independence movements existed in the wake of both the First World War and the Second World War, and these armies each had distinct organisation and uniforms. The Armed Forces of Ukraine included approximately 780,000 personnel,7,000 armored vehicles,6,500 tanks, however, the problem that Ukraine face was that while it had vast armed forces, it lacked a proper command structure. Following the declaration of Ukrainian independence in 1991, Ukraine inherited the 1st Guards Army, 13th Army, 38th Army, two tank armies, and the 32nd Army Corps at Simferopol. In addition, the 28th Guards Motor Rifle Division and the 180th MRD were left in Ukraine, the post of commander of ground troops was designated in early 1992. By the end of 1992, the Kiev Military District disbanded, and Ukraine used its structures as the basis for the Ministry of Defence, between June and August 1993, the first redesignation of armies to army corps appears to have taken place. While the chief of ground forces post had been created in early 1992, the legal framework for the Ground Forces was defined in Article 4 of the law On the Armed Forces of Ukraine. At that time, the Ground Forces had no separate command body, the creation of the Ground Forces as a separate armed service was legally only put in train by Presidential Decree 368/96 of 23 May 1996, On the Ground Forces of Ukraine. That year both the Ground Forces Command was formed and the 1st Army Corps was reorganised as the Northern Territorial Operational Command, in 1997 the Carpathian Military District was reorganised as the Western Operational Command. From 1992 to 1997, the forces of the Kiev MD were transferred to the Odessa MD, a new 2nd Army Corps was formed in the Odessa MD. Armies were converted to army corps, and motor rifle divisions converted into mechanised divisions or brigades, pairs of attack helicopter regiments were combined to form army aviation brigades. Even though the Armed Forces received little more than half of the Hr 68 million it was promised for reform in 2001, officials were able to disband nine regiments, in 2005–06, the Northern Operational Command was reorganised as Territorial Directorate North
4.
Motorized infantry
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In NATO and most other western countries, motorized infantry is infantry that is transported by trucks or other un-protected motor vehicles. In Russia and the former Soviet Union, the term motostrelki is used to indicate mechanized infantry, motorizing infantry is the first stage towards the mechanization of an army. Civilian trucks are readily adaptable to military uses of transporting soldiers, towing guns and that greatly increases the strategic mobility of infantry units, which would otherwise rely on marches or railroads. In practice, armies have found it advantageous to develop trucks to military specifications, such as drive, to have vehicles that function reliably in extremes of weather. Motorization provides no direct tactical advantage in combat, as trucks and jeeps are vulnerable to artillery. The disadvantage of motorization is that the formation required many vehicles, the British created the Experimental Mechanized Force between the wars to test the capabilities of all-arms formations of mechanized units, this included motorized infantry. The speed advantages of motorized infantry first became important in World War II in the German Blitzkrieg. While it was no more robust than the infantry that moved on foot, its increased speed became decisive in the Blitzkrieg strategy, as it could follow the panzer forces. Even large armies were affected by such factors, the bulk of German and Soviet infantry remained on foot, but US infantry divisions could, if needed, redirect the activities of enough trucks to motorize an infantry regiment. Likewise, infantry divisions of the British Empire could motorize chosen subordinate units, after the Cold War, motorization of infantry is now becoming more popular since humanitarian deployments are more prevalent with troops acting as quasi-police units. There is also a trend for motorized infantry to be up-armored because of the situation of insurgency, infantry mobility vehicle Dragoon Mounted infantry Tank desant Notes Bibliography
5.
Brigade
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A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment, two or more brigades may constitute a division. Brigades formed into divisions are usually infantry or armored, in addition to combat units, they may include combat support units or sub-units, such as artillery and engineers, and logistic units or sub-units. Historically, such brigades have sometimes been called brigade-groups, on operations, a brigade may comprise both organic elements and attached elements, including some temporarily attached for a specific task. Brigades may also be specialized and comprise battalions of a branch, for example cavalry, mechanized, armored, artillery, air defence, aviation, engineers. Some brigades are classified as independent or separate and operate independently from the division structure. The typical NATO standard brigade consists of approximately 3,200 to 5,500 troops, however, in Switzerland and Austria, the numbers could go as high as 11,000 troops. The Soviet Union, its forerunners and successors, mostly use regiment instead of brigade, a brigades commander is commonly a major general, brigadier general, brigadier or colonel. In some armies, the commander is rated as a General Officer, the brigade commander has a self-contained headquarters and staff. Some brigades may also have a deputy commander, the headquarters has a nucleus of staff officers and support that can vary in size depending on the type of brigade. On operations, additional specialist elements may be attached, the headquarters will usually have its own communications unit. In some gendarmerie forces, brigades are the organizational unit. The brigade as a military unit came about starting in the 15th century when the British army, as such a field army became larger, the number of subordinate commanders became unmanageable for the officer in general command of said army, usually a major general, to effectively command. In order to streamline command relationships, as well as effect some modicum of control, especially in regard to combined arms operations. The terms origin is found in two French roots, which together, meant roughly those who fight, the so-called brigada was a well-mixed unit, comprising infantry, cavalry and normally also artillery, designated for a special task. The size of such brigada ranged from a company of up to two regiments. The brigada was the forerunner of the battalion task force, battle group. The brigade was improved as a unit by the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus
6.
Operational Command South
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In 2005-2013 it was known as the Southern Operation Association. In 2015 eastern parts of the operation command territory were passed on to newly formed Operation Command East based in Dnipropetrovsk, the headquarters of the OC South was relocated from Odessa to Mykolaiv. 92nd Separate Mechanised Brigade Kluhoshyno-Bashkyrivka, Chuhuiv Raion, Kharkiv Oblast 93rd Separate Mechanised Brigade, kirovohrad 50 Academic squad of special training. Colonel General Volodymyr Shkidchenko commanded the Odessa Military District from December 1993 until it became the Southern Operational Command in February 1998. February 1998 – September 1998, Colonel General Volodymyr Shkidchenko 30 September 1998 –19 December 2001, Colonel General Oleksandr Zatynaiko 2001 –2004, Lieutenant-General Volodymyr Mozharovsky
7.
Melitopol
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Melitopol is a city in Zaporizhia Oblast of the southeastern Ukraine. It is situated on the Molochna River that flows through the edge of the city and into the Molochnyi Liman. Melitopol is incorporated as a city of oblast significance and is the second largest city in the oblast after Zaporizhia and it serves as the administrative center of Melitopol Raion, though it does not belong to the raion. The electrified railway line of international importance goes through Melitopol, 80% of passenger train lines go through toward their destination of Crimean cities. Melitopol is also called the gateway to the Crimea, because in the time the road traffic in the city reaches 45,000 vehicles per day, heading for the coast of Sea of Azov. In medieval times, there was a small Noghai aul of Kyzyl-Yar where the modern Melitopol is settled, in July 1769, Russian military commanders built a redoubt there, and Zaporizhia Cossacks carried out their duty service there. On February 2,1784, Ekaterina II issued the decree to create the Taurian Province on the lands that had been won, in 1816, the settlement got the name sloboda of Novoalexandrovka. Its population was increasing due to the importation of peasants from the provinces of Ukraine. On January 7,1842, the sloboda was recognized as a town, at the end of the 19th century, the Honey-city had been developed as a trade center - there were some banks, credit organizations and wholesale stores. The largest enterprises in the city at the time were the iron foundry and the Brothers Klassens machinery construction factory, the railroad depot, further development of the city was closely connected with trade, iron and engineering industries, and Crimean direction railway service. In the early twentieth century there were 15 thousand people living in Melitopol,30 industrial and 350 retail outlets operated in the city at that time. In the second half of the century there was a strong economic growth of the city, new factories, plants. 16 Melitopol business enterprises have received the All-Soviet Union significance status, industrial enterprise production was exported to more than 50 countries worldwide. In 1941, the Soviet Union was attacked by Nazi Germany, the city became strategically important due to its location. The Red Army was not ready for the war and had to retreat, the German Wehrmacht occupied Melitopol on October 6,1941. Within one week the entire remaining Jewish population of Melitopol were murdered by Einsatzgruppe D actively supported by the Wehrmacht, here, in the basin of the Milk River, German troops had built a strong long-term defense which they called the Panther-Wotan line. It was on line that the fate of the Crimean peninsula. The German defense consisted of four lines, covered with solid anti-tank ditches and landmines, the first attempt of the Soviet Southern Front army to break through was unsuccessful
8.
War in Donbass
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The War in Donbass is an armed conflict in the Donbass region of Ukraine. Prior to a change of the top leadership in August 2014, during the middle of 2014, Russian paramilitaries were reported to make up between 15% and 80% of the combatants. Crossings occurred both in areas under the control of forces and areas that were not under their control, such as the south-eastern part of Donetsk Oblast. These events followed the reported shelling of Ukrainian positions from the Russian side of the border over the course of the preceding month, head of the Security Service of Ukraine, Valentyn Nalyvaichenko said that the events of 22 August were a direct invasion by Russia of Ukraine. Western and Ukrainian officials described these events as an invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin justified the incursion as defending the Russian-speaking population in the Donbass, as a result of this, DPR and LPR insurgents regained much of the territory they had lost during the preceding government military offensive. A deal to establish a ceasefire, called the Minsk Protocol, was signed on 5 September 2014, violations of the ceasefire on both sides were common. The ceasefire completely collapsed in January 2015, with renewed heavy fighting across the zone, including at Donetsk International Airport. A new ceasefire, called Minsk II, was agreed to on 12 February 2015, immediately following the signing of the agreement, separatist forces launched an offensive on Debaltseve and forced Ukrainian forces to withdraw from it. In the months after the fall of Debaltseve, minor skirmishes continued along the line of contact, but no territorial changes occurred. This state of stalemate led the war to be labelled by some a frozen conflict, despite this, the area stayed a war zone, with dozens of soldiers and civilians killed each month. Since the start of the conflict there have been eleven ceasefires, each intended to be indefinite, with the latest having started on 20 February 2017, pro-Russian protesters occupied the Donetsk RSA from 1–6 March, before being removed by the Security Service of Ukraine. On 6 April,1, 000–2,000 people gathered at a rally in Donetsk to demand a status similar to the one held in Crimea in March. The demonstrators stormed the RSA building, and took control of its first two floors, as these demands were not met, the activists held a meeting in the RSA building, and voted in favour of independence from Ukraine. They proclaimed the Donetsk Peoples Republic, concurrent to the events in Donetsk, armed forces led by Russian operative Igor Girkin stormed and occupied government buildings in other regional centers beginning on 12 April. Protesters barricaded the building, and demanded that all arrested separatist leaders be released, at this assembly, they elected Valery Bolotov to the position of Peoples Governor. The Luhansk Peoples Republic was declared on 27 April, representatives of the Republic demanded that Ukrainian government provide amnesty for all protesters, enshrine Russian as an official language, and hold a referendum on the status of the region. They issued an ultimatum that stated that if Kiev did not meet their demands by 14,00 on 29 April, in response to the widening unrest, the acting Ukrainian President, Oleksandr Turchynov, vowed to launch a major anti-terror operation against separatist movements in Donetsk Oblast
9.
Dnipro
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Dnipropetrovsk or Dnepropetrovsk, is Ukraines fourth largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is 391 kilometres southeast of the capital Kiev on the Dnieper River, Dnipropetrovsk is the administrative centre of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Administratively, it is incorporated as a city of oblast significance, the city was originally envisioned as the Russian Empires third capital city, after Moscow and Saint Petersburg. A vital industrial centre of Soviet Ukraine, Dnipropetrovsk was one of the key centres of the nuclear, arms, in particular, it is home to the Yuzhmash, a major space and ballistic missile design bureau and manufacturer. Because of its industry, Dnipropetrovsk was a closed city until the 1990s. On 19 May 2016 the official name of the city was changed to Dnipro, Dnipropetrovsk is a powerhouse of Ukraines business and politics as the native city for many of the countrys most important figures. Ukraines politics are still defined by the legacies of Leonid Kuchma, Pavlo Lazarenko, in some Anglophone media the city was also known as the Rocket City. In 1918, the Central Council of Ukraine proposed to change the name of the city to Sicheslav, however, in 1926 the city was renamed after Communist leader Grigory Petrovsky. Hence following the 2015 law on decommunization the city had to be renamed, on 19 May 2016 the Ukrainian parliament passed a bill to officially rename the city to the name Dnipro. A monastery was founded by Byzantine monks on Monastyrsky Island, probably in the 9th century, the Tatars destroyed the monastery in 1240. At the beginning of the 15th century, Tatar tribes inhabiting the right bank of the Dnieper were driven away by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, by the mid-15th century, the Nogai and the Crimean Khanate invaded these lands. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Crimean Khanate agreed to a border along the Dnieper and it was in this time that a new force appeared, the free people, the Cossacks. They later became known as Zaporozhian Cossacks and this was a period of raids and fighting causing considerable devastation and depopulation in that area, the area became known as the Wild Fields. On the night of ¾ August 1635, the Cossacks of Ivan Sulyma captured the fort by surprise, burning it down, the fort was rebuilt by French engineer Guillaume Le Vasseur de Beauplan for the Polish Government in 1638, and had a mercenary garrison. Kodak was captured by Zaporozhian Cossacks on 1 October 1648, and was garrisoned by the Cossacks until its demolition in accordance with the Treaty of the Pruth in 1711, the ruins of the Kodak are visible now. There is currently a project to restore it and create a tourist centre, under the Treaty of Pereyaslav of 1654, the territory became part of the Russian Empire. For practical purposes, the Prydniprovye lands remained a border area until the destruction of the Zaporizhian Sich in 1775. The Zaporozhian village of Polovytsia was founded in the late-1760s, between the settlements of Stari and Novi Kodaky and it was located at the present centre of the city to the West to district of Central Terminal and the Ozyorka farmers market
10.
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
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Dnipropetrovsk Oblast is an oblast of central Ukraine, the most important industrial region of the country. It was created on February 27,1932, Dnipropetrovsk has a population of about 3,307, 795 , approximately 80% of whom live centering on administrative center of Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Kamianske, Nikopol. The Dnieper River runs through the oblast, the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast is located in southeastern Ukraine. The area of the oblast, comprises about 5. 3% of the area of the country. Its longitude from north to south is 130 km, from east to west –300 km, black Sea Lowland almost completely within the south oblast, covering half of its territory. It is 11 km in diameter and the age is estimated to be 280 ±10 million years, the crater is not exposed at the surface. The Dnieper Upland contains a number of minerals including iron, manganese, granite, graphite, brown coal, Kryvbas is an important economic region, specializing in iron ore mining and the steel industry. It is arguably the main iron ore region of Eastern Europe, named after the city of Kryvyi Rih, the region occupies the southwestern part of the Dnipropetrovsk, as well as a small neighbouring part of the Kirovohrad Oblast. The region possesses major deposits of ore and some other metallurgical ores. To exploit them, several mining companies were founded here in the middle of the 20th century. Most of them are located in Kryvyi Rih itself, which is the longest city in Europe, at the beginning of the 15th century, Tatar tribes inhabiting the right bank of the Dnieper were driven away by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. However, by the century, the Nogai and the Crimean Khanate invaded these lands. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Crimean Khanate agreed to a border along the Dnieper and it was in this time that there appeared a new force–the Cossacks, armed freemen not subject to any feudal lord– who were to soon dominate the region. They later became known as Zaporozhian Cossacks, from Zaporizhia–the lands south of Prydniprovye– which translates as the Land Beyond the Weirs ) and this was a period of raids and fighting causing considerable devastation and depopulation in that area, the area became known as the Wilderness. On the night of 3 or 4 August 1635, the Cossacks of Ivan Sulyma captured the fort by surprise, burning it down, the fort was rebuilt by French engineer Guillaume Le Vasseur de Beauplan for the Polish Government in 1638, and had a mercenary garrison. Kodak was captured by Zaporozhian Cossacks on 1 October 1648, and was garrisoned by the Cossacks until its demolition in accordance with the Treaty of the Pruth in 1711, under the Treaty of Pereyaslav of 1654, the territory became part of the Russian Empire. The city of Yekaterinoslav was founded in 1776, not in the current location, in December 1796, Paul I reestablished the Novorossiysk Governorate, mostly with land from the former Yekaterinoslav Viceroyalty. In 1802, this province was divided into the Nikolayev Governorate, Yekaterinoslav Governorate, and its capital was the city of Yekaterinoslav created in 1802 out the Yekaterinoslav Vice-regency
Ukraine