Belarus
Hungary
Moldova
Poland
Romania
Russia
SlovakiaTrypillia farmers
Around 4000 BC, farmers of the Trypillia culture were living between the Carpathians and the Dnipro. Some of their villages held thousands of houses and were among the largest settlements in Europe at the time.
Eastern Europe
Ukraine
The largest country entirely in Europe: wide wheat fields and steppe, the great Dnipro river, golden-domed Kyiv, the old cafés of Lviv and the Black Sea port of Odesa.
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Overview
Ukraine at a glance
Ukraine is the second-largest country in Europe after Russia, and the largest that lies entirely within Europe. Most of it is a vast plain of steppe and farmland on rich black soil, crossed by rivers such as the Dnipro, the Dniester and the Southern Bug, which flow south to the Black Sea. In the south-east, smaller rivers flow into the Sea of Azov. Its only mountains are the Carpathians in the west and the Crimean Mountains in the far south.
Kyiv was the capital of Kyivan Rus', a great medieval state, and its oldest churches date back a thousand years. Over the following centuries the land was divided among Lithuania, Poland, the Ottoman Empire, the Russian Empire and the Habsburgs, and in the 17th century Cossacks built their own state here. In the 20th century Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, and it became independent in 1991.
Ukraine is famous for its grain and is often called the breadbasket of Europe. As of September 2026, the war that began with Russia's full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022 is still going on. Russian troops occupy roughly a fifth of Ukraine's internationally recognised territory, millions of people have had to leave their homes, and Ukraine has been a candidate to join the European Union since June 2022.
CapitalKyiv
PopulationAbout 32 million (IMF estimate, 2026). Exact figures are uncertain because of the war
Official languageUkrainian
CurrencyUkrainian hryvnia (₴, UAH)
AreaAbout 603,600 km², the largest country entirely in Europe
GovernmentSemi-presidential republic
Highest mountainHoverla, 2,061 m, in the Carpathian Mountains
Longest river in UkraineThe Dnipro, about 1,095 km of its roughly 2,200 km course, flowing through Kyiv to the Black Sea
NeighboursPoland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Belarus and Russia by land. In the south it has coasts on the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov
Drives on theRight
Calling code+380
The story
A short history of Ukraine
Ukraine's story runs from some of Europe's largest prehistoric villages, through the golden age of Kyiv and the Cossack state, to the hard years of the 20th century, independence in 1991 and a war that is still going on.
4000 BC AD 882 Kyiv becomes the capital of Rus
According to the medieval Primary Chronicle, Prince Oleg took Kyiv in 882 and made it his capital. Kyiv became the centre of Kyivan Rus', a large state of East Slavs that grew rich from the river trade between Scandinavia and Constantinople.
AD 988 Volodymyr adopts Christianity
Prince Volodymyr the Great was baptised, and by tradition the people of Kyiv were baptised in the river in 988, although historians debate the exact year. Christianity from Byzantium shaped the art, churches and writing of Rus'.
1240 The Mongols take Kyiv
In December 1240, after a siege, a Mongol army under Batu Khan captured and destroyed much of Kyiv. The city lost its leading role for centuries.
1648 The Khmelnytsky Uprising
The Cossack leader Bohdan Khmelnytsky led a great uprising against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Out of it grew the Cossack Hetmanate, a Cossack state in central Ukraine.
1710 Orlyk's constitution
Hetman Pylyp Orlyk and the Cossack elders agreed a constitution in the town of Bender, in Moldavia. It divided power between legislative, executive and judicial branches, and is sometimes called the first constitution of Ukraine.
1840 Shevchenko's Kobzar
Taras Shevchenko, a poet and painter born into a family of serfs, published his book of poems Kobzar, 'The Bard'. Shevchenko himself became known as the Kobzar, and the book became a symbol of the Ukrainian national and literary revival.
1918 The Ukrainian People's Republic
On 22 January 1918, after the Russian Revolution, the Ukrainian People's Republic declared its independence, with Kyiv as its capital. It was defeated in the wars that followed, and most of Ukraine became a Soviet republic.
1932 The Holodomor
In 1932 and 1933 a man-made famine in Soviet Ukraine, during Stalin's forced collectivisation of farming, killed around 3.5 to 5 million people. Ukraine and more than 30 other countries recognise the Holodomor as a genocide.
1941 The Second World War
Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941 and occupied Ukraine. Great battles and atrocities followed, and millions of civilians in Ukraine were killed, including most of Ukraine's Jews. At Babyn Yar in Kyiv, tens of thousands of Jews were murdered in September 1941.
1986 The Chernobyl disaster
On 26 April 1986 a reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, north of Kyiv, exploded. It is the most destructive nuclear accident in history, and the area around the plant became the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.
1991 Independence
On 24 August 1991 the Ukrainian parliament declared independence as the Soviet Union fell apart. On 1 December 1991 more than 92% of voters approved it in a referendum.
1996 The constitution and the hryvnia
On 28 June 1996 parliament adopted the constitution of independent Ukraine. In September of the same year the hryvnia, named after an old measure of weight from Kyivan Rus', became the national currency.
2004 The Orange Revolution
After a disputed presidential election, huge peaceful protests filled Kyiv, with orange as their colour. The Supreme Court ordered the vote to be repeated, and the opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko won.
2014 The Revolution of Dignity
Months of protests on Kyiv's Independence Square, called the Maidan, ended in February 2014 with the fall of President Viktor Yanukovych. Russia then occupied and annexed Crimea, and fighting began in the Donbas region in the east.
2022 The full-scale invasion
On 24 February 2022 Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Kyiv was not taken, and Ukraine won back large areas later that year. As of September 2026 the war continues, and Ukraine is a candidate for membership of the European Union.
At the table
What to eat in Ukraine
Ukrainian cooking grew out of village cooking based on grain, especially wheat and rye, with beetroot, cabbage, potatoes, onions, mushrooms, pork and plenty of sour cream. Many dishes are first fried or boiled and then stewed or baked. Soup, above all borscht, is an everyday favourite and is served with bread or garlic buns, while varenyky and cabbage rolls are national favourites for the main course. The most important meal of the year is the Christmas Eve supper of twelve meatless dishes, which begins with kutia.
StarterRecipe
Borscht
борщ (borshch)
All of Ukraine, in many regional versions
A sour soup of meat or bone stock with beetroot, which gives it its deep red colour, and cabbage, carrots, onions, potatoes and tomatoes. It is served hot with a spoonful of sour cream and bread or garlic buns.
In 2022 UNESCO added the culture of Ukrainian borscht cooking to its list of intangible heritage in need of urgent safeguarding.
See the recipe
Ingredients
- 500 g beef on the bone, or 1.5 litres good meat stock
- 2 medium beetroots, peeled and cut in thin strips
- 2 potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1 onion and 1 carrot, finely chopped
- A quarter of a white cabbage, finely shredded
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste and 1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed, and a handful of chopped dill
- Sunflower oil, salt, pepper, 2 bay leaves
- Sour cream to serve
Method
- If using beef, cover it with 2 litres of cold water, bring to the boil, skim, add the bay leaves and simmer for about 1 hour. Lift out the meat and cut it into pieces.
- Fry the onion and carrot in a little oil for 5 minutes. Add the beetroot, the tomato paste and the vinegar and cook gently for 10 minutes, stirring now and then. The vinegar helps keep the red colour.
- Bring the stock back to the boil, add the potatoes and cook for 10 minutes. Add the cabbage and cook for 5 minutes more.
- Stir in the beetroot mixture and the meat, season with salt and pepper and simmer for 10 minutes. Take off the heat, add the garlic and dill, cover and leave to rest for 15 minutes.
- Serve hot with a spoonful of sour cream and dark bread or garlic buns.
Main courseRecipe
Varenyky
вареники
All of Ukraine
Half-moon dumplings of thin, soft dough filled with mashed potato, cabbage, curd cheese, meat or, in summer, sour cherries. They are boiled and served with fried onions and sour cream, or with sugar and sour cream when the filling is fruit.
The name comes from the Ukrainian verb 'varyty', to boil. Varenyky filled with poppy seeds are one of the dishes of the Christmas Eve supper.
See the recipe
Ingredients
- For the dough: 300 g plain flour, 150 ml warm water, 1 tablespoon sunflower oil and a pinch of salt
- For the filling: 500 g floury potatoes, peeled
- 2 onions, finely chopped, and 40 g butter
- Salt and pepper
- Sour cream to serve
Method
- Mix the flour, water, oil and salt into a soft, smooth dough. Knead for 5 minutes, cover and rest for 30 minutes.
- Boil the potatoes in salted water until soft and mash them. Fry the onions in the butter until golden, stir half into the potatoes and season well. Keep the rest of the onions for serving.
- Roll the dough out thinly on a floured table and cut circles about 7 cm across with a glass.
- Put a teaspoon of filling on each circle, fold it in half and pinch the edges firmly together.
- Boil the varenyky in a large pan of salted water in batches. When they float to the top, cook for 2 to 3 minutes more, lift out and serve with the fried onions and sour cream.
Main courseRecipe
Deruny (potato pancakes)
деруни
All of Ukraine
Crisp pancakes of grated raw potato and onion, fried in oil and served hot with sour cream.
The name comes from the verb 'derty', to grate. Similar potato pancakes are made from Ireland to Belarus.
See the recipe
Ingredients
- 1 kg floury potatoes, peeled
- 1 onion
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons plain flour
- Salt and pepper
- Sunflower oil for frying
- Sour cream to serve
Method
- Grate the potatoes and the onion finely into a bowl. Tip into a sieve and press out as much liquid as you can.
- Mix in the egg, flour, salt and pepper.
- Heat a thin layer of oil in a wide frying pan over a medium heat.
- Put spoonfuls of the mixture in the pan and flatten them a little. Fry for 3 to 4 minutes on each side until deep golden and cooked through.
- Drain on kitchen paper and serve hot with sour cream.
DessertRecipe
Syrnyky (curd cheese pancakes)
сирники
All of Ukraine
Small, thick pancakes of soft curd cheese mixed with egg, a little flour and sugar, fried golden in butter or oil. They are eaten for breakfast or dessert with sour cream, jam or honey.
The name comes from 'syr', which in Ukrainian means soft curd cheese.
See the recipe
Ingredients
- 500 g curd cheese, quark or farmer's cheese, well drained
- 1 egg
- 3 tablespoons plain flour, plus more for shaping
- 2 tablespoons sugar and a pinch of salt
- A few drops of vanilla extract and a handful of raisins (optional)
- Butter or sunflower oil for frying
- Sour cream, jam or honey to serve
Method
- Mash the cheese with a fork until smooth. Mix in the egg, flour, sugar, salt, vanilla and raisins.
- With floured hands, shape the mixture into small round cakes about 1.5 cm thick and dust them with flour.
- Heat butter or oil in a frying pan over a medium heat.
- Fry the syrnyky for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until golden brown and cooked through.
- Serve warm with sour cream, jam or honey.
Main course
Holubtsi (cabbage rolls)
голубці
All of Ukraine
Cabbage leaves rolled around a filling of rice or millet, often mixed with minced meat, then baked or stewed with onions, tomato and sour cream.
Very similar cabbage rolls are made from Central Europe to Western Asia.
Bread
Pampushky
пампушки
All of Ukraine
Small, soft yeast buns. Savoury pampushky are seasoned with a garlic sauce and served with red borscht. Sweet ones are filled with fruit, jam or poppy seeds.
The word comes, through Polish, from the German 'Pfannkuchen', pancake.
Starter
Salo
сало
All of Ukraine
Salt-cured pork fat, sometimes with a thin layer of meat and flavoured with garlic or paprika. It is cut in thin slices and eaten on dark bread with onion, garlic or mustard.
Unlike bacon, salo has more fat than lean meat, and unlike lard, it is not melted down.
Main course
Chicken Kyiv
котлета по-київськи (kotleta po-kyivsky)
Popular across Ukraine; its exact origin is disputed
A chicken breast pounded thin, rolled around cold butter and herbs, coated in egg and breadcrumbs and fried or baked. When it is cut, the melted butter runs out.
It is also popular in the English-speaking world, where it is often spelt chicken Kiev.
Main course
Banosh
банош
The Carpathian Mountains, among the Hutsuls
A thick cornmeal porridge cooked with sour cream, topped with pork rind, mushrooms and salty sheep's cheese called bryndza.
A similar cornmeal dish is made across the border in Romania.
Dessert
Kutia
кутя
All of Ukraine, at Christmas
Boiled wheat berries mixed with ground poppy seeds, honey, nuts and sometimes raisins. Together with uzvar, it is one of the two essential ritual dishes of the Christmas Eve supper.
Kutia is the first of the twelve dishes to be tasted at the Christmas Eve supper, called Sviata Vecheria.
Drink
Uzvar
узвар
All of Ukraine, especially at Christmas
A sweet drink made by simmering dried fruit, usually apples, pears and prunes, in water. It is traditionally served at Christmas.
Main course
Nalysnyky
налисники
All of Ukraine
Thin pancakes, called mlyntsi, rolled around a sweet or savoury filling such as curd cheese, meat, cabbage or fruit, and served with sour cream.
Dessert
Kyiv cake
торт «Київський»
Kyiv
Two layers of crisp meringue with hazelnuts, filled with a buttercream-like cream and covered in chocolate glaze. Its box shows a horse chestnut leaf.
It has been made by a confectionery factory in Kyiv since 6 December 1956, and it has become a symbol of the city.
Drink
Horilka
горілка
All of Ukraine
A strong spirit, usually distilled from wheat or rye and around 40% alcohol. A popular version, pertsivka, is flavoured with chilli peppers. Home-distilled horilka is called samohon.
The word is linked to the Ukrainian verb for 'to burn'.
Table manners
- Before eating, people wish each other 'Smachnoho!' (enjoy your meal).
- When glasses are raised, a common Ukrainian toast is 'Budmo!', meaning 'let us be', used like 'cheers'.
- Borscht is seen as an expression of hospitality that brings people of all ages together at the table, and it is served with bread or garlic buns.
- The Christmas Eve supper has twelve meatless dishes, without meat, eggs or milk, and begins with kutia.
- At the Christmas Eve supper, the head of the family traditionally takes the first spoonful of kutia.
Cities
12 cities to know
Ukraine's cities range from ancient Kyiv on the Dnipro and the old churches of Chernihiv, through the Habsburg-era streets of Lviv and Chernivtsi in the west, to the Black Sea port of Odesa and the big industrial cities of the east. Population figures are from before or early in the full-scale war, and many have changed since.
Kyiv Capital
City of Kyiv
The capital and largest city, home to about 2.95 million people before the full-scale invasion. It stands on both banks of the Dnipro and is one of the oldest cities in Eastern Europe. It was the capital of Kyivan Rus' a thousand years ago.
- Saint Sophia Cathedral and the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra
- Its very deep metro stations
- The Dnipro river and its hills
Kharkiv
Kharkiv Oblast
The second-largest city, with about 1.4 million people before 2022. It was founded in 1654 as a Cossack fortress and was the capital of Soviet Ukraine from 1919 to 1934. It is a big centre of universities, science and industry.
- The Derzhprom building on Freedom Square
- Its universities
- Engineering and industry
Odesa
Odesa Oblast
The third-largest city and Ukraine's main seaport on the Black Sea. It grew in the 19th century as a busy, many-cultured trading city, and its historic centre became a World Heritage Site in 2023.
- The Potemkin Stairs
- Its opera house and grand boulevards
- The Black Sea and its port
Dnipro
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
A big city on the Dnipro river. Cossack settlements stood here long before Russia's Catherine the Great established the city of Yekaterinoslav in 1787, and since 2026 the city officially dates its founding to 1526. In Soviet times, as Dnipropetrovsk, it was a closed city of heavy industry, arms and space technology. It was renamed Dnipro in 2016.
- Heavy industry and space technology
- Its past as a closed Soviet city
- The Dnipro river, which gives it its name
Lviv
Lviv Oblast
The largest city of western Ukraine and one of its main cultural centres, with about 720,000 people. It was named after Lev, the son of King Danylo, and its old town of churches and merchants' houses is a World Heritage Site.
- Market Square and the old town
- Coffeehouses from Austrian times
- The Lviv Opera House
Vinnytsia
Vinnytsia Oblast
A city on the Southern Bug river in west-central Ukraine, and the largest city of the historic region of Podillia. Its name first appears in 1363.
- The Southern Bug river
- A regional centre of Podillia
- Its reputation as one of the most comfortable Ukrainian cities to live in
Chernivtsi
Chernivtsi Oblast
A city on the Prut river in the south-west, once the capital of the region of Bukovina under the Habsburgs. It is known for its Austrian-era architecture and its university.
- The Residence of the Metropolitans, now the university
- Austrian-era streets
- Its old German name, Czernowitz, and Romanian name, Cernăuți
Ivano-Frankivsk
Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast
A city in the foothills of the Carpathians, built in the mid-17th century as a fortress of the Polish Potocki family and called Stanisławów. It was renamed in 1962 after the writer Ivan Franko.
- Gateway to the Carpathian Mountains
- Its past as the fortress town of Stanisławów
- The writer Ivan Franko, after whom it is named
Uzhhorod
Zakarpattia Oblast
A small city on the Uzh river in the far west, on the border with Slovakia and near Hungary. It is the centre of the Zakarpattia region beyond the Carpathians.
- Its embankment on the Uzh river
- Its old Hungarian name, Ungvár
- Its closeness to Slovakia and Hungary
Kamianets-Podilskyi
Khmelnytskyi Oblast
A historic town on the Smotrych river, whose old town stands inside a loop of the river's deep canyon. Its name means 'the stone of Podillia', and it was first mentioned in 1062.
- Its castle on the canyon
- The old town above the Smotrych river
- Khotyn Fortress nearby
Poltava
Poltava Oblast
A green city on the Vorskla river in central Ukraine. In 1709 the Battle of Poltava was fought nearby, and later the city became a centre of the Ukrainian national revival.
- The Battle of Poltava of 1709
- Poltava-style halushky
- Parks and greenery
Chernihiv
Chernihiv Oblast
One of the oldest cities in Ukraine, in the north. In the time of Rus' it was the second most important city after Kyiv, and it still has churches from that era.
- Churches from the time of Rus'
- Ukrainian Baroque buildings
- One of the oldest cities in the country
Landmarks
Places everyone should see once
Kyiv
Saint Sophia Cathedral
A cathedral of Kyivan Rus' from the early 11th century. By tradition it was built under Yaroslav the Wise, but its founding date is disputed, and UNESCO and Ukraine use 1011, in the reign of his father Volodymyr. Inside are mosaics and frescoes about a thousand years old. It was Ukraine's first World Heritage Site, listed in 1990 together with the Pechersk Lavra.
UNESCO World Heritage
Kyiv
Kyiv Pechersk Lavra
A great monastery founded as a cave monastery in the 11th century. Its name means 'monastery of the caves', and it includes caves where saints were buried. Its printing house helped bring printing to Ukraine.
UNESCO World Heritage
Kyiv
Mother Ukraine monument
A stainless steel statue of a woman with a sword and shield, opened in 1981. The figure is 62 metres tall and the whole monument 102 metres, with a museum of the Second World War in its base. In 2023 the Soviet emblem on the shield was replaced with Ukraine's trident.
Lviv
Lviv Old Town and Market Square
The heart of Lviv, a medieval street plan full of churches, merchants' houses and the town hall around Market Square. It has been a World Heritage Site since 1998.
UNESCO World Heritage
Odesa
The Potemkin Stairs
A giant stairway built between 1837 and 1841, leading from the city down towards the harbour. It is 142 metres long and wider at the bottom than at the top, which makes it look even longer from below. It is part of the Historic Centre of Odesa World Heritage Site.
UNESCO World Heritage
Chernivtsi
Residence of Bukovinian and Dalmatian Metropolitans
A grand complex built between 1864 and 1882 for the Orthodox metropolitan bishop, designed by the Czech architect Josef Hlávka. Today it is part of Chernivtsi University, and it became a World Heritage Site in 2011.
UNESCO World Heritage
Kamianets-Podilskyi
Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle
A castle on a rocky peninsula carved out by the winding Smotrych river. It guarded the bridge to the old town and was rebuilt many times by different rulers from the 14th century on.
Near Kamianets-Podilskyi
Khotyn Fortress
A stone fortress on the right bank of the Dniester river. A fort stood here in the time of Kyivan Rus', and the stone fortress was built and strengthened by Moldavian princes from the late 14th century.
Near Lviv
Holy Trinity wooden church, Zhovkva
A church built of wooden logs in the small town of Zhovkva, north of Lviv. It is one of 16 wooden churches in Poland and Ukraine, eight in each country, that became a joint World Heritage Site in 2013.
UNESCO World Heritage
Kharkiv
Derzhprom
A huge Constructivist office building on Freedom Square, opened in 1928 as the first modern skyscraper of the Soviet Union, when Kharkiv was the capital of Soviet Ukraine. It was seriously damaged by a Russian strike in October 2024.
Fun facts
Things you might not know
- 01
The Christmas song 'Carol of the Bells' is based on 'Shchedryk', a Ukrainian New Year folk song arranged by the composer Mykola Leontovych. Ukraine's national chorus sang it at Carnegie Hall in New York on 5 October 1922.
- 02
As of 2026, Arsenalna station on the Kyiv Metro, 105.5 metres below ground, is the second-deepest metro station in the world. It lost first place to Hongyancun station in Chongqing, China, which opened in 2022.
- 03
Igor Sikorsky, the helicopter pioneer, was born in Kyiv in 1889. In 1939, in the United States, he designed and flew the VS-300, the first viable American helicopter.
- 04
The Ukrainian Antonov An-225 Mriya was the heaviest aircraft ever built. Only one was ever completed, and it was destroyed at Antonov Airport near Kyiv in February 2022.
- 05
Ukrainian decorated Easter eggs, called pysanky, were added to UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage in 2024.
- 06
Petrykivka painting, a traditional decorative folk painting style from the village of Petrykivka in the Dnipropetrovsk region, has been on UNESCO's intangible heritage list since 2013.
- 07
The Ukrainian alphabet is written in Cyrillic and has 33 letters. It includes letters such as ї, є, і and ґ that the Russian alphabet does not have.
- 08
The spelling 'Kyiv' comes from the Ukrainian name Київ, while the older English spelling 'Kiev' comes from Russian. An online campaign, KyivNotKiev, has persuaded many English-language media and organisations to use 'Kyiv'.
- 09
Vyshyvanka Day, when people wear the embroidered Ukrainian shirt, is held on the third Thursday of May. It was started in 2006 by a student at Chernivtsi University.
- 10
The bandura, a Ukrainian plucked-string folk instrument, had 5 to 12 strings around 1700. Modern concert banduras have 56 to 68 strings.
- 11
Ukraine's national anthem, known by its first words 'Ukraine's glory has not yet perished', has words written by Pavlo Chubynskyi in 1862 and music by Mykhailo Verbytskyi from 1863.
- 12
Three Ukrainian World Heritage Sites, in Kyiv, Lviv and Odesa, were placed on UNESCO's List of World Heritage in Danger in 2023 because of the war.
- 13
Ukraine is one of the world's biggest grain exporters. In the 2020/21 season it supplied about 9% of all the wheat traded in the world, which is why it is often called the breadbasket of Europe.
Ukrainian words
20 words to start with
Pronunciation is written the way it sounds; the capital letters show where the stress goes. Audio is coming soon.
Basics
- tak (так)TAHKyes
- ni (ні)NEEno
- dyakuyu (дякую)DYAH-koo-yoothank you
- bud laska (будь ласка)BOOD LAHS-kahplease
- vybachte (вибачте)VIH-bahch-tehI'm sorry, excuse me
Food and drink
- khlib (хліб)KHLEEBbread
- voda (вода)voh-DAHwater
- kava (кава)KAH-vahcoffee
- chai (чай)CHAItea
- rakhunok (рахунок)rah-KHOO-nohkthe bill
Getting around
- potyah (потяг)POH-tyahkhtrain
- kvytok (квиток)kvih-TOHKticket
- vulytsia (вулиця)VOO-lih-tsyahstreet
- livoruch (ліворуч)lee-VOH-roochon the left
- pravoruch (праворуч)prah-VOH-roochon the right
Numbers
- odyn (один)oh-DINone
- dva (два)DVAHtwo
- try (три)TRIHthree
Time
- sohodni (сьогодні)soh-HOHD-neetoday
- zavtra (завтра)ZAHV-trahtomorrow
Say it like a local
Useful phrases
Dobryi den (Добрий день)
DOH-brihy DEHN
Good day, hello
The polite greeting for most of the day, in shops and with strangers
Dobroho ranku (Доброго ранку)
DOH-broh-hoh RAHN-koo
Good morning
Greeting someone in the morning
Dobryi vechir (Добрий вечір)
DOH-brihy VEH-cheer
Good evening
Greeting someone in the evening
Dobranich (Добраніч)
doh-BRAH-neech
Good night
Saying goodnight before going to bed
Pryvit (Привіт)
prih-VEET
Hi
A casual greeting with friends and family
Do pobachennia (До побачення)
doh poh-BAH-cheh-nyah
Goodbye
Leaving a shop, a café or a friend
Yak spravy? (Як справи?)
yahk SPRAH-vih
How are you?
Asking after someone you know
Dobre, dyakuyu (Добре, дякую)
DOH-breh, DYAH-koo-yoo
Fine, thank you
Answering when someone asks how you are
Mene zvaty... (Мене звати...)
meh-NEH ZVAH-tih
My name is...
Introducing yourself
Duzhe pryiemno (Дуже приємно)
DOO-zheh prih-YEHM-noh
Nice to meet you
When you are introduced to someone
Vy hovoryte anhliiskoiu? (Ви говорите англійською?)
vih hoh-voh-RIH-teh ahn-HLEEY-skoh-yoo
Do you speak English?
Before asking for help or directions
Ya ne rozumiiu (Я не розумію)
yah neh roh-zoo-MEE-yoo
I don't understand
When someone speaks too fast
Skilky tse koshtuie? (Скільки це коштує?)
SKEEL-kih tseh KOHSH-too-yeh
How much is it?
At a market or in a shop
Rakhunok, bud laska (Рахунок, будь ласка)
rah-KHOO-nohk, bood LAHS-kah
The bill, please
At the end of a meal in a restaurant or café
De tut tualet? (Де тут туалет?)
deh toot too-ah-LEHT
Where is the toilet?
In a restaurant, museum or station
Smachnoho! (Смачного!)
smahch-NOH-hoh
Enjoy your meal!
Before starting to eat, said to everyone at the table
Budmo! (Будьмо!)
BOOD-moh
Cheers!
When glasses are raised for a toast
Bulo duzhe smachno (Було дуже смачно)
boo-LOH DOO-zheh SMAHCH-noh
It was delicious
Thanking the cook or the waiter after a meal
Dopomozhit! (Допоможіть!)
doh-poh-moh-ZHEET
Help!
In an emergency
Local tips
Before you go
Check official travel advice first
As of September 2026, the UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to most of Ukraine, and against all but essential travel to the western regions of Lviv, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil and Chernivtsi and parts of Volyn, Rivne and Zhytomyr. Travelling against this advice can make travel insurance invalid, so read your own government's latest advice before any trip.
Take air raid alerts seriously
Martial law is in force throughout Ukraine, and missile and drone attacks can happen anywhere, including in the west. Find your nearest shelter in advance, take shelter as soon as an air alert sounds, and follow local officials. Apps such as 'Air Alert' send warnings to your phone.
No flights: arrive by train
As of September 2026, Ukraine's airspace is closed to passenger flights. Trains still run into Ukraine from Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Moldova and Austria, and there can be long queues at road border crossings.
Carry your passport
Keep your passport with you at all times, as the police may ask to see it. You also need it to change large sums of money.
Cash as well as cards
The currency is the hryvnia. Cards are widely used in cities, but ATMs may run out of cash and card machines may not work during power cuts, so carry some cash. Change money only at official exchange booths and keep the receipt.
Emergency numbers
In Ukraine, call 101 for the fire service, 102 for the police and 103 for an ambulance. If you see an unexploded weapon, do not touch it or go near it, and report it on 101.
No photos of military sites
Do not take photographs near government or military buildings. Rules and curfews can change at short notice, so follow the instructions of the Ukrainian authorities.
Tipping
Tipping in restaurants is becoming more common. About 6 to 10% is normal, and simply rounding up the bill is fine too.
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- Geography of Ukraine (Wikipedia)
- Hoverla (Wikipedia)
- Dnieper, or Dnipro river (Wikipedia)
- Telephone numbers in Ukraine (Wikipedia)
- Constitution of Ukraine (Wikipedia)
- Ukrainian hryvnia (Wikipedia)
- Cucuteni-Trypillia culture (Wikipedia)
- Kievan Rus' (Wikipedia)
- Christianization of Kievan Rus' (Wikipedia)
- Siege of Kiev, 1240 (Wikipedia)
- Khmelnytsky Uprising (Wikipedia)
- Cossack Hetmanate (Wikipedia)
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- Taras Shevchenko (Wikipedia)
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- Revolution of Dignity (Wikipedia)
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- Ukrainian cuisine (Wikipedia)
- Twelve-dish Christmas Eve supper (Wikipedia)
- Borscht (Wikipedia)
- UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage: Culture of Ukrainian borscht cooking
- Varenyky (Wikipedia)
- Cabbage roll, or holubtsi (Wikipedia)
- Potato pancake, or deruny (Wikipedia)
- Salo (Wikipedia)
- Pampushky (Wikipedia)
- Chicken Kiev (Wikipedia)
- Banosh (Wikipedia)
- Kutia (Wikipedia)
- Syrniki, or syrnyky (Wikipedia)
- Kyiv cake (Wikipedia)
- Horilka (Wikipedia)
- смачного (Wiktionary)
- будьмо (Wiktionary)
- Kyiv (Wikipedia)
- Lviv (Wikipedia)
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- Odesa (Wikipedia)
- Kharkiv (Wikipedia)
- Dnipro (Wikipedia)
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- Uzhhorod (Wikipedia)
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- Khotyn Fortress (Wikipedia)
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- Derzhprom (Wikipedia)
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- Hongyancun station (Wikipedia)
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- Igor Sikorsky (Wikipedia)
- Pysanka (Wikipedia)
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- Petrykivka painting (Wikipedia)
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- GOV.UK foreign travel advice: Ukraine, warnings and insurance
- GOV.UK foreign travel advice: Ukraine, safety and security
- GOV.UK foreign travel advice: Ukraine, entry requirements
- GOV.UK foreign travel advice: Ukraine, getting help
