CIA BACKGROUND ON UKRAINE

Ukraine Locator Map From CIA World Factbook

FROM:  CIA WORLD FACTBOOK
BACKGROUND:  UKRAINE
Ukraine was the center of the first eastern Slavic state, Kyivan Rus, which during the 10th and 11th centuries was the largest and most powerful state in Europe. Weakened by internecine quarrels and Mongol invasions, Kyivan Rus was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and eventually into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The cultural and religious legacy of Kyivan Rus laid the foundation for Ukrainian nationalism through subsequent centuries. A new Ukrainian state, the Cossack Hetmanate, was established during the mid-17th century after an uprising against the Poles. Despite continuous Muscovite pressure, the Hetmanate managed to remain autonomous for well over 100 years. During the latter part of the 18th century, most Ukrainian ethnographic territory was absorbed by the Russian Empire.

Ukraine Map From CIA World Factbook

Following the collapse of czarist Russia in 1917, Ukraine was able to achieve a short-lived period of independence (1917-20), but was reconquered and forced to endure a brutal Soviet rule that engineered two forced famines (1921-22 and 1932-33) in which over 8 million died. In World War II, German and Soviet armies were responsible for some 7 to 8 million more deaths.

Although final independence for Ukraine was achieved in 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR, democracy and prosperity remained elusive as the legacy of state control and endemic corruption stalled efforts at economic reform, privatization, and civil liberties. A peaceful mass protest "Orange Revolution" in the closing months of 2004 forced the authorities to overturn a rigged presidential election and to allow a new internationally monitored vote that swept into power a reformist slate under Viktor YUSHCHENKO. Subsequent internal squabbles in the YUSHCHENKO camp allowed his rival Viktor YANUKOVYCH to stage a comeback in parliamentary elections and become prime minister in August of 2006. An early legislative election, brought on by a political crisis in the spring of 2007, saw Yuliya TYMOSHENKO, as head of an "Orange" coalition, installed as a new prime minister in December 2007. Viktor YANUKOVYCH was elected president in a February 2010 run-off election that observers assessed as meeting most international standards. The following month, Ukraine's parliament, the Rada, approved a vote of no-confidence prompting Yuliya TYMOSHENKO to resign from her post as prime minister.

In October 2012, Ukraine held Rada elections, widely criticized by Western observers as flawed due to use of government resources to favor ruling party candidates, interference with media access, and harassment of opposition candidates. President YANUKOVYCH's backtracking on a trade and cooperation agreement with the EU in November 2013 - in favor of closer economic ties with Russia - led to a three-month protest occupation of Kyiv's central square. The government's eventual use of force to break up the protest camp in February 2014 led to all out pitched battles, scores of deaths, international condemnation, and the president's abrupt ouster. An interim government under Acting President Oleksandr TURCHYNOV has called for new presidential elections on 25 May 2014.

U.S. AIR FORCE SPACE COMMAND: THE LAUNCH OF SPUTNIK

FROM: U.S. AIR FORCE SPACE COMMAND
The USSR launches Sputnik I, the world's first successful artificial satellite on 4 Oct 1957. Pictured here is a model of Sputnik I from the Missile & Space Gallery at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.


AFSPC Milestone: USSR launched Sputnik, starting the space race

8/26/2012 - Peterson AFB, Colo. -- As Air Force Space Command approaches its 30th Anniversary on 1 Sep, here is a significant milestone which led to the creation of a new command responsible for the space domain...

On 4 October 1957, the USSR launches Sputnik I, the world's first successful artificial satellite. The surprise success of the Russian's launch began the Space Age and triggered the Space Race, a part of the larger Col War. It also lead to the launch of Explorer I, the first US satellite to go into orbit, launched from then Cape Canaveral Missile Annex, Fla. approximately 4 months later. Mercury batteries powered the high-power transmitter on Explorer I for 31 days and the low-power transmitter for 105 days. Explorer 1 stopped transmission of data on May 23, 1958 when its batteries died, but remained in orbit for more than 12 years. It has been followed by more than 90 scientific spacecraft in the Explorer series.

Additionally, the launch of Sputnik ushered in new political, military, technological, and scientific developments. The public reaction to the "Sputnik crisis" led to the creation of the Advanced Research Projects Agency (renamed the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA in 1972), NASA, and an increase in U.S. government spending on scientific research and education.