TheUkrainian Soviet Socialist Republic,^[b] abbreviated as theUkrainian SSR,UkrSSR, and also known asSoviet Ukraine or justUkraine,^[11][12][13] was one of theconstituent republics of theSoviet Union from 1922 until 1991.^[14] Under the Sovietone-party model, the Ukrainian SSR was governed by theCommunist Party of the Soviet Union through itsrepublican branch, theCommunist Party of Ukraine.

Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Українська Радянська Соціалістична Республіка (Ukrainian) Украинская Советская Социалистическая Республика (Russian)[1]
1919–1991[a]
Flag (1950–1991) State emblem (1949–1991)
Motto: Пролетарі всіх країн, єднайтеся! (Ukrainian) Proletari vsikh krain, yednaitesia!  (transliteration) "Workers of the world, unite!"
Anthem: Державний гімн Української Радянської Соціалістичної Республіки (Ukrainian) Derzhavnyi himn Ukrainskoi Radianskoi Sotsialistychnoi Respubliky (transliteration) "State Anthem of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic"
Location of the Ukrainian SSR (red) within theSoviet Union (red and light yellow) between 1956 and 1991
Status	1919–1922: Nominally independent state (satellite state of theRussian SFSR) 1922–1990: Union Republic of the Soviet Union 1990–1991: Union Republic with priority ofUkrainian legislation
Capital	Kharkov (1919–1934)[2] Kiev (1934–1991)[3]
Largest city	Kiev
Official languages	Russian[4][5] Ukrainian[5][6] (Ukrainian declared as sole official language in 1990)[7]
Recognised languages	Belarusian,Crimean Tatar,Hungarian,Romanian,Polish
Religion	Secular state (de jure) State atheism (de facto) Russian Orthodox Church(majority)(throughUkrainian Exarchate)
Demonym(s)	Ukrainian,Soviet
Government	1919–1990: Soviet republic 1990–1991: Unitaryparliamentary republic
First Secretary
• 1918–1919 (first)	Emanuel Kviring
• 1990 (last)[8]	Stanislav Hurenko
Head of state
• 1919–1938 (first)	Grigory Petrovsky
• 1990–1991 (last)	Leonid Kravchuk
Head of government
• 1918–1919 (first)	Georgy Pyatakov
• 1988–1991 (last)	Vitold Fokin
Legislature	Congress of Soviets (1919–1938)[9] Supreme Soviet (1938–1991)[10]
History
• Declaration of the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic	10 March 1919
• Admitted to USSR	30 December 1922
• Annexation territories fromPoland	15 November 1939
• Annexation territories fromRomania	2 August 1940
• Received Crimea fromRussian SFSR	19 February 1954
• Priority of Ukrainian laws declared, partial abolition of theSoviet form of government	16 July 1990
• Declaration of independence, Ukrainian SSR renamed to Ukraine	24 August 1991
• Ukrainian independence referendum	1 December 1991
• Dissolution of the Soviet Union (Ukraine's independence formally recognized)	26 December 1991
• Full abolition of theSoviet form of government	28 June 1996
Area
• Total	603,700 km2 (233,100 sq mi)
Population
• 1989 census	51,706,746
HDI (1990)	0.731 high
Currency	Soviet ruble (руб) (SUR)
Internet TLD	.su
Preceded by Succeeded by Ukrainian People's Republic Ukraine

The first iterations of the Ukrainian SSR were established during theRussian Revolution, particularly after theBolshevik Revolution. The outbreak of theUkrainian–Soviet War in the formerRussian Empire saw theBolsheviks defeat the independentUkrainian People's Republic, during the conflict against which they founded theUkrainian People's Republic of Soviets, which was governed by theRussian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), in December 1917; it was later succeeded by theUkrainian Soviet Republic in 1918.^[15] Simultaneously with theRussian Civil War, theUkrainian War of Independence was being fought among the different Ukrainian republics founded byUkrainian nationalists,Ukrainian anarchists, and Ukrainian separatists – primarily against Soviet Russia and the Ukrainian SSR, with either help or opposition from neighbouring states.^[16] In 1922, it was one of four Soviet republics (with the Russian SFSR, the Byelorussian SSR, and theTranscaucasian SFSR) that signed theTreaty on the Creation of the Soviet Union. As a Sovietquasi-state, the Ukrainian SSR became afounding member of the United Nations in 1945^[17] alongside theByelorussian SSR, in spite of the fact that they were also legally represented by the Soviet Union in foreign affairs. Upon thedissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Ukrainian SSR emerged as the present-day independent state ofUkraine, although the modifiedSoviet-era constitution remained in use until the adoption of the modernUkrainian constitution in June 1996.^[18]

The republic's borders changed many times, with a general trend toward acquiring lands with ethnic Ukrainian population majority, and losing lands with other ethnic majorities. A significant portion of what is nowwestern Ukraine was gained via the Soviet-GermanMolotov–Ribbentrop Pact, with the annexation ofEastern Galicia and Volhynia in 1939, significant portions of Romania in 1940, andCarpathian Ruthenia inCzechoslovakia in 1945. From the 1919 establishment of the Ukrainian SSR until 1934, the city ofKharkov served as its capital; however, the republic's seat of government was subsequently relocated in 1934 to the city ofKiev, the historic Ukrainian capital, and remained at Kiev for the remainder of its existence.

Geographically, the Ukrainian SSR was situated inEastern Europe, to the north of theBlack Sea, and was bordered by the Soviet republics ofMoldavia (since 1940), Byelorussia, and Russia, and the countries of Romania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Poland. The republic's border with Czechoslovakia formed the Soviet Union's westernmost border point. According to the1989 Soviet census, the republic of Ukraine had a population of 51,706,746 (second after Russia).^[19][20]

Its original names in 1919 were bothUkraine^[21][22][23] andUkrainian Socialist Soviet Republic (Ukrainian:Українська Соціалістична Радянська Республіка,romanized: Ukrainska Sotsialistychna Radianska Respublika, abbreviatedУСРР,USRR). After the ratification of the1936 Soviet Constitution, full official names of all Soviet republics were changed, transposing the second (socialist) and third (sovietskaya in Russian orradianska in Ukrainian) words. In accordance, on 5 December 1936, the 8th Extraordinary Congress Soviets in Soviet Union changed the name of the republic to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, which was ratified by the 14th Extraordinary Congress of Soviets in Ukrainian SSR on 31 January 1937.^[24]

The nameUkraine (Latin:Vkraina) is a subject of debate. It is often perceived as being derived from the Slavic word "okraina", meaning "border land". It was first used to define part of the territory ofKievan Rus' (Ruthenia) in the 12th century, at which point Kiev (nowKyiv) was the capital of Rus'. The name has been used in a variety of ways since the twelfth century. For example,Zaporozhian Cossacks called theirhetmanate "Ukraine".

Within thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the name carried unofficial status for larger part ofKiev Voivodeship.

"The Ukraine" was once the usual form in English,^[25] despite Ukrainian not having adefinite article. Since theDeclaration of Independence of Ukraine, this form has become less common in theEnglish-speaking world, and style-guides warn against its use in professional writing.^[26][27] According to U.S. ambassadorWilliam Taylor, "The Ukraine" implies disregard for the country's sovereignty.^[28] The Ukrainian position is that the usage of "The Ukraine" is incorrect both grammatically and politically."^[29]

After the abdication of TsarNicholas II during theFebruary Revolution of 1917 inPetrograd, many people in Ukraine wished to establish an autonomous Ukrainian Republic. During a period of theRussian Civil War from 1917 to 1923, many factions claiming themselves governments of the newly born republic were formed, each with supporters and opponents. The two most prominent of them were an independent government inKiev called theUkrainian People's Republic (UNR) and aSoviet Russia-aligned government inKharkov called theUkrainian Soviet Republic (USR). The Kiev-based UNR was internationally recognized and supported by theCentral Powers following theTreaty of Brest-Litovsk,^[30] whereas the Kharkov-based USR was solely supported by the Soviet Russian forces, while neither the UNR nor the USR were explicitly supported by theWhite Russian forces that remained, although there were attempts to establish cooperation during the closing stages of the war with the former.^[31]

The conflict between the two competing governments, known as theUkrainian–Soviet War, was part of the ongoingRussian Civil War, as well as a struggle for national independence (known as theUkrainian War of Independence), which ended with the territory of pro-independence Ukrainian People's Republic being annexed into a new Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic, western Ukraine being annexed into theSecond Polish Republic, and the newly stable Ukrainian SSR becoming a founding member of theSoviet Union.

The government of the Ukrainian Soviet Republic was founded on 24–25 December 1917. In its publications, it named itself either the Republic of Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies^[32] or theUkrainian People's Republic of Soviets.^[24] The 1917 republic was only recognised by another non-recognised country, the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic. With the signing of theBrest-Litovsk Treaty by Russia, it was ultimately defeated by mid-1918 and eventually dissolved.^[33]

In July 1918, the former members of the government formed theCommunist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine, the constituent assembly of which took place inMoscow. With the defeat of the Central Powers inWorld War I, theBolsheviks resumed its hostilities towards theUkrainian People's Republic fighting for Ukrainian independence and organised another Soviet Ukrainian government.

TheProvisional Workers' and Peasants' Government of Ukraine was created on November 28, 1918, inKursk, with the provisional government assigned to the city ofSudzha. On 10 March 1919, theThird All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets ratified the constitution of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in Kharkiv.^[34]

After theRussian Revolution of 1917, several factions sought to create an independent Ukrainian state, alternately cooperating and struggling against each other. Numerous more or less socialist-oriented factions participated in the formation of theUkrainian People's Republic among which were Bolsheviks,Mensheviks,Socialists-Revolutionaries and many others. The most popular faction was initially the localSocialist Revolutionary Party that composed the local government together with Federalists and Mensheviks.

Immediately after theOctober Revolution inPetrograd, Bolsheviks instigated theKiev Bolshevik Uprising to support the revolution and secure Kiev. Due to a lack of adequate support from the local population and governing anti-communistCentral Rada, however, the Kiev Bolshevik group split. Most moved toKharkov and received the support of the eastern Ukrainian cities and industrial centers. Later, this move was regarded as a mistake by some of thePeople's Commissars (Yevgenia Bosch). They issued an ultimatum to the Central Rada on 17 December to recognise theSoviet government of which the Rada was very critical. The Bolsheviks convened a separate congress and declared the first Soviet Republic of Ukraine on 24 December 1917 claiming theCentral Rada and its supporters outlaws that need to be eradicated. Warfare ensued against the Ukrainian People's Republic for the installation of the Soviet regime in the country, and with the direct support fromSoviet Russia the Ukrainian National forces were practically overrun. The government of Ukraine appealed to foreign capitals, finding support in the face of the Central Powers as the others refused to recognise it. After theTreaty of Brest-Litovsk, the Russian SFSR yielded all the captured Ukrainian territory as the Bolsheviks were forced out of Ukraine. The government of Soviet Ukraine was dissolved after its last session on 20 November 1918.^{[citation needed]}

After re-taking Kharkov in February 1919, a second Soviet Ukrainian government was formed. The government enforced Russian policies that did not adhere to local needs.^{[citation needed]} A group of three thousand workers were dispatched from Russia to take grain from local farms to feed Russian cities and were met with resistance. The Ukrainian language was also censured from administrative and educational use. Eventually fighting both White forces in the east and Ukrainian forces in the west,Lenin ordered the liquidation of the second Soviet Ukrainian government in August 1919.^[35]

Eventually, after the creation of theCommunist Party (Bolshevik) of Ukraine in Moscow, a third Ukrainian Soviet government was formed on 21 December 1919 that initiated new hostilities against Ukrainian nationalists as they lost their military support from the defeated Central Powers. Eventually, theRed Army ended up controlling much of the Ukrainian territory after the Polish-SovietPeace of Riga. On 30 December 1922, along with theRussian,Byelorussian andTranscaucasian republics, the Ukrainian SSR became one of the founding members of theUnion of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).^[36]

•  
  Bolshevik commissars in Ukraine (1919).
•  
  Territories claimed by theUkrainian People's Republic (1917–1920).
•  
  Boundaries of the Ukrainian SSR (1922).
•  
  Soviet Russia in Europe.
•  
  Draft constitution of the Soviet Union (1937).
•  
  Cover page from the book "Behind the Iron Curtain of Russia", printed in Stockholm 1923.

During the 1920s, a policy ofUkrainization was pursued in the Ukrainian SSR, as part of the general Sovietkorenization policy; this involved promoting the use and the social status of the Ukrainian language and the elevation of ethnic Ukrainians to leadership positions (seeUkrainization – early years of Soviet Ukraine for more details).

In 1932, the aggressive agricultural policies ofJoseph Stalin's regime resulted in one of the largest national catastrophes in the modern history for theUkrainian nation. A famine known as theHolodomor caused a direct loss of human life estimated between 2.6 million^[37][38] to 10 million.^[39] Some scholars and theWorld Congress of Free Ukrainians assert that this wasan act of genocide.^{[citation needed]} TheInternational Commission of Inquiry Into the 1932–1933 Famine in Ukraine found no evidence that the famine was part of a preconceived plan to starve Ukrainians, and concluded in 1990 that the famine was caused by a combination of factors, including Soviet policies of compulsory grain requisitions, forcedcollectivization,dekulakization, andRussification.^[40] The General Assembly of the UN has stopped shy of recognizing the Holodomor as genocide, calling it a "great tragedy" as acompromise between tense positions of United Kingdom, United States, Russia, and Ukraine on the matter, while some nations went on toindividually categorize it as genocide, including France, Germany, and the United States after the 2022Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In September 1939, theSoviet Union invaded Poland and occupiedGalician lands inhabited by Ukrainians, Poles and Jews adding it to the territory of the Ukrainian SSR. In 1940, theSoviet Union occupied Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina and the Hertsa region, lands inhabited by Romanians, Ukrainians, Russians, Jews, Bulgarians and Gagauz, adding them to the territory of the Ukrainian SSR and the newly formedMoldavian SSR. In 1945, these lands were permanently annexed, and theTranscarpathia region was added as well, by treaty with the post-war administration of Czechoslovakia. Following eastward Soviet retreat in 1941,Ufa became the wartime seat of the Soviet Ukrainian government.^{[citation needed]}

WhileWorld War II (called theGreat Patriotic War by the Soviet government) did not end before May 1945, the Germans were driven out of Ukraine between February 1943 and October 1944. The first task of the Soviet authorities was to reestablish political control over the republic which had been entirely lost during the war. This was an immense task, considering the widespread human and material losses. During World War IIthe Soviet Union lost about 8.6 million combatants and around 18 million civilians, of these, 6.8 million were Ukrainian civilians and military personnel. Also, an estimated 3.9 million Ukrainians were evacuated to theRussian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic during the war, and 2.2 million Ukrainians were sent to forced labour camps by the Germans.^{[citation needed]}

The material devastation was huge;Adolf Hitler's orders to create "a zone of annihilation" in 1943, coupled with the Soviet military'sscorched-earth policy in 1941, meant Ukraine lay in ruins. These two policies led to the destruction of more than 28,000 villages and 714 cities and towns. 85 percent ofKiev's city centre was destroyed, as was 70 percent of the city centre of the second-largest city in Ukraine,Kharkov. Because of this, 19 million people were left homeless after the war.^[41] The republic's industrial base, as so much else, was destroyed.^[42] The Soviet government had managed to evacuate 544 industrial enterprises between July and November 1941, but the rapid German advance led to the destruction or the partial destruction of 16,150 enterprises. 27,910collective farms, 1,300 machine tractor stations and 872 state farms were destroyed by the Germans.^[43]

While the war brought to Ukraine an enormous physical destruction, victory also led to territorial expansion. As a victor, the Soviet Union gained new prestige and more land. The Ukrainian border was expanded to theCurzon Line. Ukraine was also expanded southwards, near the areaIzmail, previously part ofRomania.^[43] An agreement was signed by the Soviet Union andCzechoslovakia wherebyCarpathian Ruthenia was handed over to Ukraine.^[44] The territory of Ukraine expanded by 167,000 square kilometres (64,500 sq mi) and increased its population by an estimated 11 million.^[45]

After World War II, amendments to the Constitution of the Ukrainian SSR were accepted, which allowed it to act as a separate subject ofinternational law in some cases and to a certain extent, remaining a part of the Soviet Union at the same time. In particular, these amendments allowed the Ukrainian SSR to become one of the founding members of the United Nations (UN) together with the Soviet Union and theByelorussian SSR. This was part of a deal with the United States to ensure a degree of balance in theGeneral Assembly, which, the USSR opined, was unbalanced in favor of the Western Bloc. In its capacity as a member of the UN, the Ukrainian SSR wasan elected member of theUnited Nations Security Council in 1948–1949 and 1984–1985.^[46]

When Stalin died on 5 March 1953, thecollective leadership of Khrushchev,Georgy Malenkov,Vyacheslav Molotov andLavrentiy Beria took power and a period ofde-Stalinization began.^[47] Change came as early as 1953, when officials were allowed to criticise Stalin's policy ofrussification. The Central Committee of theCommunist Party of Ukraine (CPU) openly criticised Stalin's russification policies in a meeting in June 1953. On 4 June 1953,Aleksey Kirichenko succeededLeonid Melnikov as First Secretary of the CPU; this was significant since Kyrychenko was the first ethnic Ukrainian to lead the CPU since the 1920s. The policy of de-Stalinization took two main features, that of centralisation and decentralisation from the centre. In February 1954, theRussian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR)transferred Crimea to Ukraine during the celebrations of the 300th anniversary of Ukraine's reunification with Russia (Soviet name for thePereiaslav Agreement).^[48] The massive festivities lasted throughout 1954, commemorating (Ukrainian:Переяславська рада), the treaty which brought Ukraine under Russian rule three centuries before. The event was celebrated to prove the old and brotherly love betweenUkrainians andRussians, and proof of the Soviet Union as a "family of nations"; it was also another way of legitimisingMarxism–Leninism.^[49] On 23 June 1954, the civilianoil tankerTuapse of theBlack Sea Shipping Company based inOdessa was hijacked by a fleet ofRepublic of China Navy in thehigh sea of19°35′N, 120°39′E, west ofBalintang Channel nearPhilippines, whereas the 49 Ukrainian, Russian and Moldovan crew were detained by theKuomintang regime in various terms up to 34 years incaptivity with three deaths.^[50][51][52]

The"Thaw" – the policy of deliberate liberalisation – was characterised by four points: amnesty for some convicted of state crime during the war or the immediate post-war years; amnesties for one-third of those convicted of state crime during Stalin's rule; the establishment of the first Ukrainian mission to the United Nations in 1958; and the steady increase of Ukrainians in the rank of the CPU and government of the Ukrainian SSR. Not only were the majority of CPU Central Committee and Politburo members ethnic Ukrainians, three-quarters of the highest ranking party and state officials were ethnic Ukrainians too. The policy of partialUkrainisation also led to a cultural thaw within Ukraine.^[49]

In October 1964, Khrushchev was deposed by a joint Central Committee and Politburo plenum and succeeded by another collective leadership, this time led byLeonid Brezhnev, born in Ukraine, as First Secretary andAlexei Kosygin asChairman of theCouncil of Ministers.^[53] Brezhnev's rule would be marked by social and economic stagnation, a period often referred to as theEra of Stagnation.^[54] The new regime introduced the policy ofrastsvet,sblizhenie andsliianie ("flowering", "drawing together" and "merging"/"fusion"), which was the policy of uniting the different Soviet nationalities into oneSoviet nationality by merging the best elements of each nationality into the new one. This policy turned out to be, in fact, the reintroduction of the russification policy.^[55]

Gorbachev's policies ofperestroika andglasnost (English:restructuring andopenness) failed to reach Ukraine as early as other Soviet republics because of the influence ofVolodymyr Shcherbytsky, a conservative communist appointed by Brezhnev and the First Secretary of the Ukrainian Communist Party.^[56] TheChernobyl disaster of 1986, the russification policies, and the apparent social and economic stagnation led several Ukrainians to oppose Soviet rule. Gorbachev's policy ofperestroika was also never introduced into practice, 95 percent of industry and agriculture was still owned by the Soviet state in 1990. The talk of reform, but the lack of introducing reform into practice, led to confusion which in turn evolved into opposition to the Soviet state itself.^[57] The policy ofglasnost, which endedstate censorship, led theUkrainian diaspora to reconnect with their compatriots in Ukraine, the revitalisation of religious practices by destroying the monopoly of theRussian Orthodox Church and led to the establishment of several opposition pamphlets, journals and newspapers.^[58]

Following the failedAugust Coup in Moscow on 19–21 August 1991, theSupreme Soviet of Ukrainedeclared independence on 24 August 1991 and renamed the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic asUkraine.

Areferendum on independence was held on 1 December 1991. 92.3% of voters voted for independence nationwide. The referendum carried in the majority of all oblasts, includingCrimea where 54% voted for independence, and those inEastern Ukraine where more than 80% voted for independence.

In the1991 Ukrainian presidential election held on the same day as the independence referendum, 62 percent of voters voted forLeonid Kravchuk, who had been vested with presidential powers since the Supreme Soviet's declaration of independence.^[59]

On 8 December 1991, Ukraine (at Kravchuk's direction), Russian and Belarus signed theBelovezh Accords which declared that the Soviet Union had effectively ceased to exist and founded theCommonwealth of Independent States as a quasi-replacement.^[60] On 21 December 1991, all the former Soviet republics (except Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania and Latvia) signed theAlma-Ata Protocol which reiterated that the Soviet Union had functionally ceased to exist. The Soviet Union formally dissolved on 26 December 1991.^[61]

The Ukrainian SSR's system of government was based on aone-partycommunist system ruled by theCommunist Party of Ukraine, a branch of theCommunist Party of the Soviet Union (KPSS). The republic was one of 15 constituent republics composing the Soviet Union from its entry into the union in 1922 until its dissolution in 1991. All of the political power and authority in the USSR was in the hands of Communist Party authorities, with little real power being concentrated in official government bodies and organs. In such a system, lower-level authorities directly reported to higher level authorities and so on, with the bulk of the power being held at the highest echelons of the Communist Party.^[62]

Originally, the legislative authority was vested in theCongress of Soviets of Ukraine, whoseCentral Executive Committee was for many years headed byGrigory Petrovsky. Soon after publishing aStalinist constitution, the Congress of Soviets was transformed into theSupreme Soviet (and the Central Executive Committee intoits Presidium), which consisted of 450 deputies.^{[note 3]} The Supreme Soviet had the authority to enact legislation, amend theconstitution, adopt new administrative and territorial boundaries, adopt the budget, and establish political and economic development plans.^[63] In addition, parliament also had to authority to elect the republic's executive branch, theCouncil of Ministers as well as the power to appoint judges to the Supreme Court. Legislative sessions were short and were conducted for only a few weeks out of the year. In spite of this, the Supreme Soviet elected the Presidium, theChairman, three deputy chairmen, a secretary, and couple of other government members to carry out the official functions and duties in between legislative sessions.^[63] Chairman of the Presidium was a powerful position in the republic's higher echelons of power, and could nominally be considered the equivalent ofhead of state,^[63] although most executive authority would be concentrated in the Communist Party'spolitburo andits First Secretary.

Fulluniversal suffrage was granted for all eligible citizens aged 18 and over, excluding prisoners and those deprived of freedom. Although they could not be considered free and wereof a symbolic nature, elections to the Supreme Soviet were contested every five years. Nominees from electoral districts from around the republic, typically consisting of an average of 110,000 inhabitants, were directly chosen by party authorities,^[63] providing little opportunity for political change, since all political authority was directly subordinate to the higher level above it.

With the beginning of SovietGeneral SecretaryMikhail Gorbachev'sperestroika reforms towards the mid-late 1980s, electoral reform laws were passed in 1989, liberalising the nominating procedures and allowing multiple candidates to stand for election in a district. Accordingly, thefirst relatively free elections^[64] in the Ukrainian SSR were contested in March 1990. 111 deputies from theDemocratic Bloc, a loose association of small pro-Ukrainian and pro-sovereignty parties and the instrumentalPeople's Movement of Ukraine (colloquially known asRukh in Ukrainian) were elected to the parliament.^[65] Although the Communist Party retained its majority with 331 deputies, large support for the Democratic Bloc demonstrated the people's distrust of the Communist authorities, which would eventually boil down to Ukrainian independence in 1991.

Ukraine is the legal successor of the Ukrainian SSR and it stated to fulfill "those rights and duties pursuant to international agreements of Union SSR which do not contradict theConstitution of Ukraine and interests of the Republic" on 5 October 1991.^[66] AfterUkrainian independence the Ukrainian SSR's parliament was changed fromSupreme Soviet to its current nameVerkhovna Rada, the Verkhovna Rada is still Ukraine's parliament.^[10][67] Ukraine also has refused to recognize exclusive Russian claims to succession of the Soviet Union and claimed such status for Ukraine as well, which was stated in Articles 7 and 8 ofOn Legal Succession of Ukraine, issued in 1991. Following independence, Ukraine has continued to pursue claims against the Russian Federation in foreign courts, seeking to recover its share of the foreign property that was owned by the Soviet Union. It also retainedits seat in the United Nations, held since 1945.

On the international front, the Ukrainian SSR, along with the rest of the 15 republics, had virtually no say in their own foreign affairs. However, since 1944, the Ukrainian SSR was permitted to establish bilateral relations with countries and maintain its own standing army.^[62] This clause was used to permit the republic's membership in the United Nations, alongside the Byelorussian SSR. Accordingly, representatives from the "Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic" and 50 other states founded the UN on 24 October 1945. In effect, this provided the Soviet Union (a permanentSecurity Council member with veto powers) with another two votes in theGeneral Assembly.^{[note 4]} The latter aspect of the 1944 clauses was never fulfilled and the republic's defense matters were managed by theSoviet Armed Forces and the Defense Ministry. Another right that was granted but never used until 1991 was the right of the Soviet republics to secede from the union,^[68] which was codified in each of theSoviet constitutions. Accordingly, Article 69 of the Constitution of the Ukrainian SSR stated: "The Ukrainian SSR retains the right to willfully secede from the USSR."^[69] However, a republic's theoretical secession from the union was virtually impossible and unrealistic^[62] in many ways until after Gorbachev'sperestroika reforms.

The Ukrainian SSR was a member of theUN Economic and Social Council,UNICEF,International Labour Organization,Universal Postal Union,World Health Organization,UNESCO,International Telecommunication Union,United Nations Economic Commission for Europe,World Intellectual Property Organization and theInternational Atomic Energy Agency. It was not separately a member of theWarsaw Pact,Comecon, theWorld Federation of Trade Unions and theWorld Federation of Democratic Youth, and since 1949, theInternational Olympic Committee.

Legally, the Soviet Union and its fifteen union republics constituted afederal system, but the country was functionally a highly centralised state, with all major decision-making taking place in theKremlin, the capital and seat of government of the country. The constituent republics were essentiallyunitary states, with lower levels of power being directly subordinate to higher ones. Throughout its 72-year existence, the administrative divisions of the Ukrainian SSR changed numerous times, often incorporating regional reorganisation and annexation on the part of Soviet authorities during World War II.

The most common administrative division was theoblast (province), of which there were 25 upon the republic's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Provinces were further subdivided intoraions (districts) which numbered 490. The rest of the administrative division within the provinces consisted of cities,urban-type settlements, and villages. Cities in the Ukrainian SSR were a separate exception, which could either be subordinate to either the provincial authorities themselves or the district authorities of which they were the administrative center. Two cities, the capitalKiev, andSevastopol (which hosted a large Soviet Navy base in Crimea), were uniquely designated "cities with special status." This meant that they were directly subordinate to the central Ukrainian SSR authorities and not the provincial authorities surrounding them.

However, the history of administrative divisions in the republic was not so clear cut. At the end ofWorld War I in 1918, Ukraine was invaded bySoviet Russia as the Russian puppet government of the Ukrainian SSR and without official declaration it ignited theUkrainian–Soviet War^{[dubious –discuss][citation needed]}. Government of theUkrainian SSR from very start was managed by theCommunist Party of Ukraine that was created in Moscow and was originally formed out of the Bolshevik organisational centers in Ukraine. Occupying the eastern city ofKharkov, the Soviet forces chose it as the republic's seat of government, colloquially named in the media as "Kharkov – Pervaya Stolitsa (the first capital)" with implication to the era ofSoviet regime.^[70] Kharkov was also the city where the first Soviet Ukrainian government was created in 1917 with strong support from Russian SFSR authorities. However, in 1934, the capital was moved from Kharkov toKiev, which remains the capital of Ukraine today.

During the 1930s, there were significant numbers of ethnic minorities living within the Ukrainian SSR. National Districts were formed as separate territorial-administrative units within higher-level provincial authorities. Districts were established for the republic's three largest minority groups, which were the Jews,Russians, andPoles.^[71] Other ethnic groups, however, were allowed to petition the government for their own national autonomy. In 1924 on the territory of Ukrainian SSR was formed theMoldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Upon the 1940 conquest of Bessarabia and Bukovina by Soviet troops the Moldavian ASSR was passed to the newly formedMoldavian Soviet Socialist Republic, whileBudzhak and Bukovina were secured by the Ukrainian SSR. Following the creation of the Ukrainian SSR significant numbers of ethnic Ukrainians found themselves living outside the Ukrainian SSR.^[72] In the 1920s the Ukrainian SSR was forced to cede several territories to Russia inSeveria,Sloboda Ukraine and Azov littoral including such cities likeBelgorod,Taganrog andStarodub. In the 1920s the administration of the Ukrainian SSR insisted in vain on reviewing the border between the Ukrainian Soviet Republics and theRussian Soviet Republic based on the 1926First All-Union Census of the Soviet Union that showed that 4.5 millions of Ukrainians were living on Russian territories bordering Ukraine.^[72] A forced end toUkrainisation in southern Russian Soviet Republic led to a massive decline of reported Ukrainians in these regions in the1937 Soviet Census.^[72]

Upon signing of theMolotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Nazi Germany and Soviet Union partitionedPoland and its Eastern Borderlands were secured by the Soviet buffer republics with Ukraine securing the territory of Eastern Galicia. The Soviet September Polish campaign in Soviet propaganda was portrayed as the Golden September for Ukrainians, given the unification of Ukrainian lands on both banks ofZbruch River, until then the border between the Soviet Union and the Polish communities inhabited by Ukrainian speaking families.

At the onset of Soviet Ukraine, having largely inherited conditions from the Tsarist Empire, one of the biggest exporters of wheat in the world, the Ukrainian economy was still centered aroundagriculture, with over 90% of the workforce being peasants.^[73]

In the 1920s, Soviet policy in Ukraine attached importance to developing the economy. The initial agenda,War Communism, had prescribed total communisation and appropriation per quota of food from the people by force^[74] - further economic damage and afamine claiming up to one million lives ensued. With theNew Economic Policy and the partial introduction of free markets, an economic recovery followed. After the death of Lenin and the consolidation of his power, Stalin was determined to industrialisation and reversed policy again. As heavy industry and wheat exports boomed, common people in rural areas were bearing a cost. Gradually escalating measures, from raised taxes, dispossession of property, andforced deportations into Siberia culminated in extremely high grain delivery quotas. Even though there is no evidence that agricultural yield could not feed the population at the time, four million Ukrainians werestarved to death while Moscow exported over a million tonnes of grain to the West,^[75] decimating the population.^[76]

Within a decade, Ukraine's industrial production had quintupled, mainly from facilities in theDonets Basin and central Ukrainian cities such asMykolaiv.

In 1945, agricultural production stood at only 40 percent of the 1940 level, even though the republic's territorial expansion had "increased the amount ofarable land".^[77] In contrast to the remarkable growth in the industrial sector,^[78] agriculture continued in Ukraine, as in the rest of the Soviet Union, to function as the economy'sAchilles heel. Despite the human toll ofcollectivisation of agriculture in the Soviet Union, especially in Ukraine,^{[citation needed]} Soviet planners still believed in the effectiveness of collective farming. The old system was reestablished; the numbers ofcollective farms in Ukraine increased from 28 thousand in 1940 to 33 thousand in 1949, comprising 45 million hectares; the numbers ofstate farms barely increased, standing at 935 in 1950, comprising 12.1 million hectares. By the end of theFourth Five-Year Plan (in 1950) and theFifth Five-Year Plan (in 1955), agricultural output still stood far lower than the 1940 level. The slow changes in agriculture can be explained by the low productivity in collective farms, and by bad weather-conditions, which the Soviet planning system could not effectively respond to. Grain for human consumption in the post-war years decreased, this in turn led to frequent and severe food shortages.^[79]

The increase ofSoviet agricultural production was tremendous, however, theSoviet-Ukrainians still experienced food shortages due to the inefficiencies of ahighly centralised economy. During the peak of Soviet-Ukrainian agriculture output in the 1950s and early-to-mid-1960s, human consumption in Ukraine, and in the rest of theSoviet Union, actually experienced short intervals of decrease. There are many reasons for this inefficiency, but its origins can be traced back to the single-purchaser and -producermarket system set up byJoseph Stalin.^{[80][need quotation to verify]} Khrushchev tried to improve the agricultural situation in the Soviet Union by expanding the total crop size – for instance, in the Ukrainian SSR alone "the amount of land planted withcorn grew by 600 percent". At the height of this policy, between 1959 and 1963, one-third of Ukrainianarable land grew this crop. This policy decreased the total production of wheat andrye; Khrushchev had anticipated this, and the production of wheat and rye moved toSoviet Central Asia^[when?] as part of theVirgin Lands Campaign. Khrushchev's agricultural policy failed, and in 1963 the Soviet Union had to import food from abroad. The total level of agricultural productivity in Ukraine decreased sharply during this period, but recovered in the 1970s and 1980s duringLeonid Brezhnev's rule.^[53]

During thepost-war years, Ukraine's industrial productivity doubled its pre-war level.^[81] In 1945 industrial output totalled only 26 percent of the 1940 level. The Soviet Union introduced the Fourth Five-Year Plan in 1946. The Fourth Five-Year Plan would prove to be a remarkable success, and can be likened to the "wonders of West German and Japanese reconstruction", but without foreign capital; the Soviet reconstruction is historically an impressive^[opinion] achievement. In 1950 industrial gross output had already surpassed 1940-levels. While the Soviet régime still emphasisedheavy industry overlight industry, the light-industry sector also grew. The increase in capital investment and the expansion of the labour force also benefited Ukraine's economic recovery.^[77] In the prewar years, 15.9 percent of the Soviet budget went to Ukraine, in 1950, during the Fourth Five-Year Plan this had increased to 19.3 percent. The workforce had increased from 1.2 million in 1945 to 2.9 million in 1955; an increase of 33.2 percent over the 1940-level.^[77] The result of this remarkable growth was that by 1955 Ukraine was producing 2.2 times more than in 1940, and the republic had become one of the leading producers of certain commodities in Europe. Ukraine was the largest per-capita producer in Europe ofpig iron and sugar, and the second-largest per-capita producer of steel and of iron ore, and was the third largest per-capita producer of coal in Europe.^[79]

From 1965 until thedissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, industrial growth in Ukraine decreased, and by the 1970s itstarted to stagnate. Significant economic decline did not become apparent before the 1970s. During theFifth Five-Year Plan (1951–1955), industrial development in Ukraine grew by 13.5 percent, while during theEleventh Five-Year Plan (1981–1985) industry grew by a relatively modest 3.5 percent. The double-digit growth seen in all branches of the economy in thepost-war years had disappeared by the 1980s, entirely replaced by low growth-figures. An ongoing problem throughout the republic's existence was the planners' emphasis on heavy industry overconsumer goods.^[81]

The urbanisation of Ukrainian society in the post-war years led to an increase inenergy consumption. Between 1956 and 1972, to meet this increasing demand, the government built fivewater reservoirs along theDnieper River. Aside from improving Soviet-Ukrainianwater transport, the reservoirs became the sites for newpower stations, andhydroelectric energy flourished in Ukraine in consequence. Thenatural-gas industry flourished as well, and Ukraine became the site of the first post-war production of gas in the Soviet Union; by the 1960s Ukraine's biggest gas field was producing 30 percent of the USSR's total gas production. The government was not able to meet the people's ever-increasing demand for energy consumption, but by the 1970s, the Soviet government had conceived an intensive nuclear power program. According to the Eleventh Five-Year Plan, the Soviet government would build 8nuclear power plants in Ukraine by 1989. As a result of these efforts, Ukraine became highly diversified in energy consumption.^[82]

Many churches and synagogues were destroyed during the existence of the Ukrainian SSR.^[83]

Urbanisation in post-Stalin Ukraine grew quickly; in 1959, only 25 cities in Ukraine had populations over one hundred thousand, by 1979 the number had grown to 49. During the same period, the growth of cities with a population over one million increased from one to five; Kiev alone nearly doubled its population, from 1.1 million in 1959 to 2.1 million in 1979. This proved a turning point in Ukrainian society: for the first time in Ukraine's history, the majority of ethnic Ukrainians lived in urban areas; 53 percent of the ethnic Ukrainian population did so in 1979. The majority worked in the non-agricultural sector, in 1970 31 percent of Ukrainians engaged in agriculture, in contrast, 63 percent of Ukrainians were industrial workers and white-collar staff. In 1959, 37 percent of Ukrainians lived in urban areas, in 1989 the proportion had increased to 60 percent.^[84]

• "Governments of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic".Government portal. Retrieved11 June 2008.
• "Constitution of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic".Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (in Ukrainian). 1978. Retrieved11 June 2008.

50°26′40″N30°31′44″E / 50.44444°N 30.52889°E /50.44444; 30.52889