Ukraine is situated in the south-eastern part of Central Europe and has its own territory, government, national emblem, flag and anthem. It borders on Russia, Byelorussia, Moldova, Slovakia, Roumania, Hungary and Poland on land and Russia, Georgia, Bulgaria, Roumania and Turkey on sea.

The territory of Ukraine is mostly a level, treeless plain, calls "steppe". There are the Crimean Mountains in the Crimean peninsula and the Carpathians in the west, but they are not very high. Mixed forests of pine and fir-trees, beeches, limes, oaks and elms cover the mountains, but the thickest woods can still be found in the northern part of the republic, in Volyn. Kiev and Cherkassy lie in the midst of Ukrainian southernmost pine forest. The main Ukrainian river is the Dnieper. It is one of the longest European rivers and one of the republic's main source of hydroelectric power. The Dnieper and its tributary the Ross had been the cradle of the Ukrainian and Russian people in time immemorial.

The climate of the country is moderate. Winter is rather mild, with no severe frosts but with regular snowfalls everywhere except the south. The rivers and lakes freeze in winter. The average winter temperature varies -20 Centigrade in the north to -3-5 in the south. Summer is quite hot and dry, with occasional showers and thunderstorms. The fertile black soil is well watered in spring and autumn and gets plenty of sunshine in summer.

Due to favorable climatic conditions, Ukraine is traditionally an agricultural area. It grows wheat, maize, buckwheat and other corn, red and green vegetables, all kinds of fruit, melons and berries.

Ukraine is one of the world's main centers of sugar production. It produces sugar both for her own needs and for export.

The country is rich in natural resources, such as iron ore, coal, color metal, oil, gas, mineral salts, clay and potential water power. It has developed a varied industry, concentrated mostly in and around big cities, such as Kiev, Zaporozhye, Dnepropetrovsk, Dnyeprodzerzhinsk, Odessa, Kharkov, Lviv, Nickolayev and other. It produces planes and ships, lorries and buses, motorcars and locomotives, computer and electronic equipment, precision instruments and agricultural machines, TV and radioset, chemicals and textiles and various consumer goods. Odessa, Sebastopol, Nickolayev, Kherson and Kerch are main ukrainian ports.

Human settlement in the territory of Ukraine has been documented into distant prehistory. The late neolithic Trypillian culture flourished from ca. 4500 BC to 3000 BC.

From at least the ninth century the territory of present-day Ukraine was a centre of East Slavic civilization that formed the state that became known as Kievan Rus and for the following several centuries the territory was divided between a number of regional powers. After a brief period of independence (1917-1921) following the Russian Revolution of 1917, Ukraine became one of the founding Soviet Republics in 1922. The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic's territory was enlarged westward after the Second World War and finally in 1954 with the Crimea transfer. Ukraine became independent again after the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991.

The tradition of the Easter egg had it's beginnings in the Ukraine. These eggs were drawn on with wax to create pattern. Dye was then added to give the eggs their delightful colors – the dye not affecting the wax coated parts of the egg. Once the whole egg was dyed, the wax was removed leaving only the colorful pattern. The tradition is thousands of years old and predates the arrival of Christianity in the country.

Economy

Formerly an important industrial and agricultural region of the Soviet Union, Ukraine now depends on Russia for most energy supplies, especially natural gas, although lately it has been trying to diversify its sources.

The lack of significant structural reform has made the Ukrainian economy vulnerable to external shocks. After 1991 the government liberalised most prices and erected a legal framework for privatisation, but widespread resistance to reform within the government soon stalled reform efforts and led to some backtracking. Output by 1999 had fallen to less than 40% of the 1991 level. Loose monetary policies pushed inflation to hyperinflationary levels in late 1993.

The current government has pledged to reduce the number of government agencies, streamline the regulatory process, create a legal environment to encourage entrepreneurs, and enact a comprehensive tax overhaul. Reforms in the more politically sensitive areas of structural reform and land privatisation are still lagging.

Outside institutions—particularly the IMF—have encouraged Ukraine to quicken the pace and scope of reforms and have threatened to withdraw financial support.

The 2000 showed strong export-based growth of 6%—the first growth since independence—and industrial production grew 12.9%.

The economy continued to expand in 2001, as real GDP rose 9% and industrial output grew by over 14%. Growth was undergirded by strong domestic demand and growing consumer and investor confidence. Rapid economic growth in 2002 - 2004 is largely attributed to a surge in steel exports to China.

Salvation Army in Ukraine

Even before the Army officially began in Kiev there was an unusual development in Yalta, on the Black Sea. In the summer of 1999, Vladimir Michailovitch Fursenko, who called himself ‘the General’, phoned Captain Sven-Erik Ljungholm in St. Petersburg to advise that he had started The Salvation Army in Yalta. Vladimir had been a 14 year-old Salvation Army soldier in the Petrograd VII Corps in 1918. Even though the Army had been disbanded in 1923, he had personally tried through the years to do Christian charitable work, especially during World War II. His efforts eventually resulted in a sentence to Siberia for ‘actions against the State’.

When Vladimir returned to Yalta, (once a favored vacation spot for Soviet citizens), the economic conditions were very poor. He and a few others had begun assisting needy people with food, shelter, and Bibles. Vladimir said he patterned this service on the Salvation Army ministry that he remembered from his youth. He hoped the work could become a part of the international Salvation Army. Captains Sven-Erik and Kathleen Ljungholm visited Yalta several times, provided humanitarian aid and taught soldiership classes. Major and Mrs. Jacob Bender (USA Central Territory) were appointed to Yalta and officially opened the corps in June, 1993.

Captains Sven-Erik and Kathleen Ljungholm (USA Eastern Territory), who had been among the pioneer officers in Leningrad (later St. Petersburg) and also opened the work in Moscow, held the first Salvation Army meeting in the City of Kiev in March, 1993, and opened the first corps. Majors Wesley and Ruth Sundin were appointed to lead the second corps -- Kiev Left Bank. Captains Eric and Rosemarie Despreaux (France) became corps officers in Kiev in 1993. Their Kiev Central corps had a large program for seniors citizens and for the deaf. (From 1998-2003 the Despreaux served as regional officers for Ukraine.)

While the Ukraine government was not very supportive of the Army’s religious activities, it was interested in the possibility of humanitarian aid to the suffering population. So, coupled with the evangelistic outreach of the corps ministry, Salvationists cooperated with federal, regional, and local governments, as well as local committees, to serve the needy in Kiev, Yalta, Kharkov, Odessa, and other locations in Ukraine. This included delivering much-needed food and clothing that had been supplied by the, USA, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Finland Canada, and other territories.

As Salvation Army ministry took shape in Ukraine, a distinctive focus on music began to emerge. This was expressed in summer music camps, from which some highly competent music groups were formed. In 1996, Captains Eric and Rosemarie Despreaux led older teens and college-age soldiers from the Kiev Central Corps in presenting an original musical ‘xvala’ (which means praise) to tell the story of the Christian church in Ukraine. It included a segment on the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and ended by presenting the claims of Christ. The group performed the musical before packed audiences in three villages north of Kiev, heavily populated by former Chernobyl residents.

Another distinctive focus of the Army’s ministry in Ukraine was the development of the Myak (Lighthouse) Corps specifically to reach the homeless, and those addicted to drugs and alcohol. Captain Lois Dueck (Canada and Bermuda Territory), social services director, opened the corps in 1993. The Myak corps itself was homeless, meeting in a parking lot for months because property owners were hesitant to rent to the Army. When the Army finally secured a rented location, General Rader officially opened the corps in November, 1994.

Later expansions of the Myak program included turning a derelict farm building into a shelter for rehabilitated men, and making a small farm productive again in order to move the program towards self-sufficiency. Through the generosity of the Winton, England corps, the Myak corps was able to begin a small sawmill and wood-drying kiln.

When General Rader visited Kiev in March 1999, he remarked that all the officers serving in Ukraine when he had visited in 1994 had been expatriates. A mere five years later there were only three, all the others gradually having been replaced by national officers trained within the Russia/CIS Command. By July 2003, all corps officers were Ukrainian.

The Salvation Army in Ukraine was registered as a Christian Charitable Organization in 1995, and as a Religious Organization in December, 2000. By the end of 2002, the Ukraine Region encompassed twelve corps and several outposts. Social ministries had expanded to include a senior centre, the alcohol rehabilitation centre farm, and ministry to children and adults in hospitals and institutions. The Left Bank corps is uniquely situated in a wing of a city-operated shelter for homeless children, and the corps provides assistance in educating the children.