Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe bordered by Russia to the east and north-east, Belarus to the north, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the west, Romania and Moldova to the south-west, and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The capital and largest city is Kyiv. Ukraine has a population of about 41-million and covers an area of more than 600 000 square kilometres, making it the second-largest country entirely within Europe after Russia. The economy is diverse, with significant agricultural output including wheat, maize and sunflower oil, earning Ukraine the designation of a major global breadbasket. The country also has substantial heavy industry, including steel production, machinery manufacturing and a historically important aerospace and defence sector. Ukraine possesses considerable mineral resources, including iron ore, coal, manganese and titanium, and has been a key transit route for natural gas from Russia to Europe. Since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine has pursued closer integration with European institutions, signing an association agreement with the European Union in 2014. The annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014 and the outbreak of conflict in the eastern Donbas region marked the beginning of prolonged geopolitical tension. Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022 has caused widespread destruction, displaced millions and severely disrupted Ukraine's economy and global supply chains, particularly in grain and fertiliser exports. The currency is the hryvnia.
Ukraine Updates
IMF MD Georgieva warns world isn’t ready for shocks that are piling up
By: Bloomberg 8th June 2026 International Monetary Fund (IMF) MD Kristalina Georgieva said that after facing crisis upon crisis in recent years, the world needs to build... →
Humanitarian Diplomacy Re-Imagined
2nd June 2026 Humanitarian diplomacy is gaining renewed prominence within the European Union (EU) and among its Member States, with new policy initiatives and... →
Economic hardship drives Kenyans onto Russia’s brutal frontline
By: ISS, Institute for Security Studies 21st May 2026 High youth unemployment exposes young Kenyans, like thousands across Africa, to exploitation and false promises of lucrative jobs abroad. Kenya has... →
Don’t waste the crisis
By: Terence Creamer 15th May 2026 South Africa is experiencing its third energy crisis of this decade. While electricity loadshedding has been a threat for far longer, the most... →
Why Nairobi Africa‑France summit bears the hallmarks of Macron and Ruto priorities
11th May 2026 The 2026 Africa-France summit in Nairobi on May 11-12 is the first to be held in an African country that is not a former French colony. It is also... →
Supply lines
By: Terence Creamer 1st May 2026 South Africa has not escaped the fuel price shocks associated with disruptions to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz energy corridor and the damage... →
Lamola shrugs as Gauteng Speaker signs MoU with sanctioned Russian counterpart
21st April 2026 In a reply to a Democratic Alliance (DA) parliamentary question, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), Ronald Lamola,... →
Speaker Didiza urges global Parliaments to rebuild trust and safeguard peace at IPU assembly
17th April 2026 Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms Thoko Didiza, today reaffirmed Parliament’s commitment to work with the global parliamentary community to... →
Of wars, fossil fuel and the clean energy revolution
By: Saliem Fakir 17th April 2026 The situation in the Gulf has moved from epic fury to epic crisis. Wars reveal, with great clarity, the shape of the world when something is no... →
Citi sees three sovereign debt defaults in Africa in coming two years
By: Reuters 16th April 2026 Senegal, Mozambique and Malawi could default on their debts in the next two years, Citi's Chief Africa Economist David Cowan said on Thursday, as... →
