As Ukraine marks its independence day, here is a timeline of the main events in its political history since it won independence from the Russian-dominated Soviet Union in 1991 (it is also worth noting that the country we now call Ukraine was independent from Russia before the Soviet Union).
1991: The leader of the Soviet republic of Ukraine, Leonid Kravchuk, declares independence from Moscow. In a referendum and presidential election, Ukrainians overwhelmingly back independence and elect Mr Kravchuk president.
1994: Mr Kravchuk is replaced by Leonid Kuchma and Ukraine also agrees to relinquish its nuclear arsenal inherited from Soviet times – in return for security assurances.
2004: Pro-Russian candidate Viktor Yanukovich is declared president but allegations of vote-rigging trigger protests in what becomes known as the Orange Revolution, forcing a re-run of the vote. A pro-Western former prime minister, Viktor Yushchenko, is later elected president.
2005: Viktor Yanukovich takes power with promises to lead Ukraine out of the Kremlin’s orbit, towards NATO and the European Union.
2013: Mr Yanukovich’s government suspends trade and association talks with the EU in November and opts to revive economic ties with Moscow, triggering months of mass rallies in Kyiv. Mr Putin accuses the West of inciting and supporting the protests.
2014: The protests, largely focused around Kyiv’s Maidan Square, turn violent and dozens of protesters are killed. In February, the parliament votes to remove Mr Yanukovich, who flees.
Within days, armed men seize parliament in Crimea and raise the Russian flag. Moscow annexes the territory after a 16 March referendum which shows overwhelming support in Crimea for joining Russia.
April 2014: Pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region declare independence. Fighting breaks out and continues sporadically into 2022, despite frequent ceasefires.
July 2014: A missile brings down passenger plane MH17 over eastern Ukraine en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, killing all 298 people on board. Investigators trace back the weapon used to Russia, which denies involvement.
2017: President Petro Poroshenko, a pro-Western billionaire businessman in power since May 2014, clinches an association agreement with the EU on free trade of goods and services. Ukrainians also gain the right to visa-free travel to the EU.
2019: Former comic actor Volodymyr Zelenskyy defeats Mr Poroshenko in an April presidential election on promises to tackle endemic corruption and end the war in eastern Ukraine.
2021: Mr Zelenskyy appeals in January to US President Joe Biden to let Ukraine join NATO.
2022: Vladimir Putin signs agreements to recognise the breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent.
Russian troops then invade the country on 24 February.
Source; Skynews