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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. 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 (Rada) elections and to become prime minister in August of 2006, and to be elected president in February 2010. 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 departure to
Russia. An interim government under Acting President Oleksandr TURCHYNOV has scheduled new presidential elections for 25 May
2014. On 1 March 2014, one week after the overthrow in Kyiv, Russian President PUTIN ordered the invasion of Ukraine's Crimean
Peninsula claiming the action was to protect ethnic Russians living there. On 16 March 2014, a "referendum" was held regarding the
integration of Crimea into the Russian Federation. The "referendum" was condemned as illegitimate by the Ukrainian Government, the
EU, the US, and the UN General Assembly. Russian forces now occupy Crimea and Russian authorities claim it as Russian territory. The
Ukrainian Government asserts that Crimea remains part of Ukraine