Timeline: Ukraine

A chronology of key events

1917 - Central Rada (Council) set up in Kiev following collapse of Russian Empire.

Kiev: The capital has a long and turbulent history Population: 2.6 million Founded in 6th-7th century AD Capital of first East Slavic state by 9th century 1941-43: Occupied by German forces 2007: Kiev becomes latest property hotspot

1918 - Ukraine declares independence: Ukrainian People's Republic set up.

1921 - Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic established.

1932 - Approximately 7 million peasants perish in man-made famine during Stalin's collectivisation campaign.

1937 - Mass executions and deportations as Stalin launches purge against intellectuals.

1941 - Ukraine suffers terrible wartime devastation as Nazis occupy the country until 1944. More than 5 million Ukrainians die fighting Nazi Germany. Most of Ukraine's 1.5 million Jews wiped out by the Nazis.

1944 - Stalin deports 200,000 Crimean Tatars to Siberia and Central Asia following accusations of collaboration with Nazi Germany.

1945 - Allied victory in World War II leads to Soviet annexation of western Ukrainian lands.

Orthodox faith has some 10 million followers in Ukraine 2004: Churches split in Ukraine crisis

1954 - Armed resistance to Soviet rule ends with defeat of Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).

1960s - Increase in covert opposition to Soviet rule, leading to repression of dissidents in 1972.

1986 - A reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power station explodes, sending a radioactive plume across Europe. Desperate efforts are made to contain the damaged reactor within a huge concrete cover. Many armed forces personnel die of radiation sickness.

1988 - Prominent writers and intellectuals set up Ukrainian People's Movement for Restructuring (Rukh).

1990 - Student protests and hunger strikes bring down government of Vitaliy Masol.

Independence

1991 - Ukraine declares independence following attempted coup in Moscow: 90% vote for independence in nationwide referendum in December.

NUCLEAR DISASTER Chernobyl blast released a radioactive cloud over Europe On This Day 1986: Soviets admit nuclear accident Chernobyl - 20 years on Pripyat - City of the Future - visit to a ghost town

early to mid 1990s - About 250,000 Crimean Tatars and their descendants return to Crimea following collapse of Soviet Union.

1994 - Presidential elections: Leonid Kuchma succeeds Leonid Kravchuk.

1996 - New, democratic constitution adopted. New currency, the hryvna, introduced.

1997 - Friendship treaty signed with Russia. Ukraine and Russia also reach agreement on the Black Sea fleet.

1999 - Death penalty abolished. Nationalist leader Vyacheslav Chornovil killed in car crash. President Kuchma re-elected.

2000 - Chernobyl nuclear power plant is shut down, 14 years after the accident. Well over ten thousand people have died as a direct result of the explosion, the health of millions more has been affected.

Journalist Georgiy Gongadze was murdered in 2000 2004: Ukraine remembers slain reporter 2006: Key Ukraine murder trial begins

2001 February - The European Union calls for an inquiry into the murder of investigative journalist Georgiy Gongadze. Opposition demonstrations allege that President Kuchma was involved and call for his impeachment. President Kuchma denies the allegations.

2001 April - Viktor Yushchenko government dismissed following no-confidence vote in parliament. Yushchenko was respected in the West for fighting corruption, pushing ahead with economic reforms and working to attract investment but unpopular with numerous powerful Ukrainian businessmen.

2001 June - Pope John Paul II makes first visit to Ukraine amid protests by Orthodox Christians in Ukraine and Russia against the visit.

2001 October - Ukrainian military accidentally shoot down Russian air liner over the Black Sea, killing all 78 on board. Defence Minister Olexander Kuzmuk resigns.

2001 October - Ukraine's last Soviet-era nuclear missile silo destroyed.

2002 March - General election results in hung parliament. Parties opposed to President Kuchma allege widespread electoral fraud.

Saint-Sophia Cathedral: A Byzantine landmark in Kiev

2002 May - Leadership announces decision to launch formal bid to join Nato.

2002 July - More than 80 killed and 100 injured when military aircraft crashes into spectators at air show in western Ukraine. Disaster leads to sacking of air force chief Viktor Strelnykov.

2002 September - Opposition stages mass protests demanding resignation of President Kuchma whom they accuse of corruption and misrule.

Relations with the West are strained after US officials authenticate recordings in which they say Kuchma is heard to approve the sale of early-warning radar systems to Iraq. On the same tapes, recorded over two years previously, Kuchma is also allegedly heard ordering an official to "deal with" journalist Georgiy Gongadze.

2002 November - President Kuchma sacks Prime Minister Kinakh. Viktor Yanukovych, governor of Donetsk region, appointed to replace him. He promises to fight poverty and work for integration into Europe.

2003 March - Tens of thousands of people join Kiev demonstrations demanding that Kuchma resign.

2003 October - Border dispute erupts with Moscow after Russia embarks on building causeway across the Kerch Strait between Russian coast and Ukrainian island of Tuzla off Crimean shores. The strait also separates the Black Sea from the Azov Sea.

Leonid Kuchma's rule was tainted by scandal, corruption charges 2004: Kuchma scrambles to secure future 2005: Ukraine trims Kuchma privileges

2003 December - Presidents Kuchma and Putin meet in Crimea, sign agreement on joint use of Kerch Strait and status of Azov Sea in apparent move to defuse border dispute, although Kremlin denies that Tuzla featured in discussions.

2004 May - Five killed when fire breaks out at ammunition dump in south of country, sparking days of explosions and causing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of damage to surrounding area.

2004 June - Consortium in which President Kuchma's son-in-law Viktor Pinchuk plays key role buys Krivorizhstal, the country's largest steel mill, for a bargain price.

2004 July - Underground gas explosion kills more than 30 coal miners.

2004 August - Ukraine ignores protests from EU and Romania by opening canal in the Danube delta which will link with Black Sea, rejecting claims that it will cause environmental damage.

"Orange Revolution"

Orange-clad opposition supporters took to Kiev's streets Timeline: Battle for Ukraine 2004: In pictures - Yushchenko's triumph

2004 November - Official count indicates presidential election victory for Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. Western observers report widespread vote rigging. Opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko launches campaign of street protest and civil disobedience. Supreme Court later annuls result of poll.

2004 December - Opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko tops poll in election re-run. Rival candidate Viktor Yanukovych challenges result but resigns as prime minister.

2005 January - Eight Ukrainian peacekeepers killed in incident in Iraq.

Viktor Yushchenko sworn in as president after Supreme Court rejects challenge by losing candidate Mr Yanukovych.

2005 February - President's nominee Yulia Tymoshenko overwhelmingly approved as prime minister by parliament.

2005 Februrary - Court annuls June 2004 sale of Krivorizhstal.

2005 March - President Yushchenko announces that suspected killers of journalist Georgiy Gongadze are in custody. He also accuses the former authorities of a cover-up.

Former Interior Minister Kravchenko, who had been due to give evidence in Gongadze investigation, shot dead in apparent suicide.

Tymoshenko sacked

A row with Russia over gas prices disrupted supplies 2006: Q&A - Ukraine gas row

2005

September - Oleksandr Zinchenko resigns as President Yushchenko's chief of staff and makes corruption allegations against several senior officials.

The president dismisses the government of Yulia Tymoshenko.

Parliament approves Mr Yushchenko's candidate for the premiership, Yuri Yekhanurov, at the second attempt.

2005 October - Krivorizhstal reauctioned. Mittal Steel pays six times the price paid for it when it was originally put up for sale.

Gas price row

2006 January - Russia briefly cuts supply of gas for Ukrainian use in row over prices. Moscow says its reasons are purely economic but Kiev says they are political.

Previously agreed changes to constitution shift some significant powers from the president to parliament.

Rivals: Yulia Tymoshenko (left) and Viktor Yanukovych 2006: Ukraine's future looks less orange Profile: Yulia Tymoshenko Profile: Viktor Yanukovych

Concerns that the deal ending the gas dispute had yielded too much to Russia lead parliament to pass a vote sacking the government of Yuri Yekhanurov. The government carries on for the time being.

The trial of three former policemen charged with killing opposition journalist Georgiy Gongadze begins in Kiev. His widow says that those who ordered the killing must also face justice.

2006 March - Viktor Yanukovych's party tops polls in parliamentary elections. Yuliya Tymoshenko's takes second place, leaving President Yushchenko's trailing in third.

Political wrangles

2006 June-July - After months of bargaining, the backers of the Orange Revolution - the Yushchenko and Tymoshenko blocs and the Socialists - agree on a coalition, but the deal collapses. The Socialists opt instead for a coalition with Viktor Yanukovych's Party of Regions and the Communists. Coalition nominates Mr Yanukovych as prime minister.

2006 August - Faced with a deadline to accept Viktor Yanukovych's nomination or call new elections, President Yushchenko agrees that his rival can become prime minister.

2007 February - Boris Tarasyuk, a close ally of the president and a strong advocate of strong ties with Europe and Nato, resigns as foreign minister after a protracted row with parliament.

2007 March - Political crisis deepens as the president and prime minister vie for power. Both sides hold rival rallies in Kiev.

2007 April - President Yushchenko dissolves parliament and calls a snap election after talks with parliamentary leaders fail to resolve a long-running power struggle with pro-Russian Prime Minister Yanukovych.

2007 September - Parliamentary elections. No clear winner emerges, although pro-Russian parties gain a narrow majority.

Tymoshenko back

2007 December - Yulia Tymoshenko is appointed prime minister, in coalition with President Yushchenko's party.

2008 March - Russia's state-owned company, Gazprom, agrees new contract to supply Ukraine's industrial consumers directly, ending row over gas supply.

2008 April - Nato decides not to offer Ukraine membership but says decision to be reviewed in December.

2008 May - MPs from Prime Minister Tymoshenko's party block President Yushchenko from making his annual address to parliament in protest against his veto on government economic policies.

Tymoshenko government loses majority after two MPs quit the coalition, leaving it dependent on the vote of one independent MP.

2008 June - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warns Ukraine of "serious consequences" if it joined Nato, adding it would be a breach of their friendship treaty.

2008 September - Coalition government collapses amid deep differences between President Yuschchenko and PM Yulia Tymoshenko over how to respond to Russia's use of military force in Georgia.

Economic woes

2008 October - President Yushchenko dissolves parliament, paving the way for early elections.

Global financial crisis leads to decline in demand for steel, causing price of one of the country's main exports to collapse. Value of Ukrainian currency falls sharply and investors pull out.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) offers Ukraine a loan of $16.5bn (£10.4bn) to help it weather the storm.

2008 December - The parties of President Yushchenko and Prime Minister Tymoshenko agree to cancel early parliamentary elections and re-form their coalition government.

2009 January - Russia stops all gas supplies to Ukraine after collapse of talks to end row over unpaid bills and prices, leading to shortages in southeast Europe. Supplies are restored a week later when Ukraine and Russia sign a 10-year deal on gas transit.

2009 April - Parliament votes to hold presidential elections on 25 October, ending months of uncertainty over the date.