Chernihiv is an ancient Slavic city. In the 9th century the settlement was the center of Eastern-Slavic tribe of the Northerners. At the end of the 9th century, Chernihiv joined the Kievan Rus state.

Present day Chernihiv, with the population about 300.000, is an important industrial center of Ukraine. The city has a number of sights mostly related to its past – churches of the 11th-13th centuries, architectural monuments of the 17th-20th centuries.

Tags: Chernihiv city · time-lapse

Sevastopol, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimean peninsula, is a city of national importance of Ukraine, Hero City.

Founded by the order of the Russian Empress Catherine II in 1783, the city is one of the primary administrative units of present Ukraine (along with the 24 provinces, Autonomous Republic of Crimea, and the state capital – Kiev).

The city is a major seaport, industrial, scientific, recreational, cultural, and historical center of Ukraine. Naval bases of the Russian Black Sea Fleet and the Ukrainian Navy are located there.

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Mariupol, with a population of half a million, is one of the 10 largest cities in Ukraine. Because of the stable operation of steel plants, the city constantly deals with various environmental problems.

Currently Mariupol is the first city in terms of air pollution from stationary sources in Ukraine and Europe. Quite frankly it is a very dubious achievement.

Dust and gas emissions form heavy dark purple haze containing impurities in concentrations many times greater than the maximum allowable level. And here is how it looks in reality. The video was shot October 12, 2012.

Tags: Mariupol city

Kharkiv (Ukrainian spelling Kharkiv) is the largest city in eastern Ukraine, the capital of the Kharkiv region. It is the second largest city in Ukraine; main scientific, industrial, transport, and student center.

The great destruction of the Second World War made it possible for contemporary Kharkov to be rebuilt as a city of broad streets, large apartment blocks, imposing, often ponderous administrative and office buildings, and large industrial plants.

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Lutsk is one of the oldest cities in Ukraine. The first written mention of the city dates back to 1085. Today Lutsk with population of about 213 thousand inhabitants is the capital of Volyn region.

The city has a lot of architectural sights – churches and monasteries of the 13th-18th centuries, the 14th-century castle and others. The following short video shows some of them as well as other places of interest in Lutsk.

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Dnepropetrovsk (Ukrainian spelling Dnipropetrovsk) is the fourth largest city in Ukraine (population about 1 million). The city is an administrative center of Dnepropetrovsk oblast located in the south-central part of Ukraine.

Dnepropetrovsk is one of the largest industrial, economic and transport centers, the center of metallurgy and space capital of Ukraine. Also informally the city is a business capital of the country. Dnepropetrovsk has a number of beautiful churches, museums, monuments, boulevards, and other sights.

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ISU-152 is Soviet heavy 152 millimeter self-propelled gun of the Second World War. The gun was developed in June – October 1943, mass production continued until 1946. The slang name of ISU-152 is “Zveroboi” (“Beastslayer”). In Wehrmacht it was called “Dosenöffner” (“the can opener”).

In the postwar period ISU-152 were modernized and being operated by the Soviet army until the mid-1970s.

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Tags: Chernigov oblast · tanks

August 24, Ukraine celebrated its Independence Day. 21 years ago, the Supreme Council of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic adopted the Act of Independence of Ukraine, which is considered to be the date of formation of the Ukrainian state in its present form.

This day many Ukrainian cities have different celebrations including fireworks. The main firework is held on Independence Square in Kiev.

Tags: Kiev city

This is what happens to the inhabitants of the river just after a few decades, if the river is not disturbed by people, and perhaps due to the excessive radiation.

The Earth without man would have been quite a busy place, and the Chernobyl zone as a whole, and in particular the Pripyat River, is an interesting object for such studies.

Tags: Chernobyl · Pripyat city

Beautiful music played by the folk instruments orchestra of Kamenets-Podolskiy National University named after Ivan Ogienko.

Tags: Kamenets Podolskiy city