Ukraine

Ukraine is a republic in southeastern Europe. Although once the center of a powerful empire from the 9th century into the 12 century, for much of modern history, Ukraine has been absorbed or partitioned by its neighbors, most importantly Russia. After World War I led to the Russian Revolution, Ukraine was a founding republic of the Soviet Union. Although it retained nominal self-governance, it was under the direct control of Moscow. During the 1930s, Joseph Stalin had many Ukrainians killed in reprisal for an uprising, and ten years later the Nazis killed many more Ukrainians. Ukraine regained its independence with the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991.

Ukraine in Curious Notions
In an alternate where Germany won World War I, Ukraine was a puppet kingdom established by Germany to punish the vanquished Russia.

Ukraine in The Disunited States of America
Ukraine was one of the world's great powers.

Ukraine in In the Presence of Mine Enemies
Ukraine was part of the Greater German Reich. During World War II, the Reich committed genocide against the Slavic Ukrainians. The remaining handful of Ukrainians were enslaved by the Reich while the Ukraine was made part of the Ostlands and was settled by Germans.

Ukraine in "The Phantom Tolbukhin"
Ukraine was completely occupied by Germany in 1947. Soviet General Fedor Tolbukhin led a guerrilla resistance against the Germans, earning himself the nickname "The Phantom". Ukrainian political officer Nikita Khrushchev was one of Tolbukhin's men.

Ukraine in "Ready for the Fatherland"
It was in the Ukraine in 1943 that German Field Marshall Erich von Manstein lost his cool and impulsively killed Fuhrer Adolf Hitler during a war council. With Hitler dead, Manstein and the new ruling council signed a peace treaty with the Soviet Union. One of the terms partitioned Ukraine between the two powers, a situation which remained in effect in 1979.

Ukraine in Southern Victory
Formerly a Russian province, Ukraine was taken from Russia by Germany at the end of the Great War. It was subject to a brutal German occupation during the confusion of the Russian Civil War. With the outbreak of the Second Great War, Ukraine became a major battlefield. Though nominally allied with the Central Powers, the Ukrainians' allegiances were divided, and during 1942-43 the country was ravaged by partisan bands aligned with one side or the other.

By the end of 1943, Germany had successfully liberated Ukraine from Russian forces.

Ukraine in Supervolcano
Some six years after the eruption of the Yellowstone Supervolcano, Russia, suffering from harsh winters and a complete failure of agriculture, invaded both Ukraine and Kazakhstan, which were somewhat better off. The Russians used the fact that both countries had historically been under Russian rule as a thin casus belli. Both countries reached out to NATO, but the response was limited at best. The U.S. Secretary of State expressed disapproval of the invasion. Russia effectively told the USA that the invasion was none of its business.

The invasion did not go as hoped. In addition to the cost on the ground, Kazakh special forces were able to infiltrate Russia and blow-up two nuclear power plants. While the explosions did not cause a meltdown on the level of Chernobyl, they did raise the background radiation.

Within time, the war became completely bogged down.

Ukraine in Worldwar
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was one of the republics making up the Soviet Union. During World War II, German forces had stirred up a Ukrainian separatist movement, and over twenty years after the Race Invasion of Tosev 3, the movement was still active, committing acts of violence against Soviet officials and agencies. The rebels were still supported by Germany, which smuggled weapons to them via Romania, as well as by the Race, which smuggled weapons across the Polish border. Nikita Khrushchev was General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Ukrainian SSR and its chief political executive official. One of the first human victories during the original 1942 invasion occurred in Chernobyl, where the German artillery battery Dora destroyed two Race starships and, unknowingly, half of the Conquest Fleet's nuclear stockpile.