Ukraine Crisis
Ukraine needs supplies from Russia
By: Ethan Brown
1917 - Central Rada (Council) set up in Kiev following collapse of Russian Empire.
1918 - Ukraine declares independence: Ukrainian People's Republic set up. Numerous rival governments vie for control for some or all of Ukraine during ensuing civil war.
1921 - Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic established as Russian Red Army conquers two-thirds of Ukraine. Western third becomes part of independent Poland.
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 conclusive Soviet annexation of western Ukrainian lands.
1954 - In a surprise move, Soviet leader Nikita Krushchev transfers the Crimean peninsula to Ukraine as a "gift".
Armed resistance to Soviet rule ends with capture of last commander 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.
Orange-clad opposition supporters took to Kiev's streets and forced a change of government
Independants
1991 - Ukraine declares independence following attempted coup in Moscow: 90% vote for independence in nationwide referendum in December.
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.
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. Mr Yushchenko was respected in the West for fighting corruption, pushing ahead with economic reforms and working to attract investment, but was unpopular with 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.
2002 March - General election results in hung parliament. Parties opposed to President Kuchma allege widespread electoral fraud.
2002 May - Leadership announces decision to launch formal bid to join Nato.
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.
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 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.
Viktor Yushchenko spearheaded the Orange Revolution but disappointed in office
Orange Revolution
2004 November - Official count indicates presidential election victory for Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. Western and other independent observers report widespread vote rigging. Opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko launches campaign of mass 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 - 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.
2005 September - President Yushchenko dismisses the government of Yulia Tymoshenko. Parliament approves Yuri Yekhanurov as her successor.
2005 October - Krivorizhstal reauctioned. Mittal Steel pays six times the price paid for it when it was originally put up for sale.
Months of at times violent protests culminated in the collapse of the Yanukovych government in 2014
New Revolution
2013 November - Tens of thousands of protesters take to the streets of central Kiev and other cities to protest at the government's sudden decision to abandon plans to sign an association agreement with the EU. They accuse the government of bowing to Russian pressure, as well as being corrupt and unaccountable.
2013 December - Anti-government protests continue. After talks between President Yanukovych and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin, it is announced that Russia has agreed to slash the price of gas supplied to Ukraine and lend $15bn (£9.2bn, 11bn euros). Prime Minister Mykola Azarov says the aid is needed to help avoid bankruptcy.
2014 February - After months of failed efforts at compromise, the Kiev protests see their deadliest week. At least 77 people die and police are accused of using live ammunition. The EU imposes targeted sanctions, protesters storm government offices in the east, officials begin deserting the ruling party.
Under an EU- and Russian-mediated deal, President Yanukovych concedes early elections, but soon after flees the capital, and the opposition takes control. Former PM Yulia Tymoshenko is freed and parliament elects her long-time ally Olexander Turchynov as interim president. Russia condemns the new takeover as a mutiny.
Pro-Russian gunmen seize key buildings in Crimean capital Simferopol. Unidentified gunmen in combat uniforms appear outside Crimea's main airports and Ukrainian military installations, sparking fears of Russian military intervention.
2014 March - Russian parliament approves President Vladimir Putin's request to use Russian forces in Ukraine. The Ukrainian army adopts a state of alert. Ukraine's interim prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk accuses Russia of declaring war.
President Putin denies Russia has sent troops into Crimea and insists that the gunmen besieging Ukrainian military installations in Crimea are self-defence forces.
Crimea votes to join Russia in a referendum deemed illegal by Ukaine and the West. Moscow moves to annex Crimea. Ukraine says it will never accept the move.
The prospect of Crimea seceding from Ukraine sparks the biggest East-West showdown since the Cold War, with the US and its European allies imposing sanctions.