Events in the year 2020 in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Incumbents

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Oleksiy Honcharuk Oleksiy Valeriyovych Honcharuk (, ; born 7 July 1984) is a Ukrainian politician. He served as the Prime Minister of Ukraine from 29 August 2019 to 4 March 2020 following a 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election, landslide parliamentary election ...

(until 4 March), Denys Shmygal (from 4 March)

Events

Ongoing –

COVID-19 pandemic in Ukraine Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

(

War in Donbas The war in Donbas, or the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. The war Timeline of the war in Donbas (2014), began in April 2014, when Russian separatist forces in Ukraine, Russian para ...

)

January

*8 January –

Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 (PS752/AUI752) was a scheduled international passenger flight from Tehran to Kyiv, operated by Ukraine International Airlines. On 8January 2020, the Boeing 737-800 flying the route was shot down by the ...

, a scheduled international passenger flight from

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, was shot down shortly after takeoff from

Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport () is the international airport of Tehran, the capital of Iran. It is located 2 kilometers (1 mi) of Vahnabad and southwest of Tehran and is named for Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran's first supreme lead ...

by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp, killing all 176 passengers and crew on board.

February

* 8 & 15 February – Ukraine was originally planned to participate in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2020 The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was planned to be the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It would have taken place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, following the country's victory at the with the song " Arcade" by Duncan Laurence. This w ...

, after a year break, but the contest was cancelled. *18 February – Russian-backed separatists launched an attack near

Krymske, Novoaidar Raion Krymske (; ) is a village in Sievierodonetsk Raion (district) in Luhansk Oblast of eastern Ukraine, at about 50 km NW from the centre of Luhansk city. The village is situated on the right bank of the Siverskyi Donets. It belongs to Hirske ...

Luhansk Oblast Luhansk Oblast (; ), also referred to as Luhanshchyna (), is the easternmost Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Luhansk. The oblast was established in 1938 and bore the n ...

, attempting to overrun an entrenched Ukrainian position. The attack, the first of its kind in two years, killed one Ukrainian soldier and injured four others.

April

*6 April – A series of wildfires began burning inside

Chernobyl Exclusion Zone The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Zone of Alienation, also called the 30-Kilometre Zone or simply The Zone, was established shortly after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union. Initially, Soviet authorities declar ...

. The fires were largely extinguished within two weeks and at least one suspect was arrested in connection with the event.

July

* 21 July – A hostage situation took place in

Lutsk Lutsk (, ; see #Names and etymology, below for other names) is a city on the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Volyn Oblast and the administrative center of Lutsk Raion within the oblast. Lutsk has a populati ...

Volyn Oblast Volyn Oblast () or simply Volyn (), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in northwestern Ukraine. It borders Rivne Oblast to the east, Lviv Oblast to the south, Poland to the west and Belarus to the north. Its Capital city ...

when Maksym Kryvosh seized a BAZ A079 bus and barricaded himself and 13 passengers inside at the Teatralna Square. The crisis was eventually resolved with the release of the hostages and Kryvosh's arrest.

December

* 17 December – Mayor

Hennadiy Kernes Hennadiy Adolfovych Kernes (27 June 1959 – 16 December 2020) was a Ukrainian politician who was the 5th mayor of Kharkiv from 24 November 2010 until his death on 16 December 2020.

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

dies in Germany due to complications caused by

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

after contracting the virus in September. * 24 December – The country surpasses one million cases of COVID-19.

Deaths

January

*1 January –

Aleksandr Manachinsky Oleksandr Fyodorovich Manachynskyi (, ; 2 September 1958 – 1 January 2020) was a Ukrainian swimmer. He competed at the 1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially ...

, swimmer (b. 1958). *30 January –

Vitaliy Boiko Vitaliy Fedorovych Boiko (; 30 September 1937 – 30 January 2020

Valentyna Shevchenko, politician (b. 1935). *4 February –

Volodymyr Inozemtsev Volodymyr Inozemtsev (; 25 May 1964 – 4 February 2020) was a triple jumper from Ukraine. Career He set the current Ukrainian record in the event (17.90 m) on 20 June 1990 at a meet in Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungaria ...

, triple jumper (b. 1964). *15 February – Mykola Bondar, figure skater (b. 1990). *28 February –

Gennady Kuzmin Gennady Pavlovich Kuzmin (, ; January 19, 1946 – February 28, 2020) was a Ukrainian chess player and trainer. He reached his peak strength in the early to mid-1970s and in 1973, was awarded the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE, the ...

, chess player (b. 1946).

March

*6 March –

Stanislav Bogdanovich Stanislav Eduardovich Bogdanovich (4 February 1993 – 5 March 2020) was a Ukraine, Ukrainian chess player who also competed for Russia. Early life Bogdanovich graduated from the National University Odesa Law Academy. Chess career * Silver ...

, chess player (b. 1993).

April

* 27 April – Pavlyna Shapovalenko, milking machine operator (b. 1949).

June

* 16 June – Lyudmyla Lyatetska, paediatrician (b. 1941).

July

*30 July – Oksana Voronina, actress (b. 1967).

December

* 29 December –

Yevheniia Kucherenko Yevheniia Markiianivna Kucherenko (; 27 December 1922 – 29 December 2020) was a Soviet Ukrainian pedagogue of the Ukrainian language and literature at the No. 74 Lviv Secondary Comprehensive School in the village of Rudne for 49 years until he ...

, pedagogue (b. 1922).

References

{{Year in Europe, 2020

2020s in Ukraine Years of the 21st century in Ukraine