Ukraine is a former Soviet state and borders the Black Sea, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova. Ukraine is the second largest country in Europe. The capital is Kiev (Kyiv). Just north of the capital lies where in 1986 the Chernobyl nuclear disaster took place. There major rivers flowing through the land (or Dnipro the Dnieper, Dniester or Dnister and the Donets).