In this Ukrainian lesson, we continue to talk about the history of Soviet Ukraine – from the end of the Second World War till the Chornobyl disaster. Learn about Ukrainian history and practice your Ukrainian language with ULP!

In this Ukrainian Lesson, you will:

  • listen to my introduction about День перемоги;
  • listen the chapter #8 about the history of Soviet Ukraine;
  • relisten by smaller parts with my explanations and comprehension questions
  • try to solve a short quiz;
  • learn more about Chornobyl nowadays.

> Article and video about самосели – people who live in the Chornobyl area now

Study these important terms before listening to the episode:

  • Микита Хрущов was a Soviet statesman who led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964.
  • Шістдесятники – The Sixtiers were representatives of а new generation of the Soviet Intelligentsia, most of whom were born between 1925 and 1945 and entered the culture and politics of the USSR during the late 1950s and 1960s. Their worldviews were formed by years of Stalin’s repressions and purges, which affected many of the Sixtiers immediate families, and World War II, where many of them had volunteered to fight.
  • Рух дисидентів – The Dissident Movement were people who disagreed with certain features in the embodiment of Soviet ideology and who were willing to speak out against them. The term дисидент was used in the Soviet Union in the period following Joseph Stalin’s death until the fall of communism.
  • Леонід Брєжнєв was a Soviet politician who led the Soviet Union from 1964 to 1982 as the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, presiding over the country until his death and funeral in 1982.
  • Василь Стус was a Ukrainian poet, translator, literary critic, journalist, and an active member of the Ukrainian dissident movement.
  • Українська Гельсінська група – The Ukrainian Helsinki Group was founded on November 9, 1976, as the “Ukrainian Public Group to Promote the Implementation of the Helsinki Accords on Human Rights” to monitor human rights in Ukraine.
  • Михайло Горбачов was the eighth and last leader of the Soviet Union, having been General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991.
  • Перебудоваwas a political movement for reformation within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during the 1980s until 1991, widely associated with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and his glasnost policy reform.
  • Політикагласності – the policy popularized by Mikhail Gorbachev as a political slogan for increased government transparency in the Soviet Union.
  • Припять is a town in northern Ukraine, near the Ukraine-Belarus border, where the Chornobyl power plant is located.
  • Чорнобильська атомна електростанція – The Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant is a decommissioned nuclear power station. Its Reactor No. 4 was the site of the Chornobyl disaster in 1986.

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Transcript, Vocabulary List, and Flashcards!

Become a premium member to get access to all the useful lesson notes! The PDF includes:
  • Full transcript & translation of all the introduction and the lecture in history;
  • Encyclopedia: important historical terms explained;
  • Exercises: fill-in the blanks, multiple choice comprehension test, vocabulary exercise to practice the new vocabulary;
  • Vocabulary List: new words from the episode in a chart with English translation.

As a premium member, you also get access to:

  • The lesson notes of the episodes you subscribe to;
  • Private Community on Facebook for the free practice of Ukrainian;
  • Digital flashcards with all the new words every 10 episodes!