Towering over his fellow protest leaders, reigning world heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko has emerged as Ukraine's most popular opposition figure and has ambitions to become its next president.

A protest by about 300,000 Ukrainians angered by their government's decision to freeze integration with the West turned violent when a group of demonstrators besieged the president's office and police drove them back with truncheons.

European Union leaders sought to revive a stalled agreement with Ukraine after the former Soviet republic shocked the 28-country bloc last week by opting for closer ties with Russia in a geopolitical tug-of-war.

Birdsong and plant life belie the radioactivity that remains 30 years after Chernobyl meltdown, writes David Brown.

Ukraine has reportedly agreed a deal with a Chinese company to lease 5 per cent of its land to feed China's burgeoning population.

The western Ukrainian city of Lviv provides a glimpse of what Krakow, Budapest, Prague and Vienna were like 25 years ago - before they became Central European tourist hot spots.

Two days in chilly Ukraine warm the tastebuds of Michael McKerrow.

A woman who fled the biggest nuclear power disaster in history says the Christchurch earthquakes have been far more terrifying.

As nuclear fears rise around the world, Robin McKiere visits the scene of Ukraine's 1986 explosion.

A radio station's controversial 'win a wife' competition is going ahead - with a tongue-in-cheek name change - despite allegations it devalues marriage and violates human dignity.

A radio promotion offering the chance to win a 'hot' wife from Ukraine has offended New Zealand immigrants from the eastern European country.

A Facebook group aiming stop a controversial "win a wife" radio competition is asking companies to pull advertising from the station.

Watch this video - filmed by a tourist - of two lions attacking their trainer in front of horrified onlookers at a circus in the Ukraine.

Following fast on the declaration of additional help for Hungary, Ukraine has announced that it too will apply for fresh funding; a loan of US$14.9 billion ($21.5 billion) to help plug the country's budget deficit and boost investor confide