Western Ukraine (Ukrainian: Західна Україна) makes up about a quarter of Ukraine and has the closest affinities with Central Europe of all Ukraine's regions.
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After the breakup of medieval Kievan Rus, today's Western Ukraine was ruled by the Principality or Kingdom of Galicia-Volhynia (centered on Halych and Volodymyr) from the 12th to the 14th century. The region was then conquered partly by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and partly by the Kingdom of Poland. Both united to form the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that included Western Ukraine until the Partitions of Poland in the late-18th century.
Subsequently, the Northwest (Volhynia) belonged to the Russian Empire, while the Southwest (Galicia, Bukovina and Transcarpathia) was part of Austria-Hungary and thus under a strongly Central European influence. After the end of World War I and the collapse of Austria-Hungary, the formerly Austro-Hungarian parts formed a short-lived West Ukrainian People's Republic before being reclaimed by now independent Poland. Western Ukraine suffered greatly during World War II under the terror of both Nazi Germany and the Stalinist Soviet Union while the nationalistic Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) fought against both empires but also committed murderous crimes against ethnic minorities such as Jews, Poles, Hungarians and Russians. Stepan Bandera, one of the most prominent leaders of the UPA, is venerated as a national hero in Ukraine, and you will often see statues of him in this region, but this veneration draws sharp criticism from neighbouring Poland.
The region was only reunited with the rest of Ukraine under Soviet rule after the War. During this era, the population of Western Ukraine maintained the strongest sense of a separate Ukrainian national identity and the use of Ukrainian language has been most vigorous. Ukrainian independence was most strongly advocated here, and symbols of Soviet rule were removed more quickly than in other regions. The vast majority of the Ukrainian diaspora in the United States and Canada also trace their ancestry to this region, and they continue to maintain strong cultural and familial ties.
While Eastern Ukraine became heavily industrialised during Soviet times, the West remained mostly agricultural. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the region benefited from increased trade with the European Union and developed new economic sectors. However, the GDP per capita is still lower than in the central and eastern regions.
Due to this chequered history, significant numbers of minority ethnic groups remain in this area, and many remnants of the Central European past of this region still to be seen in architecture, religious practices, languages, cuisine and politics. Unlike the rest of majority Eastern Orthodox Ukraine, the three oblasts of Galicia (Lviv, Ternopil and Ivano-Frankivsk) have a "Greek Catholic" majority. This means that they celebrate their services according to the Eastern (Byzantine) rite like Eastern Orthodox Christians, but recognize the Pope in Rome as their highest religious authority like Roman Catholics.
In the political conflicts of the 21st century, a solid majority of Western Ukrainians have favored stronger ties with the European Union and NATO. The Orange Revolution and Euromaidan parties had the highest support rates here. But far-right ultra-nationalists like the Svoboda ("Freedom") party also scored strongly in the region.
During the war with Russia since 2014, it has been the safest region in Ukraine. In the course of the 2022 Russian invasion, however, Western Ukrainian cities have been hit by missiles and air strikes.
Unlike in the South and East, Ukrainian is the sole language of everyday life in this region. While most can also speak and write in Russian well and the languages are closely related, many Western Ukrainians refuse to speak the language for political reasons, and some may even find it offensive to be addressed in Russian. Thus, learning a few basic phrases in Ukrainian will endear you yoo the locals. Most signs are only Ukrainian, and only a few also include Russian, something prevalent even as a Soviet province. Minority languages include Romanian, Hungarian, Polish, Slovak and German. Foreign languages (apart from Russian) are mainly English and German.
Ukrainian roads are bad, and Ukrainian drivers have an aggressive driving style. When you drive into Lviv, make sure you have a good map because getting lost in this town is very easy.
Pay close attention to speed limits (which are often badly marked, with signs far off the road, covered with branches etc.), but the speeding fines are usually low if nothing else is wrong with your car. In towns, the speed limit is usually 60 km/h (40 mph). Speed limits on "nationals" (single carriageway countryside roads) is 90 km/h (55 mph). The poor average quality of the roads already acts as a speed checker. The speed limit on highways (motorways) is 110–120 km/h (75 mph).
Corruption is widespread among Ukrainian police. When you are stopped for speeding or other violations, officers might aggressively try and extract ridiculous sums of money from you (€100 and up), offering "reductions" if you pay on the spot (the proposed alternative being some unpleasant and more expensive way, all made up).
The highest legal fine in the Ukraine is the equivalent of about US$200. But the fine should be paid in the bank, not directly to police officer! So if you're asked for fine demand a written ticket for you to pay later instead. Don't let them intimidate you. It's very useful to have an embassy phone number handy for these cases (you should not under any circumstances travel around Ukraine without your embassy/consulate number handy anyway). If you mention your embassy/consulate, they'll let you off the hook quicker than you know it. At any rate, write down the officers' badge numbers, rank, plate number of the police car, and notify the nearest embassy/consulate in detail, to help fight these corrupt practices.
Take a train to Przemyśl near the Polish-Ukrainian border. From Kraków it costs about ~50 zł and takes between 4 and 5 hr. From Przemyśl you take a bus or a local train to Medyka at the border ('granica' in Polish) for 2 zł. Private buses are found just outside of Przemyśl train station on the opposite side from the main bus station. They head to the border when they are full, which can take a while at night and travel to the border is about 15 minutes (about 10 km of rough road). The mini-buses drop you off at the footpath to the pedestrian crossing Medyka-ShehyniPrestatyn 📍, while Medyka train station is approx. 1 km away.
Pedestrian crossing: Queues at the border crossings can be unpredictable and hellish. If you do encounter a queue and are in a hurry, get the guards attention, explain your situation and they will more than likely let you go through immediately. Be polite! 30 minutes from Medyka to Sheheni (Шегині) on foot is now the norm.
There are lots of "ants" - these are people who cross into Poland with relatively cheap Ukrainian cigarettes and spirits, then buy meats and cheeses at low EU prices and return to Ukraine to sell them for a profit. Everyone has to pass through a turnstile and the bulky bags and suitcases they carry are too big to fit. There is a huge log jam of people trying to fit their bags through that turnstile and ugly words are common. Tourists with backpacks are sometimes let through by the "ants".
On the Ukraine side private buses can be taken to Lviv; these take about 1.5 hours, and can be found at the bus station around 300 m up the main road, past all the shops, on the first major road to your left. Right outside the border you will probably meet touts who will tell you that they have best prices and invite to their cars and buses, this option may be faster but is definitely more expensive. The price for a bus from the station is 24.5 грн (Apr 2013); the buses are often packed and can be uncomfortable at times. There are no ATMs in Sheheni. However, there are lots of money changers, so make sure you bring enough currency of some sort to pay for your ticket to L'viv.The bus from Shehyni will most likely arrive next to the main train station in Lviv.
The total cost for this route is approximately €15 and maybe less if you have a student card. It is around half the price of the next cheapest option. Whether to take it depends on your stress tolerance, Polish language skills and ability to push and shove at the border, but it's an adventure!
Best way to get around Carpathian part of Western Ukraine is to use trains or buses. Check the local train schedules (dead link: January 2023) and bus schedules, both only in Ukrainian.
See also: UNESCO World Heritage List#Ukraine
Two world heritages made up of several components have a sizable number of their sites in western Ukraine; the Beech Forests of Europe and the Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpatian Region. In addition three points of the Struve Geodetic Arc are to the west and south of Khmelnytskyi.
See also: Ukrainian national parks
Smuggling is a fact of life between Eastern Poland and Western Ukraine. The harsh economic situation in these two respective regions forces many into the trade, involving people of all ages. You may witness individuals unscrewing panels and pulling out plastic-wrapped cigarette cartons, and may even be asked to politely move to enable access to a hidden cavity. Similarly if you decide to use the toilet you may find it blocked with cartons of cigarettes and your seat may feel uncomfortable if someone's removed the soft filling and replaced it with cigarettes. The key here is to exercise your common sense. These people are only doing their 'job' and thus should be treated with respect. There is no need for alarm! In fact it can be fascinating watching just how many cigarettes a single train carriage can hold and later watching as everything is removed on arrival in the EU. Border guards may ask you if anyone has been smuggling but the best response is to claim that you were sleeping or pretend not to understand.
You are legally allowed to bring through the EU border 40 cigarettes (two packs) or 20 cigarillos or 10 cigars or 50 g of smoking tobacco and 1 l of spirits (above 22% alcohol) or 2 l of alcohol (e.g. sparkling wine below 22% alcohol) and 4 l of non-sparkling wine and 16 l of beer. If you are below 17 years old it's half of these amounts.