Editing Ukraine (section)

=== Post–war Soviet Ukraine ===
{{Further|Anti-Soviet resistance by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army|Chernobyl disaster}}
{{see also|History of the Soviet Union (1953–1964)|History of the Soviet Union (1964–1982)|History of the Soviet Union (1982–1991)}}
[[File:Khrushchev and Brezhnev.jpg|upright|thumb|Two future leaders of the [[Soviet Union]], [[Nikita Khrushchev]] (left, pre-war [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|CPSU]] chief in Ukraine) and [[Leonid Brezhnev]] (an engineer from [[Kamianske]], Ukraine)]]

The republic was heavily damaged by the war, and it required significant efforts to recover. More than 700 cities and towns and 28,000 villages were destroyed.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30082/Ukraine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929133150/https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30082/Ukraine |archive-date=29 September 2007 |title=Ukraine: World War II and its aftermath |access-date=12 September 2007 |website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] (fee required) |url-status=dead}}</ref> The situation was worsened by a [[famine]] in 1946–1947, which was caused by a drought and the wartime destruction of infrastructure, killing at least tens of thousands of people.<ref name="dt-kul-dem-los"/> In 1945, the Ukrainian SSR became one of the founding members of the [[United Nations]] (UN),<ref name="un ukssr">{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/depts/dhl/unms/ukraine.shtml |title=Activities of the Member States – Ukraine |date=28 September 2009 |access-date=17 January 2011 |publisher=United Nations}}</ref> part of a special agreement at the [[Yalta Conference]], and, alongside Belarus, had voting rights in the UN even though they were not independent.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/wwii/17604.htm |title=United Nations |publisher=U.S. Department of State |quote=Voting procedures and the veto power of permanent members of the Security Council were finalized at the [[Yalta Conference]] in 1945 when Roosevelt and Stalin agreed that the veto would not prevent discussions by the Security Council. Roosevelt agreed to General Assembly membership for Ukraine and Byelorussia while reserving the right, which was never exercised, to seek two more votes for the United States. |access-date=22 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=United Nations |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/wwii/17604.htm |access-date=2014-09-22 |publisher=U.S. Department of State |quote=Voting procedures and the veto power of permanent members of the Security Council were finalized at the Yalta Conference in 1945 when Roosevelt and Stalin agreed that the veto would not prevent discussions by the Security Council. In April 1945, new U.S. President Truman agreed to General Assembly membership for Ukraine and Byelorussia while reserving the right, which was never exercised, to seek two more votes for the United States.}}</ref> Moreover, Ukraine once more expanded its borders as it annexed [[Zakarpattia Oblast|Zakarpattia]], and the population became much more homogenised due to post-war population transfers, most of which, as in the case of [[Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950)|Germans]] and [[Deportation of the Crimean Tatars|Crimean Tatars]], were forced. As of 1 January 1953, Ukrainians were second only to Russians among adult "[[Forced settlements in the Soviet Union|special deportees]]", comprising 20% of the total.<ref name="Malynovska">{{cite web |url=http://www.niisp.org.ua/defa~177.php |title=Migration and migration policy in Ukraine |first=Olena |last=Malynovska |date=14 June 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130923061703/http://niisp.org.ua/defa~177.php |archive-date=23 September 2013}}</ref>

Following the death of Stalin in 1953, [[Nikita Khrushchev]] became the new leader of the USSR, who began the policies of [[De-Stalinization|de-stalinisation]] and the [[Khrushchev Thaw]]. During his term as head of the Soviet Union, [[Crimean Oblast|Crimea]] was [[1954 transfer of Crimea|transferred]] from the [[Russian SFSR]] to the [[Ukrainian SSR]], formally as a friendship gift to Ukraine and for economic reasons.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iccrimea.org/historical/crimeatransfer.html |title=The Transfer of Crimea to Ukraine |access-date=25 March 2007 |date=July 2005 |publisher=International Committee for Crimea}}</ref> This represented the final extension of Ukrainian territory and formed the basis for the internationally recognised borders of Ukraine to this day. Many top positions in the Soviet Union were occupied by Ukrainians, including notably [[Leonid Brezhnev]], [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] from 1964 to 1982. However, it was he and his [[Communist Party of Ukraine (Soviet Union)|appointee in Ukraine]], [[Volodymyr Shcherbytsky]], who presided over the extensive [[Russification of Ukraine|Russification]] of Ukraine and who were instrumental in repressing a new generation of Ukrainian intellectuals known as the [[Sixtiers]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Cook |first1=Bernard A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hafLHZgZtt4C&q=shcherbytsky+russification&pg=PA1280 |title=Europe Since 1945: An Encyclopedia |last2=Cook |first2=Bernard Anthony |date=2001 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-8153-4058-4 |language=en}}</ref>

By 1950, the republic had fully surpassed pre-war levels of industry and production.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30084/Ukraine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080115052626/https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30084/Ukraine |archive-date=15 January 2008 |title=Ukraine – The last years of Stalin's rule |access-date=28 December 2007 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica (fee required) |url-status=dead}}</ref> Soviet Ukraine soon became a European leader in industrial production<ref>Magocsi, p. 644</ref> and an important centre of the Soviet [[arms industry]] and high-tech research, though heavy industry still had an outsided influence.<ref>Magocsi, 1996, p. 704</ref> The Soviet government invested in hydroelectric and nuclear power projects to cater to the energy demand that the development carried. On 26 April 1986, however, a reactor in the [[Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant]] exploded, resulting in the [[Chernobyl disaster]], the worst [[nuclear reactor]] accident in history.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1309/is_n2_v33/ai_18795971 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120628220746/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1309/is_n2_v33/ai_18795971/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 June 2012 |title='Sombre anniversary' of worst nuclear disaster in history – Chernobyl: 10th anniversary |access-date=16 December 2007 |author=Remy, Johannes |year=1996 |publisher=Find articles |work=[[UN Chronicle]]}}</ref>