On December 25, 1991, the Soviet Union, one of the world's superpowers, announced its official disintegration and split into 15 countries.
Among them, Ukraine inherited the Soviet Union's richest military industry and nuclear weapons, including 780,000 servicemen, nearly a thousand military enterprises and military equipment.
At that time, Ukraine could be said to be the second military power after the United States and Russia, and the number of nuclear weapons in the country was even greater than that of the British and American countries combined.
At the same time, the most elite parts of Soviet industry were also distributed in the Ukrainian region, such as shipyards in the Black Sea and machinery factories for the production of gas turbines.
At that time, Ukraine was a military power that even NATO, Russia, and the United States were very jealous of.
However, such a military power became, many years later, one of the poorest countries in Europe.
Per capita income ranks second from the bottom in Europe, only higher than in the small unknown country of Moldado. Even the country's economy depends on women's bodies and bellies.
So, how did Ukraine, which once held the huge legacy of the Soviet Union, move toward poverty and backwardness step by step?
Ukraine, once the "granary of Europe"
Ukraine is located in Eastern Europe, which is not only vast, but also owns 30% of the world's black land, and once the world's third largest grain export output.
At the same time, Ukraine is also the second largest of the 15 member states of the Soviet Union and one of the countries with strategic nuclear weapons in the Soviet Union.
The unique natural conditions coupled with the huge reserves of natural resources make the living conditions of the Ukrainian people very superior. With this advantage, Ukraine established an industrial and agricultural system in the country and became the "granary of Europe".
Not only that, Ukraine also has more than 80 kinds of rich mineral resources such as coal, iron, nickel and titanium.
Moreover, Ukraine's shipbuilding capacity is also one of the best, at that time the Soviet Union built 6 large surface shipyards, 3 located on the Black Sea coast of Ukraine.
They were the Black Sea Shipyard, the June 1st Shipyard, and the Bron Shipyard, which were the shipyards of the Soviet Union that could build missile-class cruisers, aircraft carriers, and destroyers.
In terms of aircraft manufacturing, Ukraine also has a force that can be proud of the crowd, and has a very strong Antonov design bureau Madasic company.
With these two aces, Ukraine has generated a huge economic income in the field of transport aircraft and in the manufacture of aircraft.
Combined, Ukraine became the "heart of the Soviet Union" and was inextricably linked to the Soviet Union.
By 1990, however, the Soviet Union, in the midst of a political, economic, and national crisis, was in a state of flux and was powerless to stop the growing trend of division of the republics.
In this political environment, on August 24, 1991, the Supreme Council of Ukraine declared official independence from the Soviet Union.
From ukraine declared independence from the Soviet Union, relying on the original industrial and agricultural system and some industries left by the Soviet Union, although the national economy has grown slowly, the overall development trend is still very good.
But after the official announcement of the collapse of the Soviet Union on December 25, 1991, the international situation fell into a state of great chaos, which also made Ukraine, which had just declared independence, waver in the future development.
After some thought, Ukraine chose to move closer to Europe and the United States.
Seeing that Ukraine is willing to join its own camp, the Western countries led by the United States are naturally very happy.
But in addition to the joy, there was also deep worry and fear, after all, Ukraine at that time still had a huge legacy left by the Soviet Union.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine inherited more than a third of its military-industrial power on its territory. These include 176 intercontinental missiles, 42 strategic bombers and hundreds of tactical nuclear weapons.
In addition to these nuclear weapons, Ukraine's military power cannot be underestimated.
Of the 14 military regions that originally belonged to the Soviet Union, 3 were in Ukraine, as well as 22 regular army combat divisions, and so on.
It can be said that Ukraine at that time was a military industrial power comparable to Russia and the United States.
It stands to reason that Ukraine has so many trump cards in its hands that it should make good use of development and make the country stronger.
However, the ukrainian president at the time, Kravchuk, made a decision that surprised everyone, that is, to give up the nuclear weapons in his hands and become a "non-nuclear state".
In fact, Ukraine was able to make such a decision, as early as the declaration of independence has already begun to appear.
In 1990, at the beginning of Ukraine's independence, in order to win the support and recognition of all countries in the world, especially some Western powers, it has made many international statements that Ukraine will be a neutral country without nuclear weapons in the future.
Moreover, Ukraine has pledged to ship hundreds of its fighters' nuclear weapons to Russia for destruction by July 1992, and strategic nuclear weapons to Russia by 1994 for destruction.
Such behavior is tantamount to the enemy wanting to hit you, and you take the initiative to hand over the gun in your hand.
On the other hand, the United States, after learning of Ukraine's ideas, has repeatedly said that it cannot establish relations with Ukraine until its promise to become a non-nuclear power is fulfilled. Ukraine was even threatened to suspend economic assistance to it.
After the United States made its attitude clear, some other Western countries also began to issue statements, in a tone of half encouragement and half threat, asking Ukraine to destroy its nuclear weapons.
But excessive pressure and threats often backfire.
After these statements in the West, not only did it not work, but some people in Ukraine demanded nuclear weapons further.
In this case, the United States has shifted its approach.
In May 1993, U.S. Special Envoy Talbot said during a visit to Kiev: "The word pressure does not appear in the words of the two countries in conversation, and we will replace the 'pressure policy' with 'partnership'." ”
At the same time, he also told Ukrainian President Kravchuk that the United States will seriously consider Ukraine's security requirements and develop cooperative relations with Ukraine's economy and politics.
In addition, Talbot promised Ukraine that it would act as a mediator in territorial disputes and property divisions between Ukraine and Russia, helping Ukraine to pursue greater interests.
Then, in June of the same year, U.S. Defense Secretary Aspin visited Ukraine and claimed that the United States would help Ukraine undo its security concerns and would later provide Ukraine with more compensation than originally promised $175 million.
At the same time, the US Department of Defense also formally proposed to Ukraine for "defense cooperation".
Under the policy of both soft and hard work of the United States Government, Ukraine signed an agreement with the United States and Russia at the Krem Palace on 14 January 1994 on the elimination of all nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian side agreed to transfer at least 200 nuclear warheads from the country to Russia for destruction within 10 months.
In addition, Ukraine has dismantled and destroyed 176 of these military weapons, the most lethal, the SS-24 and SS-19 long-range multi-warhead missiles.
At the same time, it will also weaken the military strength in the territory and reduce the number of troops.
In 2001, when the last intercontinental missile silo in Ukraine was successfully dismantled.
At this point, Ukraine has changed from a nuclear-armed country with a military industry comparable to Russia and the United States to a "non-nuclear state."
From the "Granary of Europe" to the "Womb of Europe"
Ukraine made this decision mainly because the Soviet Union left behind more than 3,000 military-industrial enterprises and hundreds of nuclear weapons missiles, which is a very heavy burden for Ukraine.
The production of any military product requires the cooperation of a large number of enterprises, from screwdrivers to engines, which require the mutual cooperation of different manufacturers.
However, in Ukraine, there is no complete production system. Those nuclear warheads, in particular, are not only useless, but also spend huge sums of money every year to inspect and maintain these bombs.
This is undoubtedly worse for Ukraine, which is already in economic difficulties.
Therefore, in Ukraine President Kravchuk believes that instead of this, it is better to simply give up, exchange them for some money and trust in the world, and win more room for development.
After destroying all the nuclear weapons in Ukraine, the first president, Kravchuk, publicly stated that there is no system for control, testing and reproduction, and holding nuclear weapons is like "monkeys with grenades."
Therefore, getting countries to give up nuclear weapons is the most correct decision they have ever made.
As everyone knows, it is precisely because of his decision that Ukraine lost the strength and confidence to really stand up in the long years that followed.
After abandoning nuclear weapons, Ukraine adopted the same "shock therapy" as Russia in order to be able to develop its economy rapidly.
The so-called shock therapy is also a large-scale privatization in the country.
Such an approach could rapidly develop Ukraine's economy, but it would also create a bad climate of corruption among some government officials.
Between 1992 and 1995, during this economic reform with privatization as the main objective, Ukraine's economic structure did not fundamentally improve.
At the same time, the lack of innovation has also led to the obsolescence and aging of the equipment, which has hindered the pace of economic development.
Second, in the process of this economic transformation, there have also been a large number of corruption phenomena of embezzlement of state property and collusion between officials and businessmen.
A large number of government officials were corrupt everywhere, and the friends took advantage of the advantages, divided up the country's property, and quickly became an important economic oligarchy in various fields.
One example is Tymoshenko, who used her family's high-ranking position to make a big push into the oil and gas industry.
In just a few years, Tymoshenko monopolized Ukraine's domestic energy industry and began to march into politics. Later, he became an important official in the Ukrainian government, and even rose to the top of the prime minister twice.
Like Tymoshenko, some ukrainians, after grasping the lifeblood of the country's economy, have directly or indirectly engaged in politics through the creation of agents to safeguard their own interests.
So there is also a very magical imagination in Ukraine, that is, in a conference of 450 people, 400 people are millionaires.
It is no exaggeration to say that almost every president of Ukraine stands behind an economic oligarch.
For example, the son-in-law of Ukraine's second president, Kuchma, was a steel oligarch, and sometimes even the president voted by the people was a billionaire.
This deep connection between power and wealth led to a reversal of Ukraine's economy.
In November 2004, Ukraine's pro-Western leader, Yushchenko, launched an "Orange Revolution" after a failed presidential election that overthrew the government at the time.
Later, in order to curry favor with the voters who supported him, Yushchenko announced that if he was successfully elected president, he would take a part of the government's future budget and distribute it to the people as a benefit.
Because of this, Yushchenko's approval rating soared, and he was successfully elected as the new president of Ukraine.
But just after Yushchenko came to power, Ukraine's economy not only failed to improve, but instead hit its lowest level in nearly five years.
The nationalization of some large enterprises has caused great controversy among the Ukrainian people. Even some foreign investors are beginning to criticize Ukraine's investment climate.
At the same time, some of Ukraine's heavy industries are gradually declining, and the corruption of government officials has added another scar to Ukraine, which was already in a downturn in the economy.
This also makes the lives of the people at the bottom of the society always be in a situation of not having enough to eat and not wearing warm clothes.
What makes the Ukrainian people feel even more desperate is that because the country is on the front line of the struggle between Europe, the United States and Russia has also led to quite chaotic political situation in Ukraine, and there is almost no room for peaceful development.
In order to survive, Ukrainian women have to take another path, that is, to engage in the pornography industry.
In this regard, the Ukrainian government not only does not regulate it, but also secretly encourages more women to engage in pornography because it can solve the problem of increasing taxes on employment.
By 2006, the government had even changed laws to change the pornography industry from a "criminal act" to a "bad act."
If a woman is caught by the police while engaged in a sex transaction, she only needs to pay 8 to 25 euros to solve the problem.
This act of the government is undoubtedly a disguised support and encouragement for the development and growth of the pornography industry.
In 2012, the European Football Championship was held in Ukraine, and the government seized the opportunity to carry out a comprehensive upgrade of the country's pornography industry.
Not only did it provide a comfortable trading place, but it even went to remote townships to recruit more women to join the industry.
After the end of the European Championship, the income of Ukraine's pornography industry hit a new high in nearly 10 years, with an income of more than 100 million euros, contributing an important force to the country's economic development.
However, in the face of the proliferation of the sex industry, the number of people infected with AIDS in Ukraine is also skyrocketing.
In addition to the Ukrainian government's large-scale pornography industry, they have also targeted the stomachs of Ukrainian women, and have also spawned another special industry, surrogacy.
The low price and the exquisite and beautiful appearance of Ukrainian women have made people from all over the world flock to Ukraine to find a suitable "in vitro uterus" for themselves.
Nowadays, Ukraine, once the "granary of Europe", has completely become the "European womb", behind which is the blood and tears and struggles of countless Ukrainian women.
The reason for all this may start with Ukraine abandoning nuclear weapons and blindly embracing the West.