Leonid Kravchuk

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

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Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/leonid-kravchuk

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. When was Leonid Kravchuk born?January 10, 1934
2. Where was Leonid Kravchuk born?Velykyi Zhytyn, Volhynia, Ukrainian SSR (now Ukraine)
3. What is the presidency term?December 5, 1991 – July 19, 1994
4. What is the economic contraction?Ukraine's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) decreased by 40% during his presidency
5. Who was Leonid Kravchuk?Leonid Kravchuk was the first president of independent Ukraine, leading the country from December 1991 to July 1994. He helped Ukraine become a free and sovereign nation after the Soviet Union fell apart.
6. Why did he give up Ukraine's nuclear weapons?Kravchuk decided to give up Ukraine's nuclear arsenal to keep the country safe and to show the world that Ukraine wanted to be a peaceful nation. In return, other countries promised to protect Ukraine.

Nomenklatura: A list of influential positions within the Communist Party and government, often associated with privilege.
Federalism: A system of government where power is divided between a central authority and constituent political units.
Dissolution of the Soviet Union: The process by which the Soviet Union broke apart into fifteen independent republics in December 1991.
Budapest Memorandum: An agreement providing security assurances to Ukraine in exchange for its nuclear disarmament.