Ukrainian historical newspapers: Which Ukrainian newspapers are available online from UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries?

Вісті ВУЦВК (Visti VUTsVK)

Visti VUTsVK (Вісті ВУЦВК, "News of the All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee"), later Visti Rad deputativ trudiashchykh URSR (Вісті Рад депутатів трудящих УРСР, "News of the Councils of Worker's Deputies of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic)" was the official newspaper of VUTsVK (ВУЦВК), the highest government body in Soviet Ukraine during the interwar period. It was published 1918-1941 in Kharkiv (the capital of Ukraine until 1934), and was a Ukrainian-language newspaper for most of its existence. The newspaper published the official decrees of VUTsVK, reported on international, Soviet, Ukrainian, and local Kharkiv news, and covered the economy, agriculture, industrialization, education, technology, science, public health, the arts, and other aspects of Soviet life in Ukraine. Additionally, in the 1920s, it served as a forum for Ukrainian authors, artists, and intellectuals, particularly through its weekly supplements "Literatura, nauka, mystetstvo" ("Література, наука, мистецтво"), later called "Kul'tura i pobut" ("Культура і побут"), many of which are included in this archive. Film director Oleksandr Dovzhenko (Олександр Довженко) supplied political cartoons under the pseudonym Sashko (Сашко) and served as art director; Ostap Vyshnia (Остап Вишня) and Oleksa Slisarenko (Олекса Слісаренко), under the pseudonym Omel'ka Buts (Омелька Буц) regularly contributed humorous feuilletons; Mykola Khvyl'ovyi (Микола Хвильовий) provided reviews and literary criticism promoting Ukrainian authors; Pavlo Tychyna (Павло Тичина) and Volodymyr Sosiura (Володимир Сосюра) published poetry, while the newspaper's editor Vasyl' Blakytnyi (Василь Блакитний) offered verse satire under pseudonym Valer Pronoza (Валер Проноза). Other contributors of articles, prose, and poetry associated with the Executed Renaissance (Розстріляне відродження) included Maik Yohansen (Майк Йогансен), Valerian Polishchuk (Валер'ян Поліщук), Mykhail' Semenko (Михайль Семенко), Petro Panch (Петро Панч), and others.

• Availability: 1922-1934, 1936-1939 via UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries
  • Note: this is not a complete digital archive. There are many issues missing, sometimes entire months (September, November and December 1922, October 1923, March 1934, January-March 1936, July-December 1937), and all of 1918-1921 and 1935. Additionally a large number of scans are made from very poor microform copy, making whole pages and sometimes entire issues illegible. These gaps mean that, even usual OCR issues aside, keyword searches across the entire archive return a very incomplete set of results.
• Language: Ukrainian
• Frequency: daily (6 times a week)
• Editors:
  • 1922-December 4, 1925: Vasyl' Blakytnyi (Ellans'kyi) (Василь Блакитний (Елланський))
  • December 5, 1925-Jan. 17, 1931: IEvhen Kasianenko (Євген Касяненко)
  • Jan. 18, 1931- May 10, 1933: M. Tkach (М. Ткач) 
  • May 11-July 17, 1933: Z. Margolis (З. Марголіс)
  • July 18-October 11, 1933: M. Tkach (М. Ткач)
  • October 12, 1933-1937: F.P. Taran (Ф.П. Таран)
  • 1938-1939: Editorial board

Голос України (Holos Ukrainy)

Holos Ukrainy (Голос України, "The Voice of Ukraine") is the official newspaper of Verkhovna Rada (Верховна Рада, the Ukrainian parliament), published in Kyiv 1991-present. A Russian-language version was published until the full-scale invasion in 2022, but is not included in this archive. The publication prints laws, acts, and resolutions, as well as presidential decrees and voting information, and reports on politics, domestic and international affairs, the economy, society and culture. In the 1990s and early 2000s, in addition to coverage of Verkhovna Rada's activities, op eds from and interviews with politicians, and other reporting, one could expect to find sections common to other Ukrainian newspapers of the time, including a sports and a humor section, extensive TV guide listings, bankruptcy notices and other business announcements, horoscopes, crossword puzzles, and even poetry. The newspaper's heyday was likely the early 90s, when its circulation approached 800K. Its readership declined through the 90s, stabilizing around 159K in the early 2000s, then declined again to 60K by 2020s, as it began to resemble a newsletter rather than a full-fledged newspaper. 

• Availability: 1991-2024 via UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries
• Frequency: 5 days a week (Tuesday-Saturday)
• Language: Ukrainian, Russian (1992-2022) -- not included in UNC-Chapel Hill Library access
• Editor:
  • 1991-February 8, 2002: Serhii Pravdenko (Сергій Правденко)
  • July 13, 2002-January 3, 2023: Anatolii Horlov (Анатолій Горлов)

Демократична Україна (Demokratychna Ukraina)

Demokratychna Ukraina (Демократична Україна, "Democratic Ukraine") was a Ukrainian language national-level newspaper covering politics and society, published 1992-2020 in Kyiv. It was preceded in 1943-1991 by Soviet newspapers Radians'ka Ukraina (Радянська Україна, "Soviet Ukraine") and in 1918-1942 by Komunist (Комуніст, "The Communist"). The issues from the 90s are particularly valuable as a record of the transformation of Ukrainian society in the early years of independence. In addition to news, the newspaper included a humor section, crossword puzzles, sports and occasional advertisements. As with many other Ukrainian newspapers from the 90s and early 2000s, a large portion of the paper was taken up by TV listings. Іn the 90s, the newspaper continued to publish cartoons by Serhii Fed'ko (Сергій Федько), Anatolii Arutiuniants (Анатолій Арутюнянц), Valerii Sinhaivs'kyi (Валерій Сінгаївський) and other cartoonists from the Soviet era. The quality and relevance of the paper gradually declined. Its circulation dropped by the late 90s to about 20K copies, briefly increasing to 60-70K around 2004, then declining again to just 2K by late 2010s.

• Availability: 1992-2020 (not published 2017) via UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries
• Language: Ukrainian
• Frequency: 3-5 times a week 1992-2007; weekly 2008-2020
• Editors:
  • 1988- January 1993: Volodymyr Stadnychenko (Володимир Стадниченко)
  • January 1993- February 2003: Oleksandr Pobihai (Олександр Побігай)
  • February 2003-2020: Vitalii Adamenko (Віталій Адаменко)

Діло (Dilo)

Dilo (Діло (also Дѣло), "The Cause", or "Business") was a Ukrainian-language daily published 1880-1939 (with interruptions for various wars and occupations) in Lviv. It is generally considered the oldest and most prominent newspaper of Galicia. More information about this title coming soon!

• Availability:
  • 1899-1915 and 1922-1936 via UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries
  • 1880-1886, 1917, and 1922-1927 via the Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine

За вільну Україну (Za vil'nu Ukrainu)

Za vil'nu Ukrainu (За вільну Україну, "For a Free Ukraine") was a Ukrainian-language newspaper published 1990-2007 in Lviv, initially the official newspaper of the L'vivska oblasna Rada narodnykh deputativ (Львівска обласна Рада народних депутатів, "Lviv Oblast Council of People's Deputies"). The newspaper covered national and local news, politics, the economy, society, healthcare, education, etc. as well as some international affairs, in addition to standard sections like sports, humor, obituaries, crossword puzzles, ads, and film, theater, and (extensive) TV listings. Its cultural content, which included articles on historical topics, biographical profiles of prominent figures, interviews, book reviews, and Christian holiday calendars, focused on Galicia’s history, cultural output, and traditions. The newspaper’s peak popularity was 1991 when it reached circulation of over 460K. The circulation declined drastically over the 1990s to only 10K in 2000, recovering somewhat to about 150K by 2006, then declining again to 15K in 2007.

• Availability: 1990-2007 via UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries
• Language: Ukrainian
• Frequency:
  • 1990-1995: 3-5 times a week (frequency varies)
  • 1996-2005: 2-5 times a week (frequency varies)
  • 2006-2007: weekly, then monthly
• Editors:
  • 1990-June 1992: Vasyl' Baziv (Василь Вазів)
  • 1992-September 22, 2000 : Bohdan Vovk (Богдан Вовк)
  • September 29, 2000-September 17, 2022: Mykhailo Sirkiv (Михайло Сірків)
  • September 18, 2002-October 30, 2003: Il'ko Kolodii (Ілько Колодій)
  • November  2003: Bohdan Tokars'kyi (Богдан Токарський)
  • November 2003-November 2004: Oleh Kruchek (Олег Кручек)
  • December 2005-February 2, 2006: Ol'ha Osoba (Ольга Особа)
  • February 9, 2006-2007: IEvhen Hutsul (Євген Гуцул)

Народна армія (Narodna armiia)

Narodna Armiia (Народна армія, "The People's Army") was the official newspaper of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, published 1991-2018 in Kyiv. It was preceded in 1943-1990 by Leninskoe znamia (Ленинское знамя, "Lenin's Banner"). The newspaper was initially published in Russian as Narodnaia armiia (Народная армия) with only occasional Ukrainian language articles (typically interviews). In July 1992, the masthead changed to Ukrainian and the volume of Ukrainian language content began to gradually increase; by 1995 the newspaper was issued predominantly in Ukrainian. The publication covered news and social and cultural issues relevant to the armed forces and veteran affairs.

• Availability: 1991-2018 via UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries
• Frequency: 5 times a week (Tuesday-Saturday)
• Language: Russian and Ukrainian 1991-1994; Ukrainian 1995-2018

Народна газета (Narodna hazeta)

Narodna hazeta (Народна газета, "The People's Newspaper") was the official newspaper of the political party Narodnyi Rukh Ukrainy (Народний Рух України, "The People's Movement of Ukraine"), or simply Rukh (Рух, "The Movement"), an anticommunist party that played a key role in Ukraine's independence. During this period, the newspaper was printed in Zhytomyr, Lutsk and Ternopil (though purportedly edited in Kyiv), and its circulation quickly grew from 10K to over 96K. By 1992 it was firmly based in Kyiv. As an important opposition newspaper, it covered politics and society, but was also part of a nation-building project, and featured many articles aimed at reclaiming Ukrainian history and culture, critiquing the Soviet past and Russian imperialism, and connecting with the Ukrainian diaspora. The newspaper ceased in June 2009 due to bankruptcy.

• Availability: 1990-2009 via UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries
• Frequency: irregularly 1990-1991, weekly (Thursday) 1992-2009
• Language: Ukrainian
• Editors: 
  • 1990: Anatolii Shevchenko (Анатолій Шевченко)
  • 1991: Oleh Skydan (Олег Скидан)
  • 1992-2008: Anatolii Shevchenko (Анатолій Шевченко)
  • 2008-2009: Valentyna Maliuk (Валентина Малюк)

Независимость (Nezavisimost')

Nezavisimost' (Независимость, "Independence") was a Russian-language weekly newspaper published 1991-2002 in Kyiv. It was a successor to the Soviet newspaper Komsomol'skoe znamia (Комсомольское знамя, "Komsomol banner"). The newspaper's circulation exceed 1 million copies in 1991 and early 1992, but dropped to just 30K by 1996 and to 10K by 2001. More information about this title coming soon!

• Availability: December 1991-April 2002 via UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries
• Frequency: 1992-1995: 2 times a week (Wednesday and Friday); 1996-1997: 3 times a week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday); 1998-1999: 4 times a week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday); 2000: 4 times a week (Tuesday-Friday); 2001-2002: weekly (Monday)
• Language: Russian
• Editors:
  • 1991-2000: Vladimir Kuleba (Владимир Кулеба)
  • 2001-2022: Mikhail Vasil'ev (Михаил Васильев)

Правда Украины (Pravda Ukrainy)

Pravda Ukrainy (Правда Украины, "The Truth of Ukraine") -- originally called Sovetskaia Ukraina (Советская Украина, "Soviet Ukraine") from 1938 to 1943 -- was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Ukraine until 1991. In the 1990s, the newspaper evolved into a popular independent outlet, reporting on corruption and social problems of the post-communist transition. During this period, the newspaper also had a Ukrainian language version, which is, unfortunately, omitted from this archive. Due to its opposition to Leonid Kuchma's administration, the newspaper was shut down in 1998, its office raided, and its editor-in-chief Aleksandr Gorobets (Александр Горобец) arrested (Gorobets recounted the experience in his 2003 memoir). 1998 was probably the newspaper's peak, with circulation topping half a million copies. The paper was relaunched in 1999 under a new leadership loyal to the ruling party, but having lost most of its readership, with its circulation dropping under 20K during this period. Beginning with 2004, under a new editor, the newspaper experienced a brief period of a revival, not the least bit due to its criticism of Viktor Yanukovych and support for the Orange Revolution. It's circulation climbed to over 180K, and it even opted to include some content in Ukrainian. By 2010s the newspaper once again began to decline, both in readership and in quality, ceasing due to bankruptcy in 2014. As with many other Ukrainian newspapers from the 90s and 2000s, a rather large portion of the paper was taken up by TV listings. The paper also included a sports and humor section, celebrity gossip, crossword puzzles and horoscopes, and cartoons by Aleksandr Monastyrskii (Александр Монастырский), Viktor Popov (Виктор Попов), Leonid Teliatnikov (Леонид Телятников), Vladimir Adamovich Владимир Адамович) and others.

• Availability: 1938-2014 (with some missing issues, primarily in the 1940s) via UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries
• Language: Russian, occasional articles in Ukrainian in the 1990s-2000s
• Frequency: varies
• Editors: 
  • 1992-1998: Aleksandr Gorobets (Александр Горобец)
  • 1999-2003: Ol'ga Pronina (Ольга Пронина) 
  • 2004-2008: Nikolai Kriskovets (Николай Крисковец)
  • 2009-2014: Viktoriia IAsnopol'skaia (Виктория Яснопольская)

Global Press Archive: Local & Independent Ukrainian Newspaper Collection

A sizeable (912 titles) corpus of Ukrainian newspapers, primarily at the city and oblast levels, and newsletters of various cultural organizations, published mainly in the 1990s and sourced from the Hoover Institution and Stanford University Libraries. The vast majority of publications is in Ukrainian, Russian, or a mix of the two; a small number of titles in other languages of Ukraine, such as Crimean Tatar, Hebrew, Hungarian, Polish, and Romani are also included. Frequency and coverage vary: typical frequency is weekly, though many monthlies, as well many less frequent or irregular publications are in the corpus; there are several long and consistent runs, but also many gaps, and quite a few publications represented by only a small handful of issues. More information about notable individual titles coming soon!

• Availability: 1989-2001 (coverage varies) via via UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries
• Language: Ukrainian, Russian
• Frequency: varies