Ukraine (Ukraine (/juːˈkreɪn/ yew-KRAYN; Ukrainian: Україна, transliterated: Ukrayina, [ukrɑˈjinɑ]) is a country in Eastern Europe. Ukraine borders the Russian Federation to the east and northeast, Belarus to the northwest, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the west, Romania and Moldova to the southwest and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south and southeast, respectively. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after the Russian Federation.
Ukraine in 1632[]
When Grantville appeared in Thuringia in the spring of 1631, most of modern-day Ukraine was under the control of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, although Cossacks such as the Zaporozhian Host were also influential. There had been several Cossack uprisings against the Commonwealth in the 40-odd years prior to the Ring of Fire.
In the OTL, the Ukraine was the location of the Khmelnytsky Uprising, which started in 1648. Morris Roth was eager to stop this event as it had led to the slaughter of a large number of Jews and other innocents. However, Morris also knew that the causes of this were systemic, based in long-standing Polish policies in the region. This led him to move to Prague and ally with Wallenstein, who had promised him he could stop the massacre.
By early summer of 1635 Mike Stearns privately speculated that the Committees of Correspondence may have already been active in Ukraine.