Ukraine
"Shche ne vmerla Ukraina" (Ukraine's Glory Has Not Perished)

Words by: Paul Chubynskyi
Music by: Mikhail Verbytskyi
Adopted: 1917, abolished 1920, restored 1991

Ukraine's national anthem was first performed as a choral work in 1864 in the Ukraine Theatre in Lvov, and was adopted as the national anthem during Ukraine's brief independence during Russia's Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, being absorbed into the Soviet Union a few years later. Upon the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine regained its independence and its anthem.

The lyrics were changed slightly in 2003; the most important change was made to the first line (and title), which were interestingly borrowed from the Polish anthem. In the new version, the case ending of the word "Ukraine" was changed, so that rather than saying "Ukraine hasn't yet died, nor has her glory or freedom," it now says that it's Ukraine's glory and freedom which haven't perished. Also, the current version of the anthem is limited to one verse plus the repeated chorus, whereas the previous version had three verses and a chorus. Both versions of the lyrics are presented below in a single file.

See also: Ukraine (1949-1991), Crimea.