Why Geography Matters In Ukranian Politics

By

Bob Stanley Gardner

In classical political geography, Ukraine is frequently defined as a Shatterbelt—a region caught in the “crush” between competing great powers. Historically situated between the Atlantic naval powers and the Eurasian land powers, Ukraine’s lack of secure natural borders has made it a perpetual site of geostrategic rivalry.

However, modern Ukrainian politics is increasingly defined by the nation’s agency in overcoming this geographical “trap” through institutional reform and international realignment.

Etymology of “Ukraine”

Ukraine’s name is a foundational political struggle. The Russian narrative often links “Ukraine” to okraina, meaning “outskirts” or “borderland,” which served to delegitimise the territory as a mere periphery of Moscow. Conversely, geographers and linguists point to the Proto-Slavic root krajь, meaning a “cut” of land or a “country” defined by natural boundaries. This etymological shift from a regional descriptor to a national name reflects the maturation of Ukrainian statehood.

The Chernozem Belt

Ukraine is a global “superpower” of soil. It contains 25–30% of the world’s Chernozem (black soil), which is uniquely rich in humus, nitrogen, and phosphorus.

The Chernozem belt is often called the “Breadbasket of the World”, and for good reason. The term “Chernozem” translates literally from Russian/Ukrainian as “Black Earth” (cherny = black, zemlya = earth), and it represents some of the most naturally fertile land on the planet.

Chernozem is frequently called “black gold” due to its incredible depth and high concentration of humus, often reaching levels between 4% and 16%. This organic richness, combined with a thick layer of wind-deposited loess as its foundation, creates a soil structure that is naturally aerated and remarkably efficient at retaining moisture. Because it is so nutrient-dense—packed with nitrogen, phosphorus, and calcium—it requires significantly less synthetic fertiliser than almost any other soil type on Earth, giving regions like Ukraine a massive natural advantage in large-scale agriculture.

In Ukraine, Chernozem soil type is a defining geographic feature, blanketing roughly 60% to 68% of the country’s landmass—approximately 28 million hectares. This dense concentration forms the heart of the Eurasian Chernozem Belt, a massive continuous arc that originates in the Danubian plains of Croatia and Serbia, stretches across the fertile heartlands of Moldova and Ukraine, and extends through the Central Black Earth Region of Russia into the Siberian steppes.

Ukrainian geopolitics: Key Drivers

4 key events define the present-day Ukrainian geopolitics

With the 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, Russia secured a strategic foothold in the Black Sea, which it viewed as a necessary buffer against NATO expansion. This move ended decades of post-Cold War cooperation and prompted the alliance to shift from a focus on crisis management to collective territorial defence. When the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, it shattered the myth of “Arctic Exceptionalism”—the long-held idea that the High North was immune to global conflict. In response, previously neutral nations like Finland and Sweden joined NATO, effectively turning the Arctic into a new “Ice Curtain” where scientific and environmental cooperation has been replaced by military posturing and the protection of critical energy routes.