Visiting Kiev

A monument to Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, a central figure in Ukrainian history during the 17th century, is seen in Ukraine's capital Kiev in this March 23, 2006 file photo, backdropped by St. Michael's Cathedral. Khmelnytskyi, a leader of Ukrainian Cossacks, announced a union with Russia in 1654, which was to last for over 300 years. Founded over 1,500 years ago, Kiev is one of the oldest and historically richest cities in Eastern Europe. The site of the ancient Kievan Rus, it is considered the birthplace of Slavic civilization. The city endured the Mongol-Tatar invasion, was a provincial center in the Russian Empire and then the Soviet Union and in 1991 finally became the capital of an independent Ukraine.