President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the deliberate attack on Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital in Kyiv, expressing his intense anger towards Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. He made these remarks after his speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute on July 10.
Thanks for pointing it out. I always write “the Ukraine” because it’s how we write it in my native language. I didn’t even know in English the article is used for non sovereign counties. It’s really hard to avoid the extra article here, as in for example German, we use “the Ukraine” exclusively, as it’s female. It’s the same with the Netherlands, the Turkey, the Switzerland. Never even heard before this could imply denying sovereignty.
In English it implies it’s a geographical region rather than a nation’s name. The exceptions are for nations that have an adjectival element. The United States, The Democratic Republic of Wherever, etc.
It’s petty semantics that passes by most, but the people that translate Russian official statements in English are aware of the difference and made a point of it for decades specifically to attack Ukraine’s standing in America and the Commonwealth.
Generally speaking, it’s a minor enough distinction that no one would care if Russia didn’t.
The Gambia is an exception, as it is the official name of the country: The Republic of the Gambia.