City with special status

Kyiv and Sevastopol are the only two such cities. Their administrative status is recognized in the Ukrainian Constitution in Chapter IX: Territorial Structure of Ukraine and they are governed in accordance with laws passed by Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada.

Overview

Although Kyiv is the nation's capital and its own administrative region, the city also serves as the administrative center for Kyiv Oblast (province). The oblast entirely surrounds the city. In addition, before 2020 Kyiv also served as the administrative center for the oblast's Kyiv-Sviatoshyn Raion (district).

Sevastopol is also administratively separate from the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, retaining its special status from Soviet times as a closed city, serving as a base for the former Soviet Black Sea Fleet. The city was home to the Ukrainian Navy as well as the Russian Black Sea Fleet, although since the Crimean crisis, both Crimea and Sevastopol were annexed by Russia as federal subjects, a move declared illegal by both the Ukrainian government and a majority of the international community.