Kiev was then, Kyiv is now

(KKTV) - The capital city of Ukraine is in the spotlight after Russian troops invaded the country early Thursday morning under orders by President Vladimir Putin. After multiple calls and emails to the newsroom, we find it necessary to address the controversy surrounding the spelling and pronunciation of Kyiv.

For the record, it’s pronounced KEE-ev, not Key-EV, and it’s spelled Kyiv, not Kiev. However, this confusion is not without merit and to further explain why these two versions exist in people’s minds, we’d have to take a little history lesson.

Ukraine gained its independence back in 1991, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Prior to this, the country’s capital city was Kiev and pronounced as Key-EV. That former spelling is considered outdated by many Ukrainians because it’s associated with a time during which the country was under soviet rule.

In 2006, the Foreign Names Committee of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names approved the spelling Kyiv as the official standard for Ukraine’s capital. Then in 2019, the Associated Press updated its standards to correlate with the Ukrainian government’s preferred name and transliteration.

What the future holds for Ukraine now that Russia has moved forward with an invasion is unknown, but for now, its recognition as a sovereign country remains, as does the capital’s name of Kyiv.

Copyright 2022 KKTV. All rights reserved.