[stuartnz]

I'm not a teacher, but I have been reading recently that many Ukrainian people strongly object to their country being called in English, "The Ukraine". Just as they want English to transliterate their capital the Ukrainian way, Kyiv, rather than the Russian way, Kiev, so they want English speakers to use their country's official name, which is simply "Ukraine". I'm not sure what the origins of the practice of calling it "The Ukraine" were, but it's a practice to be avoided, it seems.