Steppe Day in Ukraine Date in the current year: May 30, 2025

A steppe is an ecoregion characterized by grassy plains without closed forests except near lakes and rivers; steppes can be found in continental (true steppe) and subtropical climates. The world's largest steppe ecoregion is the Eurasian Steppe, also known as the Great Steppe or simply The Steppes. It stretches 5,000 miles from central Europe (Slovakia, Hungary, Romania) to the Far East.

The Eurasian Steppe is divided into several parts, one of which is the Pontian-Caspian Steppe, which includes the Ukrainian steppe. The Ukrainian steppe roughly corresponds to southern, south-central and southeastern Ukraine and occupies over 40% of the country's territory. It stretches approximately 620 miles from west to east and over 300 miles from north to south.

The Ukrainian steppe is home to Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts (regions), the southern parts of Kirovohrad and Kharkiv Oblasts (regions), and the non-mountainous part of the Crimean Peninsula.

The typical flora of the Ukrainian steppe includes irises, hyacinths, crocuses, buttercups, tulips, peonies, poppies, mugwort, wormwood, sage, needle grass and other grasses, and occasional shrubs and trees (blackthorn, briar rose, steppe cherry, almond). The fauna includes numerous small rodents (ground squirrels, marmots, voles, hamsters, mice), hares, mustelids (weasels, stoats, polecats), wolves, foxes, badgers, deer, and a variety of birds, lizards, and snakes. Some species, such as the marbled polecat, are listed as threatened.

Much of the Ukrainian steppe has been converted to farmland over the years, affecting its unique flora and fauna. The steppe ecosystem of Ukraine has also been affected by the construction of hydroelectric power plants and the creation of water reservoirs, as well as by war.

In order to preserve the unique landscape, flora and fauna of the Ukrainian steppe, several nature reserves have been created. These include Askania-Nova (Kherson Oblast), Luhansk Nature Reserve (Luhansk Oblast), Ukrainian Steppe Nature Reserve (Donetsk Oblast), Danube Biosphere Reserve (Odesa Oblast), Dnipro-Oril Nature Reserve (Dnipropetrovsk Oblast), Azov-Syvash National Nature Park (Kherson Oblast), Pryazovia National Nature Park (Zaporizhzhia Oblast), and Holy Mountains National Nature Park (Donetsk Oblast). Tragically, the reserves in Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts have been occupied by Russia since 2014, and the reserves in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts since 2022.

May 30 was declared as Steppe Day in Ukraine by the participants of the interregional scientific seminar “Protection of steppe landscapes of Donetsk and Luhansk regions”, which took place on March 1, 2017. One of the main goals of the seminar and the holiday was to highlight the threat to Ukrainian steppe reserves occupied by Russia.