region in W Ukraine, a former province of Czechoslovakia
See Ruthenia in American Heritage Dictionary 4
(ro͞o-thēnˈyə, -thēˈnē-ə)
A region of western Ukraine south of the Carpathian Mountains. Ruled for centuries by various powers, including Poland and Austria-Hungary, it was later a province of Czechoslovakia (1918-1939) and was annexed by the USSR in 1945.