Understanding Ukrainian Vehicle Licence Plates
Ukraine uses a structured alphanumeric system for vehicle registration plates that encodes regional information directly into the plate. This guide covers the current format used in Ukraine, the regional letter codes assigned to each oblast, and how to identify a vehicle's origin from its plate.
The Current Ukrainian Plate Format
Since 2004, Ukraine has used the following standard format for civilian vehicle plates:
AA 0000 AA
- The first two letters identify the region (oblast)
- The four digits are a sequential number
- The final two letters complete the series
Plates are white with black characters and feature the Ukrainian flag (blue and yellow) on the left side along with the country code UA.
Regional Letter Codes by Oblast
| Oblast | Regional Code(s) | Main City |
|---|---|---|
| Cherkasy | СА–СВ | Cherkasy |
| Chernihiv | СЕ–СН | Chernihiv |
| Chernivtsi | СЕ (older), separate series | Chernivtsi |
| Dnipropetrovsk | АА–АН | Dnipro |
| Donetsk | АН–АТ | Donetsk / Kramatorsk |
| Ivano-Frankivsk | ІФ | Ivano-Frankivsk |
| Kharkiv | АХ | Kharkiv |
| Kherson | ВТ | Kherson |
| Khmelnytskyi | ВМ | Khmelnytskyi |
| Kyiv (city) | КА–КН | Kyiv |
| Kyiv Oblast | КВ | Brovary |
| Kirovohrad | ВА–ВВ | Kropyvnytskyi |
| Luhansk | АВ | Luhansk / Sievierodonetsk |
| Lviv | ВС | Lviv |
| Mykolaiv | ВН | Mykolaiv |
| Odesa | ВА, separate Odesa series | Odesa |
| Poltava | ВІ | Poltava |
| Rivne | ВК | Rivne |
| Sumy | ВХ | Sumy |
| Ternopil | ВО | Ternopil |
| Vinnytsia | АВ | Vinnytsia |
| Volyn | АС | Lutsk |
| Zakarpattia | АТ | Uzhhorod |
| Zaporizhzhia | АР | Zaporizhzhia |
| Zhytomyr | АМ | Zhytomyr |
Special Categories of Ukrainian Plates
Ukraine issues different plate types beyond standard civilian plates:
- Diplomatic plates: Yellow background with CD prefix and numeric country code
- Military plates: Use a separate series not tied to civilian regional codes
- Temporary transit plates: Red background, used for short-term registrations
- Personalised plates: Available under Ukrainian law with custom character combinations
Older Pre-2004 Plate Format
Before the current format, Ukraine used a Soviet-derived system transitional from 1992 onwards. Older plates followed formats like ААА 00-00 with different region designators. These plates are now largely out of use but may still appear on older vehicles.
How Ukrainian Plates Differ from Russian Plates
While both countries use alphanumeric systems, key differences include:
- Ukraine uses the Latin-styled Ukrainian alphabet; Russia uses a subset of Cyrillic
- Ukrainian plates show the UA country code; Russian plates show RUS
- Ukraine's regional identifier is letter-based; Russia's is numeric
- Ukrainian plates have a blue-yellow flag strip on the left; Russian plates have a tricolour strip