(bear in mind this is an alt/fantasy timeline and not historically accurate)
The Ukrainian battleship Kyiv begins its journey in March 1917 with the beginning of the Russian revolution and the rise of Ukrainian seperatists.After a year of fighting off several Russian factions the Ukrainian seperatists gained independance from Russia, and formed the Ukrainian republic. thus forming a new chapter in Ukraine's history. Seeing Russia as a future threat in 1920 Ukraine begins the construction of a 34,000 tonne battleship to dominate the black sea and to act as shore bombardment should the need arise. To take on the Ganguts it was modeled on the HMS Agincourt to provide maximum firepower.The ship is completed 3 years later and is the most powerful ship on the black sea for her time,however is more heavily armoured than both Gangut and Agincourt with her belt at 320mm, and several knots faster at 25 knots. The chosen engines were diesel motors for simplicity of operation and maintenance.Note:changed to kyiv 28.02.22