Juventus winger Federico Bernardeschi scored a goal for the home side in the second half following a mistake from keeper Andriy Pyatov, to give Italy the lead.
Ruslan Malinovskiy equalled the scoreboard for Ukraine seven minutes later.
Shortly afterwards, Malinovskyi had another shot at goal, but hit the crossbar.
The match was stopped in the 43rd minute for one minute’s applause in memory of the 43 people who died when a motorway bridge collapsed in Genoa on August 14.
A message which read “Genoa in our heart” was shown on the big screen.
Italy coach Roberto Mancini and his team laid a wreath at the site of the bridge collapse the day before the game.
“I lived in Genoa for 15 years and I passed over this bridge many times,” said Mancini, who started his football career as a striker for Sampdoria.
“Seeing it on TV is striking, but it has a different effect in reality, it’s even more striking; it was a very emotional moment for me.”
