Okhtyrka (, ; ) is a city in Sumy Oblast, Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Okhtyrka Raion within the oblast.
Okhtyrka was once home to Hussars and Cossacks. It was also in the past a regional seat of the Sloboda Ukraine Imperial Region and of the Ukrainian SSR. Since the discovery of oil and gas in 1961, Okhtyrka has come to be known as the "oil capital" of Ukraine. It is home to the former Okhtyrka air base and other historical and religious sites. Some religious buildings in Okhtyrka were almost destroyed in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Name The city of Okhtyrka is located on the banks of the Okhtyrka river. According to the most approved etymology, the city is named after the river.
Some local historians have suggested that the river's name may have originated in the Turkic language, where it can be translated to mean "lazy river," "place of ambush," or "white fort." However, Russian philologist Oleg Trubachyov has pointed out that there is insufficient evidence to support this theory.
Alternatively, linguist Kostiantyn Tyshchenko has suggested that the river's name may have Gothic origins.Tyshchenko, K. Ethno-linguistic history of the Ancient Ukraine. Kiev: "Akvilon-Plius", 2008
Geography Located south of the Sumy region, Okhtyrka lies in the center of a triangle created by regional centers — Sumy, Kharkiv, and Poltava. The city is on the left bank of the Vorskla River, colloquially known as the 'Blue Pearl' of the Ukrainian rivers.
History and legends Okhtyrka was first established by migrants from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth who, after escaping Polonization, moved from the Right-bank Ukraine to Sloboda Ukraine. Next to the new settlement, Polish authorities established a border outpost against the Muscovite Belgorod Border Line. The settlement and the outpost were founded on the right bank of the Vorskla River, on the site of an ancient Ruthenian settlement on Ak-tyr Hill (from Turkic — "white rock") in 1641, by Ukrainian Cossacks led by Polish government official Kulczewski. It was named Akhtyrsky.
In 1647, according to the act of demarcation of borders drawn by the Treaty of Polyanovka of 1634, it was ceded by the Kingdom of Poland to the Tsardom of Russia. Akhtyrsk became the last southwestern point of the Belgorod defense line that stretched along the southern border of the Russian state in the middle of the 17th century. In 1650, the Russian authorities reduced the fortress to a mere lookout outpost, next to which soon appeared the Holy Trinity Monastery.
In 1653 on the banks of the Vorskla tributary Okhtyrka a group of migrants from right-bank Ukraine established a settlement which adopted the name of the outpost. In 1654 a fortification was completed, and in 1655–1656 it was further expanded by Russian sluzhilie (service members) led by the Tsar's appointed voivodes Larion Kaminin and Trofim Chernov. In 1656, a group of over 1,000 people from right-bank Ukraine arrived, led by Cossack sotnik Arystov and protopope Antoniy from Zhyvotov (possibly the Kiev Voivodeship).
Being bolstered by this position during the 17th and 18th centuries, Okhtyrka rose to rival Kharkiv. The first census of the city was taken in 1655 by governor of Okhtyrka, Trofim Khrushchev, listing 1,339 residents. In 1655–1658, the settlement was a regimental town of the Okhtyrka Regiment.
In 1718 a tobacco factory started, the first one in Ukraine. Throughout the 18th century Okhtyrka transformed into a center of crafts and trade. Following the 1765 liquidation of the regimental system of administration, Okhtyrka became a center of the Sloboda Ukraine province and then Okhtyrka uyezd of the Kharkov Governorate.
During the Ukrainian War of Independence, from 1917 to 1920, it passed between various factions. Afterwards it was administratively part of the Kharkiv Governorate of Ukraine.
2022 Russian invasion
Clashes took place in Okhtyrka between the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the invading Russian Armed Forces starting on 24 February 2022. Despite never entering the town, much of Okhtyrka was destroyed in bombing raids carried out by the Russian army.
On the morning of February 25, the city of Okhtyrka was shelled. According to Amnesty International, Russian troops used cluster munitions, including dropping them on a kindergarten. As a result, three people died, including a child. On this day, in the area of Okhtyrka, a Russian Grad fired multiple rockets on a bus for the evacuation of residents. The Chairman of the Sumy Regional State Administration Dmytro Zhyvytskyi said that five more civilians were killed in the city.
On the morning of February 26, other explosions were heard. Explosions thundered in Akhtyrka: a military unit was destroyed by the enemy, unian.net (26 February 2022) Later it became known that Russian Armed Forces bombed a military unit and also fired at the Dachny residential area. A residential area was shelled in Akhtyrka, there is a threat to stop the thermal power plant, interfax.com.ua (26 February 2022) According to Zhyvytskyi, more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers died as a result of shelling by Russian troops of a military unit in Okhtyrka. On February 27, the chairman of the Sumy Regional State Administration reported that Russian tanks had shot a bus with civilians. On February 28, Russian forces used a vacuum bomb on the city.
On 28 February, Russian forces bombed and destroyed an oil depot in Okhtyrka, also the headquarters of a military base in Okhtyrka was targeted, more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 3 wounded when a Russian thermobaric bomb detonated. International law does not prohibit the use of thermobaric munitions, fuel-air explosive devices, or vacuum bombs against military targets. Another 20 soldiers were killed by a Russian attack on the medical department of the base. Their use against civilian populations may be banned by the United Nations (UN) Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW). Oksana Markarova, the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States, claimed that the use of thermobaric weapons is in violation of the Geneva Conventions.
On March 1, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that Russian troops were holding the city surrounded. Summary of the military situation in Ukraine on March 1 from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, unian.net (1 March 2022) On March 3, Russian aircraft bombarded the local thermal power plant and fired at residential areas of Okhtyrka. The invaders bombed the thermal power plant and the railway station in Akhtyrka, unian.net (3 March 2022) On March 5, the head of the Sumy Regional State Administration announced that the Okhtyrka Combined Heat and Power Plant was completely destroyed after an air bombardment by Russian aircraft, resulting in the death of 5 workers. Akhtyrskaya CHPP destroyed as a result of air bombardment by Russian fighters - head of Sumy Regional State Administration, interfax.com.ua (5 March 2022) On March 8, Okhtyrka was subjected to another artillery shelling from Russia; residential areas were damaged. Russian artillery fired again on Okhtirka in Sumy region - the head of the OVA, interfax.com.ua (8 March 2022) On the night of March 10, a Russian aircraft bombed Okhtyrka twice; a bombing attack was carried out on the Kachanovsky GPP of PJSC Ukrnafta. Russia destroys Okhtyrka, and the Armed Forces repel the enemy near Kharkov: how another night of war in Ukraine, segodnya.ua (10 March 2022)www.ukrinform.net Okhtyrka town being bombed day and night At noon on March 13, as a result of Russian shelling, along Kyiv street No. 2, the gas station BVS No. 22 was on fire. On the night of March 13–14, Russian aircraft bombed the city again, resulting in the death of three civilians. On March 16, the Russian military began to retreat. On March 20, active hostilities continued in the Okhtyrka Raion.
On March 24, 2022, in order to celebrate the accomplishments, mass heroism and resilience of citizens identified in the defense of their city during the repulse of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation, by Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 164/2022, the city of Okhtyrka was awarded the honorary distinction "Hero City of Ukraine".
Russians, using prohibited means of warfare, carried out an air bombardment of the most densely populated residential area of Okhtyrka, Dachnyi neighborhood. The occupiers struck a rocket attack on the densely populated area of Okhtyrka, there are dead - the mayor, interfax.com.ua (24 March 2022) As a result of the bombing, at least 15 residential high-rise and private houses, civil infrastructure facilities, and power lines were destroyed or damaged. According to the Emergency Situations Ministry of Ukraine in Okhtyrka, rescuers were able to free an injured woman from the rubble of damaged houses and also found the body of one deceased person. According to preliminary data, one person died. On March 25, Russian aircraft bombed Okhtyrka again. Sumy region: the enemy bombed Okhtyrka again - the head of the OVA, pravda.com.ua (25 March 2022) On March 30, public utilities in Okhtyrka began repairing damaged houses. By April 21, only 24,000 of the town's original population of 48,000 were left. In July, Okhtyrka suffered severe power issues due to damage on the plant from a March air raid.
Okhtyrka's mayor Pavlo Kuzmenko credited the Ukrainian resistance in the city with keeping Russian forces away from the major cities of Poltava and Dnipro.
The coat of arms The town's coat of arms (blue field, golden cross and shining sun above) celebrates the city's visiting pilgrims. It was introduced by Simon Bekenshtein on September 21, 1781, and reinstated in 1991 by the city council.
Population
Ethnicity Distribution of the population by ethnicity according to the 2001 census:
Language Distribution of the population by native language according to the 2001 census: Language Percentage Ukrainian 87.09% Russian 9.97% other/undecided 2.94%
Military history
In 1655–1658 the Okhtyrka Cossack Regiment was formed and lasted until 1765, when, ordered by Catherine II, all Cossack regiments were dismantled. In 1709, the territory of the Cossack regiment became the scene of fierce fighting with the Swedes. For more than a hundred years the Cossack regiment had fought against the invasion of the Tatars, and the troops had both defeats and victories over the Turks, Tatars, and the Swedes. Later, Okhtyrka's Cossack regiment reformed into hussars.
Okhtyrka Fortress
Okhtyrka, like all of Sloboda Ukraine, had an disorderly city layout. The central core of the city was represented by the fortress, which occupied an elevated place; the buildings fitting into the terrain without any order.
Okhtyrka's fort sat on the shore of the small Okhtyrka river where it makes a loop, forming a natural protection. The fortress was surrounded by numerous lakes, complicating any potential approaches to it.
The fortress had the shape of an irregular quadrilateral, and occupied the area of the present city center, from the river to the location of today's "Intercession Cathedral" outside the castle. It was surrounded by a wooden fence with five stone and fifteen wooden towers, as well as two bastions. The fortress gates had drawbridges. Around the castle a moat was dug and earth mound built with caponier at the corners. The moat was filled with water.
In the early 18th century, Cossacks of the Okhtyrka regiment took an active part in the Great Northern War, recapturing the Swedish and Russian lands bordering the Baltic Sea. On December 26, 1707, Peter the First came to the city to personally verify the readiness of the garrison and hold a council of war.
Hussars