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Kherson

Coordinates: 46°38′33″N 32°37′30″E / 46.64250°N 32.62500°E / 46.64250; 32.62500
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This article is about the city. For other uses, see Kherson (disambiguation).
For the Greek colony, see Chersonesus.

Kherson
Херсо́н
City of regional significance
(Top-to-bottom and left-to-right):
Flag of Kherson
Flag
Coat of arms of Kherson
Coat of arms
Kherson is located in Kherson Oblast
Kherson
Kherson
Location of Kherson
Kherson is located in Ukraine
Kherson
Kherson
Kherson (Ukraine)
Coordinates: 46°38′33″N 32°37′30″E / 46.64250°N 32.62500°E / 46.64250; 32.62500
Country Ukraine
OblastKherson Oblast
City RaionsKherson Raion
Dneprovski Raion
Suvorovski Raion
Komsomolski Raion
Founded18 June 1778
ControlControlled by Russia[1]
Government
 • Mayor de jureIhor Kolykhaiev[2]
 • Mayor de factoOleksandr Kobets[3]
Area
 • Total135.7 km2 (52.4 sq mi)
Elevation
46.6 m (152.9 ft)
Population
 (2021)
 • TotalDecrease 283,649
Postal code
73000
Area code+380 552
Primary airportKherson International Airport
Websitemiskrada.kherson.ua

Kherson (Ukrainian: Херсо́н, pronounced [xerˈsɔn] ⓘ; Russian: [xʲɪrˈson]) is a city de jure in the south of Ukraine, now controlled by Russia. It is for now the administrative centre of Kherson Oblast and a major economic centre. Kherson is an important port on the Black Sea and on the Dnieper River, and the home of a major ship-building industry. It is currently the centre of Kherson Raion and hosts the administration of Kherson urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine.[4] Since March 2022, the city has been occupied by Russian forces during its invasion of the country as part of the Kherson military–civilian administration, and has filed a petition to join the Russian Federation.[5] As of 2021, it had a population of 283,649 (2021 est.)[6], but the Ukrainian authorities estimate that since the invasion 45% of inhabitants have fled the city.[7]

History

Foundation and etymology

The city was founded by decree of Catherine the Great on 18 June 1778 on the high bank of the Dnieper as a central fortress of the Black Sea Fleet after the Russian annexation of the territory in 1774. The first new settlement in the "Greek project" of Empress Catherine and her favorite Grigory Potemkin, it was named after the ancient Greek city-colony of Chersonesus in Crimea. In Greek, Χερσόνησος (chersonesos) meant "peninsular shore".[8][9]

Imperial port

Kherson in 1855

1783 saw the city granted the rights of a district town and the opening of a local shipyard where the hulls of the Russian Black Sea fleet were laid. Within a year the Kherson Shipping Company began operations. By the end of the 18th century, the port had established trade with France, Italy, Spain and other European countries. In 1783–1793 also Poland's maritime trade via the Black Sea was conducted through Kherson by Kompania Handlowa Polska. In 1791, Potemkin was buried in the newly-built St. Catherine's Cathedral. In 1803 the city became the capital of the Kherson Governorate.[10]

Industry, beginning with breweries, tanneries and other food and agricultural processing, developed from the 1850s.

In 1897 the population of the city was 59,076 of which, on the basis of their first language, almost half were recorded as Great Russian, 30% as Jewish, and 20% "Little Russian" or Ukrainian.[11]

During the revolution of 1905 there were workers' strikes and an army mutiny (an armed demonstration by soldiers of the 10th Disciplinary Battalion) in the city.[12]

The Soviet era

In the wake of their 1917 October Revolution, the Bolsheviks forced from Kiev the Tsentralna Rada which had a declared the Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR). But before they could secure Kherson, they ceded the region under the terms of the March 1918 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk to the German-controlled Ukrainian State. After the withdrawal of German forces in November 1918, the efforts of the UPR (the Petluirites) to assert authority were frustrated by a French-led Allied intervention which occupied Kherson in January 1919.

Aerial view of the city in 1918

In March 1919, the Green Army of local warlord Ataman Nikifor Grigoriev ("Matviy Hryhoriyiv") ousted the French and Greek garrison and precipitated the Allied evacuation from Odesa. In July, the Bolsheviks defeated Grigoriev who had called upon the Ukrainian people to rise against the "Communist imposters" and their "Jewish commissars,"[13] and had perpetrated pogroms,[13] including in the Kherson region.[14] Kherson itself was occupied by the counter-revolutionary Whites before finally falling to the Bolshevik Red Army in February 1920.[10] In 1922 the city and region was formally incorporated into the Ukrainian SSR a constituent republic of the Soviet Union.

The population was radically reduced from 75,000 to 41,000 by the famine of 1921–3, but then rose steadily, reaching 97,200 in 1939. In 1940, the city was one of the sites of executions of Polish officers and intelligentsia committed by the Soviets as part of the Katyn massacre.[15] Further devastation and population loss resulted from the German occupation during the Second World War. The German occupation, which lasted from August 1941 to March 1944, contended with both Soviet and Ukrainian nationalist (OUN) underground cells. The Kherson district leadership of the OUN was headed by Bogdan Bandera (brother of OUN leader Stepan Bandera).[16] The Germans operated a Nazi prison and the Stalag 370 prisoner-of-war camp in the city.[17][18]

In the post-war decades, which saw substantial industrial growth, the population more than doubled, reaching 261,000 by 1970.[19] The new factories, including the Comintern Shipbuilding and Repairs Complex, the Kuibyshev Ship Repair Complex, and the Kherson Cotton Textile Manufacturing Complex (one of the largest textile plants in the Soviet Union), and Kherson’s growing grain-exporting port, drew in labour from the Ukrainian countryside. This changed the city's ethnic composition, increasing the Ukrainian share from 36% in 1926 to 63% in 1959, while reducing the Russian share from 36 to 29%. The Jewish population never recovered from the Holocaust visited by the Germans: accounting for 26% of residents in 1926, their number had fallen to just 6% in 1959.[19]

In independent Ukraine

With a turnout of 83.4% of eligible voters, 90.1% of the votes cast in Kherson Oblast affirmed Ukrainian independence in the national referendum of 1 December 1991.[20]

Following Russian occupation of Crimea in 2014, Kherson housed the office of the Ukrainian President's representative in Crimea.[21]

Until 18 July 2020, Kherson was incorporated as a city of oblast significance and the centre of Kherson Municipality. The municipality was abolished in July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Kherson Oblast to five. The area of Kherson Municipality was merged into newly established Kherson Raion.[22][23]

Russian occupation

Main articles: Battle of Kherson and Russian occupation of Kherson Oblast

Kherson witnessed heavy fighting in the first days of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine (Kherson offensive).[24] As of 2 March 2022 the city was reported to be under Russian control.[25][26]

Under the Russian occupation, locals continued to stage street protests against the invading army's presence and in support of the unity of Ukraine.[27][28] According to the Ukrainian government, the Russian military sought to create a puppet Kherson People's Republic in the style of the Russian-backed separatist polities in the Donbas region and tried to coerce local councilors into endorsing the move, detaining those activists and officials who opposed their design.[29]

On 26 April, both local authorities and Russian state media reported that Russian troops had taken over the city's administration headquarters and had appointed both a new mayor,[30] former KGB agent Alexander Kobets, and a new civilian-military regional administrator, ex-mayor Volodymyr Saldo.[31] The next day, Ukraine's Prosecutor General said that troops used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse a further pro-Ukraine rally in the city centre.[30] In an indication of an intended split from Ukraine, on the 28th the new administration announced that from May it would switch the region’s payments to the Russian ruble. Citing unnamed reports about alleged discrimination of Russian speakers, its deputy head, Kirill Stremousov said that "reintegrating the Kherson region back into a Nazi Ukraine is out of the question".[32]

The Russian backed occupation authority in Kherson claims that it has started exporting last year’s grain from Kherson to Russia. They are also working on exporting sunflower seeds.[33]

Demographics

Ethnicity

As of Ukrainian National Census in 2001, the ethnic groups living within Kherson included:

Languages

Languages 1897[34] 2001[35]
Ukrainian 19.6% 53.4%
Russian 47.2% 45.3%
Yiddish 29.1%
Polish 1.7%
German 0.7%

Population

Year Population
1790 24,000
1926 58,000
1939 97,000
1959 158,000
1981 361,000
2004 354,000
2007 329,000
2020 283,338

Administrative divisions

There are three city raions.

  • Suvorov Raion, central and oldest district of the city, named after the Russian General Suvorov. Includes departments: Tavrіjs'kij, Pіvnіchnij and Mlini.
  • Dnipro Raion, named after the Dnieper river. Includes departments: HBK, Tekstilny, Sklotara, Slobіdka, Voyenka, Skhіdny.
  • Korabelny Raion. Includes departments: Shumensky, Korabel, Zabalka, Sukharne, Zhitloselishche, Selishche — 4, Selishche — 5.

Climate

Under the Köppen climate classification, Kherson has a humid continental climate (Dfa).[36]

Climate data for Kherson (1991–2020, extremes 1955–present)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 15.2
(59.4) 		18.6
(65.5) 		22.7
(72.9) 		32.0
(89.6) 		37.7
(99.9) 		39.5
(103.1) 		40.5
(104.9) 		40.7
(105.3) 		36.4
(97.5) 		32.0
(89.6) 		21.8
(71.2) 		17.2
(63.0) 		40.7
(105.3)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 1.4
(34.5) 		3.1
(37.6) 		8.8
(47.8) 		16.5
(61.7) 		22.9
(73.2) 		27.5
(81.5) 		30.3
(86.5) 		30.1
(86.2) 		23.7
(74.7) 		16.1
(61.0) 		8.4
(47.1) 		3.3
(37.9) 		16.0
(60.8)
Daily mean °C (°F) −1.6
(29.1) 		−0.6
(30.9) 		4.1
(39.4) 		10.6
(51.1) 		16.7
(62.1) 		21.2
(70.2) 		23.8
(74.8) 		23.3
(73.9) 		17.5
(63.5) 		10.9
(51.6) 		4.7
(40.5) 		0.4
(32.7) 		10.9
(51.6)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −4.4
(24.1) 		−3.8
(25.2) 		0.0
(32.0) 		5.0
(41.0) 		10.6
(51.1) 		15.3
(59.5) 		17.5
(63.5) 		16.7
(62.1) 		11.8
(53.2) 		6.3
(43.3) 		1.6
(34.9) 		−2.2
(28.0) 		6.2
(43.2)
Record low °C (°F) −26.3
(−15.3) 		−24.4
(−11.9) 		−20.2
(−4.4) 		−7.9
(17.8) 		−1.5
(29.3) 		5.5
(41.9) 		9.2
(48.6) 		6.6
(43.9) 		−5.0
(23.0) 		−7.6
(18.3) 		−16.2
(2.8) 		−22.2
(−8.0) 		−26.3
(−15.3)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 33
(1.3) 		28
(1.1) 		30
(1.2) 		32
(1.3) 		43
(1.7) 		59
(2.3) 		44
(1.7) 		29
(1.1) 		38
(1.5) 		36
(1.4) 		34
(1.3) 		38
(1.5) 		444
(17.5)
Average extreme snow depth cm (inches) 2
(0.8) 		3
(1.2) 		1
(0.4) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		1
(0.4) 		3
(1.2)
Average rainy days 9 7 9 12 11 11 9 6 9 9 12 10 114
Average snowy days 11 10 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.3 4 8 39
Average relative humidity (%) 85.5 82.1 77.1 68.5 64.8 65.3 62.1 60.7 68.4 76.4 84.9 86.8 73.6
Mean monthly sunshine hours 63.7 82.7 134.2 193.3 275.8 294.7 318.5 301.5 228.4 153.8 77.6 50.1 2,174.3
Source 1: Pogoda.ru.net[37]
Source 2: World Meteorological Organization (humidity and sun 1981–2010)[38]

Transport

Ports

Kherson has both a seaport, Port of Kherson and a river port, Kherson River Port.

Rail

Kherson Railway Station [uk]

Kherson is connected to the national railroad network of Ukraine. There are daily long-distance services to Kyiv, Lviv and other cities.

Air

Kherson is served by Kherson International Airport. It operates a 2,500 x 42-meter concrete runway, accommodating Boeing 737, Airbus 319/320 aircraft, and helicopters of all series.

The official airport website is https://khe.aero and additional info can be found at http://www.aisukraine.net.

Education

Kherson State Maritime Academy [uk]

There are 77 high schools as well as 5 colleges. There are 15 institutions of higher education, including:

The documentary Dixie Land was filmed at a music school in Kherson.[39]

Main sights

St. Catherine's Cathedral, Kherson

People

Twin cities

References

  1. ^ "Russia says it captures Ukrainian city of Kherson -RIA". Reuters. 1 March 2022. Archived from the original on 3 March 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  2. ^ (in Ukrainian) The mayor of Kherson became the people's deputy majoritarian Archived 22 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine, Ukrayinska Pravda (16 November 2020)
  3. ^ "Kherson mayor refuses to cooperate with collaborators and invaders". 12 March 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  4. ^ "Херсонская громада" (in Russian). Портал об'єднаних громад України. Archived from the original on 27 August 2021. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  5. ^ "Kherson regional administration captured by Russia". 3 March 2022.
  6. ^ Чисельність наявного населення України на 1 січня 2021 [Number of Present Population of Ukraine, as of January 1, 2021] (PDF) (in Ukrainian and English). Kyiv: State Statistics Service of Ukraine.
  7. ^ "Locals 'apprehensive' in Moscow-run Ukraine region". France 24. 25 May 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  8. ^ Yanko, M.T. [Янко М.Т.] (1998). Toponimichnyi slovnyk Ukrainy: slobnyk-doidnyk Топонімічний словник України: словник-довідник [Toponymic dictionary of Ukraine: Reference Dictionary].
  9. ^ Luchyk, V.V. [Лучик В.В.] (2014). Etymolohichnyi slovnyk toponimiv Ukrainy Етимологічний словник топонімів України [Etymological dictionary of Toponyms of Ukraine].
  10. ^ a b "Херсон", Большая Советская Энциклопедия, том 46 (The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, Vol. 46), Б. А. Введенский 2-е изд.(B. A. Vvedensky ed.. 2nd Edition). . М., Государственное научное издательство «Большая Советская энциклопедия» (State Scientific Publishing House), 1957, pp. 121-122
  11. ^ Перепись населения 1897 (Census of 1897) г. Распределение населения по родному языку и уездам. Херсонский уезд, город Херсон
  12. ^ Херсон // Советская историческая энциклопедия / редколл., гл. ред. Е. М. Жуков. том 15. М., государственное научное издательство «Советская энциклопедия», 1974. ("Kherson", Soviet Historical Encyclopedia. Vol. 15, E. M. Zhukov. ed., State Scientific Publishing House), 1974. pp 504-506, 571-573
  13. ^ a b Werth, Nicolas (2019). "Chap. 5: 1918-1921. Les pogroms des guerres civiles russes". Le cimetière de l'espérance. Essais sur l'histoire de l'Union soviétique (1914-1991) [Cemetery of Hope. Essays on the History of the Soviet Union (1914–1991)]. Collection Tempus (in French). Perrin. ISBN 978-2-262-07879-9.
  14. ^ Danilenko, Vladimir (2006). Jewish Pogroms in Ukraine, 1918-1921. Fond FR-3050 Kiev District Commission of the Jewish Public Committee for the Provision of Aid to Victims of Pogroms; Opis' 1-3 (PDF). Kyiv: The State Archive of the Kyiv Oblast. p. 4.
  15. ^ Zbrodnia katyńska (in Polish). Warszawa: IPN. 2020. p. 17. ISBN 978-83-8098-825-5.
  16. ^ Владимир Ковальчук. Богдан — загадочный брат Степана Бандеры Газета «День», № 30, 20 февраля 2009 года. // day.kiev.ua ("Vladimir Kovalchuk. Bogdan is Stepan Bandera's mysterious brother", The Day, No. 30, 20 February 2009. // day.kiev.ua)
  17. ^ "Gefängnis Cherson". Bundesarchiv.de (in German). Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  18. ^ "German Camps". Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  19. ^ a b "Kherson". www.encyclopediaofukraine.com. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  20. ^ "Ukrainian Independence Referendum". Seventeen Moments in Soviet History. 28 September 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  21. ^ Official website Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Presidential representative of Ukraine in Crimea.
  22. ^ "Про утворення та ліквідацію районів. Постанова Верховної Ради України № 807-ІХ". Голос України (in Ukrainian). 18 July 2020. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  23. ^ "Нові райони: карти + склад" (in Ukrainian). Міністерство розвитку громад та територій України. 17 July 2020. Archived from the original on 2 March 2021. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  24. ^ Reuters (26 February 2022). "Fighting under way near Kherson, Mykolaiv, Odessa - Ukrainian official". Reuters. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2022. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  25. ^ Oliphant, Roland (2 March 2022). "Vladimir Putin set to 'cut Ukraine in two' as key city of Kherson falls to Russians". The Telegraph. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  26. ^ "Kherson falls — Kyiv under fire — Mariupol tragedy". 3 March 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  27. ^ "Crowds take to the streets of Kherson". BBC News. 13 March 2022. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  28. ^ Peterson, Scott; Naselenko, Oleksandr (6 April 2022). "Tear gas, arrogance, and resistance: Life in Russia-occupied Kherson". Christian Science Monitor. ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  29. ^ "Missing reporter among several journalists, activists and officials said to be detained by Russian forces". CNN. 19 March 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  30. ^ a b Prentice, Alessandra; Zinets, Natalia (27 April 2022). "Russian forces disperse pro-Ukraine rally, tighten control in occupied Kherson". Reuters. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  31. ^ Times, The Moscow (28 April 2022). "Russian-Occupied Kherson Names New Leadership Amid Pro-Ukraine Protests, Rocket Attacks". The Moscow Times. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  32. ^ Vasilyeva, Nataliya (28 April 2022). "Occupied Kherson will switch to Russian currency, puppet government says". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  33. ^ Vasilyeva, Nataliya (30 May 2022). "Russian-controlled Kherson region in Ukraine starts grain exports to Russia - TASS". Reuters. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  34. ^ Национальный состав населения городов (по языку) Archived 13 August 2015 at the Wayback Machine Всероссийская перепись населения 1897
  35. ^ Ukrainian census in Kherson Oblast. State Statistics Service.
  36. ^ Peel, M. C. and Finlayson, B. L. and McMahon, T. A. (2007). "Updated world map of the Köppen–Geiger climate classification" (PDF). Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 11 (5): 1633–1644. Bibcode:2007HESS...11.1633P. doi:10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007. ISSN 1027-5606. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 February 2012.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  37. ^ "Pogoda.ru.net" (in Russian). May 2011. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  38. ^ "World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1981–2010". World Meteorological Organization. Archived from the original on 17 July 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  39. ^ Bondarchuk, Roman. "Dixie Land". Cineuropa. Archived from the original on 8 May 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  40. ^ "KHERSON". JewishEncyclopedia.com. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  41. ^ https://artmuseum.ks.ua/
  42. ^ Levy, Clifford J. "Georgi A. Arbatov, a Bridge Between Cold War Superpowers, Is Dead at 87" Archived 6 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, 2 October 2010. Accessed 4 October 2010.
  43. ^ "Self-destructive dance superstar Sergei Polunin: 'Ukraine put me on a list of terrorists'". TheGuardian.com. 7 March 2019. Archived from the original on 6 February 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2022.

External links

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