Pervomaisk ( uk, Первомайськ, , ; russian: Первомайск) is a landlocked city in Mykolaiv Oblast,

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

and the administrative center of the

Pervomaisk Raion Pervomaisk Raion ( uk, Первомайський район) is located in Mykolaiv Oblast of Ukraine. Its administrative center is the town of Pervomaisk. Population: History In the beginning of the 19th century, the current area of the dist ...

. It is located on the

Southern Bug , ''Pivdennyi Buh'' , name_etymology = , image = Sunset S Bug Vinnitsa 2007 G1.jpg , image_size = 270 , image_caption = Southern Bug River in the vicinity of Vinnytsia, Ukraine , map = PietinisBug ...

river which bisects the city. Pervomaisk hosts the administration of Pervomaisk urban hromada, one of the

hromada A hromada ( uk, територіальна громада, lit=territorial community, translit=terytorialna hromada) is a basic unit of administrative division in Ukraine, similar to a municipality. It was established by the Government of Ukra ...

s of Ukraine. Population: In 2001, population was 70,170. The city is known for being a center (headquarters) of the Soviet Strategic Rocket Forces during the Soviet period. Until 18 July 2020, Pervomaisk was incorporated as a city of oblast significance. It also served as the administrative center of Pervomaisk Raion even though it did not belong to the raion. In July 2020, as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Mykolaiv Oblast to four, the city of Pervomaisk was merged into Pervomaisk Raion.

Etymology

The name derives from the Russian ''pervomay'' (первомай) meaning "the first of May," ( May Day), referring also to the city's formation on 1 May 1919 from the merger of three neighbouring places. The name for one of the merged towns, Bohopil (or Bohopol), was derived from the name of a local river

which in

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

and

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

is named Boh.

History

The city was formed when three neighbouring settlements: the village of Holta (Голта) and the town of Bohopil (Богопіль) around a county city of Olviopol (Ольвіополь) were merged. The merger was adopted by the All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee on June 6, 1919. These cities existed from 1773 and the first settlement in the area was mentioned as early as 1676. In the 17th century Holta was part of

Zaporizhian Sich The Zaporozhian Sich ( ua, Запорозька Січ, ; also uk, Вольностi Вiйська Запорозького Низового, ; Free lands of the Zaporozhian Host the Lower) was a semi-autonomous polity and proto-state of Cos ...

, Bohopil was the customs point of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

and Olviopol was part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

.No Holds Barred

The Ukrainian Week ''The Ukrainian Week'' ( uk, Український Тиждень, translit=Ukrainskyi Tyzhden) is an illustrated weekly magazine covering politics, economics and the arts and aimed at the socially engaged Ukrainian-language reader. It provides ...

(19 July 2013)

World War II

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Pervomaisk was occupied by the

Axis Powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

in 1941 and was divided between German occupation authorities on the east bank (Bohopol and Olviopol) and the Romanian-occupied region of Transnistria to the west (Holta). Holta served as the center of the Golta '' judeţ'' (district) of Transnistria. Pervomaisk had been more than 1/3 Jewish before the war but most were murdered during the occupation.

Current history and Russo-Ukrainian War

Had the Russian-held Mykolaiv Military–Civilian Administration pushed northwards capturing Nova Odesa, Voznesensk and Yuzhnoukrainsk, Pervomaisk will be the ''de jure'' capital of the oblast.

Climate

Notable residents

* Selig Brodetsky (1888–1954), British mathematician, President of the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

Remarkable buildings and structures

In Pervomaisk, there is at 48°4'0"N 30°51'29"E a 196 metres tall guyed TV mast, equipped with 6 crossbars running from the mast body to the guys. Pervomaisk was the former location of the

46th Rocket Division The 46th Nizhnedneprovskaya Rocket Division was a division of the Soviet Strategic Rocket Forces, active from 1961–62 to 1992 under the Soviet Union, and from 1992 to 2002 as part of Ukraine. The division traced its history back to the 188th Rifle ...

of the 43rd Rocket Army of the Soviet Strategic Rocket Forces, formed during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

. One of the commanders of the division, appointed in 1991, was General Major Mikhail Filatov.Woff, Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, B39-16 The RT-23UTTKh

intercontinental ballistic missile An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons c ...

silos based at Pervomaisk were destroyed, partially with Nunn–Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction programme funding, during the 1990s.

Gallery

File:PervMR.jpg, Pervomaisk city council File:Bogopol.jpg, Orthodox church of the Intercession of Our Lady in Pervomaisk File:SS-24 silo destruction.jpg, Workers destroying a

SS-24 The RT-23 Molodets (russian: РТ-23 УТТХ «Мо́лодец», lit. "brave man" or "fine fellow"; NATO reporting name: SS-24 Scalpel) was a cold-launched, three-stage, solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile developed and produced b ...

silo at Pervomaisk

References

External links

Official website of Pervomaisk
{{Authority control Cities in Mykolaiv Oblast Cities of regional significance in Ukraine Populated places on the Southern Bug Populated places established in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Populated places established in 1919 Yelisavetgradsky Uyezd Soviet toponymy in Ukraine Holocaust locations in Ukraine