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Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest
city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
and
municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
in
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 ...
.Kharkiv "never had eastern-western conflicts"
''
Euronews Euronews (styled on-air in lowercase as euronews) is a European television news network, headquartered in Lyon, France. The network began broadcasting on 1 January 1993 and covers world news from a European perspective. The majority of Eurone ...
'' (23 October 2014)
Located in the northeast of the country, it is the largest city of the historic
Slobozhanshchyna Sloboda Ukraine (literally: Borderland of free frontier guards; uk, Слобідська Україна, Slobidska Ukraina), or Slobozhanshchyna ( uk, Слобожанщина, Slobozhanshchyna, ), is a historical region, now located in Northeas ...
region. Kharkiv is the
administrative centre An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...
of
Kharkiv Oblast Kharkiv Oblast ( uk, Харківська́ о́бласть, translit=Kharkivska oblast), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna ( uk, Ха́рківщина), is an oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. The oblast borders Russia to the north, Luhans ...
and of the surrounding
Kharkiv Raion Kharkiv Raion ( uk, Харківський район) is a raion (district) of Kharkiv Oblast in eastern Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Kharkiv. Population: On 18 July 2020, as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, ...
. The latest population is Kharkiv was founded in 1654 as Kharkiv fortress, and after these humble beginnings, it grew to be a major centre of industry, trade and Ukrainian culture in 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. ...
. At the beginning of the 20th century, the city was predominantly Russian in population, but as industrial expansion drew in further labor from the distressed countryside, and as the Soviet regime moderated previous restrictions on Ukrainian cultural expression, by the eve of
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 ...
the greater part of the population was officially identified as Ukrainian. From December 1919 to January 1934, Kharkiv was the first capital of the
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
. Kharkiv is a major cultural, scientific, educational, transport and industrial centre of Ukraine, with numerous museums, theatres and libraries, including the
Annunciation The Annunciation (from Latin '), also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the biblical tale of the announcement by the ange ...
and Dormition Cathedrals, the
Derzhprom The Derzhprom ( uk, Держпром) or Gosprom (russian: Госпром) building is an office building located on Freedom Square in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Built in the Constructivist style, it was the first modern skyscraper building in th ...
building in Freedom Square, and the
National University of Kharkiv The Kharkiv University or Karazin University ( uk, Каразінський університет), or officially V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University ( uk, Харківський національний університет імені ...
. Industry plays a significant role in Kharkiv's economy, specialised primarily in
machinery A machine is a physical system using power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromolecule ...
and
electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...
. There are hundreds of industrial facilities throughout the city, including the
Morozov Design Bureau Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau ( ua, Харківське Конструкторське Бюро з Машинобудування ім. О.О. Морозова, or ХКБМ, KhKBM), often simply called Morozov Design Bureau or a ...
and the
Malyshev Tank Factory The Malyshev Factory ( uk , Завод імені В.О. Малишева, translit=Zavod imeni V.O. Malysheva; abbreviated ), formerly the Kharkov Locomotive Factory (, ), is a state-owned manufacturer of heavy equipment in Kharkiv, Ukraine. It ...
(leaders in world
tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...
production from the 1930s to the 1980s);
Khartron JSC "Khartron" (Hartron) (Ukrainian: Хартрон, formerly NPO "Electropribor", Russian: НПО "Электроприбор", meaning Scientific Production Association "Electrical device"; originally known as NII-692 or OKB-692 design bureau; ...
(
aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astrona ...
,
nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a electric generator, generato ...
s and automation
electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...
);
Turboatom UKRAINIAN ENERGY MACHINES JOINT STOCK COMPANY or TURBOATOM ( uk, Турбоатом) is one of the strategic state-owned enterprises of Ukraine, determining to a considerable degree energy and national security of the state. The plant is among t ...
(
turbine A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced by a turbine can be used for generating e ...
s for hydro-, thermal- and nuclear-power plants); and
Antonov Antonov State Enterprise ( uk, Державне підприємство «Антонов»), formerly the Aeronautical Scientific-Technical Complex named after Antonov (Antonov ASTC) ( uk, Авіаційний науково-технічни ...
(the multipurpose aircraft manufacturing plant). In March and April 2014, security forces and counter-demonstrators defeated efforts by Russian-backed separatists to seize control of the city and regional administration. Kharkiv was a major target of the
Northeastern Ukraine offensive The northeastern Ukraine campaign was a theatre of operation from 24 February to 8 April 2022 in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine for control of two provinces (oblasts) in Ukraine — Chernihiv Oblast and Sumy Oblast. On 4 April 2022, Uk ...
in Russia's invasion of Ukraine that began in February 2022. In May, Russian forces were pressed back toward the international border, but the city remains under intermittent Russian fire.


History


Early history

The earliest historical references to the region are to
Scythian The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Centra ...
and
Sarmatian The Sarmatians (; grc, Σαρμαται, Sarmatai; Latin: ) were a large confederation of Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian peoples, Iranian Eurasian nomads, equestrian nomadic peoples of classical ant ...
settlement in the 2nd century BCE. Between the 2nd to the 6th centuries CE there is evidence of
Chernyakhov culture The Chernyakhov culture, Cherniakhiv culture or Sântana de Mureș—Chernyakhov culture was an archaeological culture that flourished between the 2nd and 5th centuries CE in a wide area of Eastern Europe, specifically in what is now Ukraine, Rom ...
, a multiethnic mix of the Geto- Dacian,
Sarmatian The Sarmatians (; grc, Σαρμαται, Sarmatai; Latin: ) were a large confederation of Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian peoples, Iranian Eurasian nomads, equestrian nomadic peoples of classical ant ...
, and
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
populations. In the 8th to 10th centuries the
Khazar The Khazars ; he, כּוּזָרִים, Kūzārīm; la, Gazari, or ; zh, 突厥曷薩 ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a semi-nomadic Turkic people that in the late 6th-century CE established a major commercial empire coverin ...
fortress of ''Verkhneye Saltovo'' stood about east of the modern city, near Staryi Saltiv. During the 12th century, the area was part of the territory of the
Cumans The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian language, Russian Exonym and endonym, exonym ), were a Turkic people, Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confede ...
, and then from the mid 13th century of the
Mongol The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member of ...
/ Tartar
Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongols, Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fr ...
. By the early 17th century, the area was a contested frontier region with renegade populations that had begun to organise in
Cossack The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...
formations and communities defined by a common determination to resist both
Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary
is an umbrella term for different
slavery, and Polish-Lithuanian and Russian
serfdom Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which develop ...
. Mid-century, the
Khmelnytsky Uprising The Khmelnytsky Uprising,; in Ukraine known as Khmelʹnychchyna or uk, повстання Богдана Хмельницького; lt, Chmelnickio sukilimas; Belarusian language, Belarusian: Паўстанне Багдана Хмяльніц ...
against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth saw the brief establishment of an independent
Cossack Hetmanate The Cossack Hetmanate ( uk, Гетьманщина, Hetmanshchyna; or ''Cossack state''), officially the Zaporizhian Host or Army of Zaporizhia ( uk, Військо Запорозьке, Viisko Zaporozke, links=no; la, Exercitus Zaporoviensis) ...
.


Kharkiv Fortress

In 1654, in the midst of this period of turmoil for
Right-bank Ukraine Right-bank Ukraine ( uk , Правобережна Україна, ''Pravoberezhna Ukrayina''; russian: Правобережная Украина, ''Pravoberezhnaya Ukraina''; pl, Prawobrzeżna Ukraina, sk, Pravobrežná Ukrajina, hu, Jobb p ...
, groups of people came onto the banks of
Lopan The Lopan (Russian and Ukrainian: Лопань) is a river that rises in Belgorod Oblast of Russia and flows across the Russian-Ukrainian border into Kharkiv Oblast where it joins the Udy in Kharkiv. The river is long. The river Kharkiv K ...
and
Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Живий Харків. Нічна екскурсія містом-господарем (Living Kharkiv. Nightly excursion through the host-city)
Ukrayinska Pravda ''Ukrainska Pravda'' ( uk, Українська правда, lit=Ukrainian Truth) is a Ukrainian online newspaper founded by Georgiy Gongadze on 16 April 2000 (the day of the Ukrainian constitutional referendum). Published mainly in Ukraini ...
. 9 June 2012
There is a folk etymology that connects the name of both the settlement and the river to a legendary cossack founder named ''Kharko'' (a diminutive form of the name
Chariton Chariton of Aphrodisias ( grc-gre, Χαρίτων ὁ Ἀφροδισιεύς) was the author of an ancient Greek novel probably titled '' Callirhoe'' (based on the subscription in the sole surviving manuscript). However, it is regularly referred t ...
, uk, Харитон, translit=Khariton, or Zechariah, uk, Захарій, translit=Zakharii). But the river's name is attested earlier than the foundation of the fortress. The settlement reluctantly accepted the protection and authority of a Russian
voivode Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the me ...
from
Chuhuiv Chuhuiv ( uk, Чугуїв) or Chuguev (russian: Чугуев) is a city in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. The city is the administrative center of Chuhuiv Raion (district). It hosts the administration of Chuhuiv urban hromada, one of the hromadas of ...
to the east. The first appointed voivode from
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
was Voyin Selifontov in 1656, who began to build a local ostrog (fort). In 1658, a new voivode, Ivan Ofrosimov, commanded the locals to kiss the cross in a demonstration of loyalty to
Tsar Alexis Aleksey Mikhaylovich ( rus, Алексе́й Миха́йлович, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ; – ) was the Tsar of Russia from 1645 until his death in 1676. While finding success in foreign affairs, his reign saw several wars ...
. Led by their
otaman Ataman (variants: ''otaman'', ''wataman'', ''vataman''; Russian: атаман, uk, отаман) was a title of Cossack and haidamak leaders of various kinds. In the Russian Empire, the term was the official title of the supreme military commande ...
Ivan Kryvoshlyk, the refused refused. However, with the election of a new otaman, Tymish Lavrynov, relations appear to have been repaired, the Tsar in Moscow granting the community's request (signed by the deans of the new Assumption Cathedral and parish churches of Annunciation and Trinity) to establish a local market. At that time the population of Kharkiv was just over 1000, half of whom were local cossacks. Selifontov had brought with him a Moscow garrison of only 70 soldiers. Defence rested with a local
sloboda A sloboda ( rus, слобода́, p=sləbɐˈda) was a kind of settlement in the history of the Old Russian regions Povolzhye, Central Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. The name is derived from the early Slavic word for "freedom" and may be loosely ...
cossack regiment under the jurisdiction of the Razryad
Prikaz A prikaz (russian: прика́з, ''prikaz''; , plural: ) was an administrative, judicial, territorial, or executive office functioning on behalf of palace, civil, military, or church authorities in Muscovy and in Russia from the 15th to the 18 ...
, a military agency commanded from
Belgorod Belgorod ( rus, Белгород, p=ˈbʲeɫɡərət) is a city and the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Seversky Donets River north of the border with Ukraine. Population: Demographics The population of Be ...
. The original walls of Kharkiv enclosed today's streets: vulytsia Kvitky-Osnovianenko, Constitution Square, Rose Luxemburg Square, Proletarian Square, and Cathedral Descent. There were 10 towers of which the tallest, Vestovska, was some high. In 1689 the fortress was expanded to include the Intercession Cathedral and Monastery, which became a seat of a local church hierarch, the
Protopope A protopope, or protopresbyter, is a priest of higher rank in the Eastern Orthodox and the Byzantine Catholic Churches, generally corresponding to Western Christianity's archpriest or the Latin Church's dean. History The rights and duties of the ...
.


In the Russian Empire

Administrative reforms led to Kharkiv being governed from 1708 from
Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
, and from 1727 from Belgorod. In 1765 Kharkiv was established as the seat of a separate
Sloboda Ukraine Governorate The Kharkov Governorate ( pre-reform Russian: , tr. ''Khárkovskaya gubérniya'', IPA: xarʲkəfskəjə ɡʊˈbʲernʲɪjə ) was a governorate of the Russian Empire founded in 1835. It embraced the historical region of Sloboda Ukraine. From ...
.
Kharkiv University The Kharkiv University or Karazin University ( uk, Каразінський університет), or officially V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University ( uk, Харківський національний університет імені ...
was established in 1805 in the Palace of Governorate-General. Alexander Mikolajewicz Mickiewicz, brother of the Polish national poet
Adam Mickiewicz Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (; 24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. A principal figure in Polish Ro ...
, was a professor of law in the university, while another celebrity,
Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...
, searched for instructors for the school. One of its later graduates was In
Ivan Franko Ivan Yakovych Franko (Ukrainian: Іван Якович Франко, pronounced ˈwɑn ˈjɑkowɪtʃ frɐnˈkɔ 27 August 1856 – 28 May 1916) was a Ukrainian poet, writer, social and literary critic, journalist, interpreter, economist, ...
to whom it awarded a doctorate in Russian linguistics in 1906. The streets were first cobbled in the city centre in 1830. In 1844 the tall Alexander Bell Tower, commemorating the victory over
Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
in 1812, was built next to the first Assumption Cathedral (later to be transformed by the Soviet authorities into a
radio tower Radio masts and towers are typically tall structures designed to support antennas for telecommunications and broadcasting, including television. There are two main types: guyed and self-supporting structures. They are among the tallest human-made ...
). A system of running water was established in 1870. In the course of the 19th century, although predominantly Russian speaking, Kharkiv became a centre of Ukrainian culture. The first Ukrainian newspaper was published in the city in 1812. Soon after the
Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...
, in 1860–61, a
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 ...
was established in the city, one of a network of secret societies that laid the groundwork for the appearance of a Ukrainian national movement. Its most prominent member was the philosopher, linguist and pan-slavist activist Oleksandr Potebnia. Members of a student hromada in the city included the future national leaders Borys Martos and
Dmytro Antonovych Dmytro Antonovych (14 November 1877, in Kyiv – 12 October 1945, in Prague) was a Ukrainian politician and art historian. Family Professor Dmytro Antonovych was the son of two Ukrainian historians: his father was Volodymyr Antonovych and his m ...
, and reputedly were the first to employ the slogan "Glory to Ukraine!" and its response "Glory on all of earth!". In 1900, the student hromada founded the Revolutionary Ukrainian Party (RUP), which sought to unite all Ukrainian national elements, including the growing number of socialists. Following the revolutionary events 1905 in which Kharkiv distinguished itself by avoiding a reactionary pogrom against its Jewish population, the RUP in Kharkiv,
Poltava Poltava (, ; uk, Полтава ) is a city located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the capital city of the Poltava Oblast (province) and of the surrounding Poltava Raion (district) of the oblast. Poltava is administratively ...
,
Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
,
Nizhyn Nizhyn ( uk, Ні́жин, Nizhyn, ) is a city located in Chernihiv Oblast of northern Ukraine along the Oster River. The city is located north-east of the national capital Kyiv. Nizhyn serves as the administrative center of Nizhyn Raion. It ...
,
Lubny Lubny ( uk, Лубни́, ), is a city in Poltava Oblast (province) of central Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of Lubny Raion (district), the city itself is administratively incorporated as a city of oblast significance and does n ...
, and
Yekaterinodar Krasnodar (; rus, Краснода́р, p=krəsnɐˈdar; ady, Краснодар), formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southern ...
repudiated the more extreme elements of Ukrainian nationalism. Adopting the
Erfurt Program The Erfurt Program was adopted by the Social Democratic Party of Germany during the SPD Congress at Erfurt in 1891. Formulated under the political guidance of Eduard Bernstein, August Bebel, and Karl Kautsky, it superseded the earlier Gotha ...
of German Social Democracy, they restyled themselves the
Ukrainian Social Democratic Labour Party The Ukrainian Social Democratic Labour Party ( uk, Украї́нська соціа́л-демократи́чна робітни́ча па́ртія, ''Ukrayínsʹka sotsiál-demokratýchna robitnýcha pártiya''), also known as Esdeky and SDP ...
(USDLP). This was to remain independent of, and opposed by, the
Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
faction of the Russian SDLP. After the
February Revolution The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...
of 1917, the USDLP was the main party in the first Ukrainian government, the
General Secretariat of Ukraine The General Secretariat of Ukraine ( uk, Генеральний секретаріат УЦР—УНР) was the autonomous Ukrainian executive government of the Russian Republic from June 28, 1917 to January 22, 1918. For most of its existence ...
. The
Tsentralna Rada The Central Council of Ukraine ( uk, Українська Центральна Рада, ) (also called the Tsentralna Rada or the Central Rada) was the All-Ukrainian council (soviet) that united deputies of soldiers, workers, and peasants deputie ...
(central council) of Ukrainian parties in ''Kyiv'' authorised the Secretariat to negoitate national autonomy with the
Russian Provisional Government The Russian Provisional Government ( rus, Временное правительство России, Vremennoye pravitel'stvo Rossii) was a provisional government of the Russian Republic, announced two days before and established immediately ...
. In the succeeding months, as wartime conditions deteriorated, the USDLP lost support in Kharkiv and elsewhere to the
Ukrainian Socialist Revolutionary Party Ukrainian Socialist-Revolutionary Party (russian: Украинская партия социалистов-революционеров uk, Українська Партія Соціалістів-Революціонерів) was a political ...
(SR) which organised both in peasant communities and in disaffected military units.


The Soviet city


Capital of Soviet Ukraine

In the Russian Constituent Assembly election held in November 1917, the
Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
who had seized power in
Petrograd Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
and
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
received just 10.5 percent of the vote in the
Governorate A governorate is an administrative division of a state. It is headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either State (administrative division), states or province, provinces, the term ''govern ...
, compared to 73 percent for a bloc of Russian and Ukrainian Socialist Revolutionaries. Commanding worker, rather than peasant, votes, within the city itself the Bolsheviks won a plurality. When in
Petrograd Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
Lenin's
Council of People's Commissars The Councils of People's Commissars (SNK; russian: Совет народных комиссаров (СНК), ''Sovet narodnykh kommissarov''), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (Совнарком), were the highest executive authorities of ...
disbanded the
Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...
after its first sitting, the
Tsentralna Rada The Central Council of Ukraine ( uk, Українська Центральна Рада, ) (also called the Tsentralna Rada or the Central Rada) was the All-Ukrainian council (soviet) that united deputies of soldiers, workers, and peasants deputie ...
in
Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
proclaimed the independence of the
Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR), or Ukrainian National Republic (UNR), was a country in Eastern Europe that existed between 1917 and 1920. It was declared following the February Revolution in Russia by the First Universal. In March 1 ...
(UPR).
Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
withdrew from Tsentralna Rada and formed their own Rada (national council) in Kharkiv.Historical Dictionary of Ukraine (Historical Dictionaries of Europe)
by
Ivan Katchanovski Ivan Katchanovski, ua, Іван Гнатович Качановський (born 1967) is a Ukrainian and Canadian political scientist based in Ottawa, teaches at the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa. He specializes in re ...
, Scarecrow Press (Publication date: 11 July 2013), (page 713)
By February 1918 their forces had captured much of Ukraine. They made Kharkiv the capital of the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic. Six weeks later, under the treaty terms agreed with the
Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...
at Brest-Litovsk, they abandoned the city and ceded the territory to the German-occupied
Ukrainian State The Ukrainian State ( uk, Українська Держава, translit=Ukrainska Derzhava), sometimes also called the Second Hetmanate ( uk, Другий Гетьманат, translit=Druhyi Hetmanat, link=no), was an anti-Bolshevik government ...
. After the German withdrawal, the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
returned but, in June 1919, withdrew again before the advancing forces of
Anton Denikin Anton Ivanovich Denikin (russian: Анто́н Ива́нович Дени́кин, link= ; 16 December Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._4_December.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New St ...
's White movement
Volunteer Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...
. By December 1919 Soviet authority was restored. The Bolsheviks established Kharkiv as
the capital ''The Capital'' (also known as ''Capital Gazette'' as its online nameplate and informally), the Sunday edition is called ''The Sunday Capital'', is a daily newspaper published by Capital Gazette Communications in Annapolis, Maryland, to serve ...
of the
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
and, in 1922, this was formally incorporated as a constituent republic of the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. A number of prestige construction projects in new officially-approved Constructivist style were completed, among them
Derzhprom The Derzhprom ( uk, Держпром) or Gosprom (russian: Госпром) building is an office building located on Freedom Square in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Built in the Constructivist style, it was the first modern skyscraper building in th ...
(Palace of Industry) then the tallest building in the Soviet Union (and the second tallest in Europe), the Red Army Building, the Ukrainian Polytechnic Institute of Distance Learning (UZPI), the City Council building, with its massive asymmetric tower, and the central department store that was opened on the 15th Anniversary of the
October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...
. As new buildings were going up, many of city's historic architectural monuments were being torn down. These included most of the baroque churches: Saint Nicholas's Cathedral of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox church, the Church of the Myrrhophores, Saint Demetrius's Church, and the Cossack fortified Church of the Nativity. Under
Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
's
First Five Year Plan The first five-year plan (russian: I пятилетний план, ) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was a list of economic goals, created by Communist Party General Secretary Joseph Stalin, based on his policy of socialism in ...
, the city underwent intensified industrialisation, led by a number of national projects. Chief among these were the Kharkiv Tractor Factory (HTZ), described by Stalin as "a steel bastion of the collectivisation of agriculture in the Ukraine", and the
Malyshev Factory The Malyshev Factory ( uk , Завод імені В.О. Малишева, translit=Zavod imeni V.O. Malysheva; abbreviated ), formerly the Kharkov Locomotive Factory (, ), is a state-owned manufacturer of heavy equipment in Kharkiv, Ukraine. It ...
, an enlargement of the old Kharkiv Locomotive Factory, which at its height employed 60,000 workers in the production of heavy equipment.Tank factory workers decry war that pits Ukrainian against Ukrainian
Al Jazeera America Al Jazeera America was an American pay television news channel owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network. The channel was launched on August 20, 2013, to compete with CNN, HLN, MSNBC, Fox News, and in certain markets RT America. It was Al Jazeera' ...
(27 February 2015)
By 1937 the output of Kharkiv's industries was reported as being 35 times greater than in 1913. Since turn of the century, the influx of new workers from the countryside changed the ethnic composition of Kharkiv. According to census returns, by 1939 the Russian share of the population had fallen from almost two thirds to one third, while the Ukrainian share rose from a quarter to almost half. The Jewish population rose from under 6 percent of the total, to over 15 percent (sustaining a
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
secondary school, a popular Jewish university and extensive publication in
Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
and Hebrew). In the 1920s, the
Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
promoted the use of the
Ukrainian language Ukrainian ( uk, украї́нська мо́ва, translit=ukrainska mova, label=native name, ) is an East Slavic language of the Indo-European language family. It is the native language of about 40 million people and the official state langu ...
, mandating it for all schools. In practice the share of
secondary schools A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
teaching in the
Ukrainian language Ukrainian ( uk, украї́нська мо́ва, translit=ukrainska mova, label=native name, ) is an East Slavic language of the Indo-European language family. It is the native language of about 40 million people and the official state langu ...
remained lower than the ethnic
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 ...
share of the
Kharkiv Oblast Kharkiv Oblast ( uk, Харківська́ о́бласть, translit=Kharkivska oblast), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna ( uk, Ха́рківщина), is an oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. The oblast borders Russia to the north, Luhans ...
s population. The
Ukrainization Ukrainization (also spelled Ukrainisation), sometimes referred to as Ukrainianization (or Ukrainianisation) is a policy or practice of increasing the usage and facilitating the development of the Ukrainian language and promoting other elements of ...
policy was reversed, with the prosecution in Kharkiv in 1930 of the Union for the Freedom of Ukraine. Hundreds of Ukrainian intellectuals were arrested and deported. In 1932 and '33, the combination of grain seizures and the forced collectivisation of peasant holdings created famine conditions, the
Holodomor The Holodomor ( uk, Голодомо́р, Holodomor, ; derived from uk, морити голодом, lit=to kill by starvation, translit=moryty holodom, label=none), also known as the Terror-Famine or the Great Famine, was a man-made famin ...
, driving people off the land and into Kharkiv, and other cities, in search of food. Eye-witness accounts by westerners—among them those of American Communist
Fred Beal Fred Erwin Beal (1896–1954) was an American labor-union organizer whose critical reflections on his work and travel in the Soviet Union divided left-wing and liberal opinion. In 1929 he had been a ''cause célèbre'' when, in Gastonia, North Car ...
employed in the Kharkiv Tractor Factory —were cited in the international press but, until the era of ''
Glasnost ''Glasnost'' (; russian: link=no, гласность, ) has several general and specific meanings – a policy of maximum openness in the activities of state institutions and freedom of information, the inadmissibility of hushing up problems, ...
'' were consistently denounced in the Soviet Union as fabrications. In 1934 hundreds of Ukrainian writers, intellectuals and cultural workers were arrested and executed in the attempt to eradicate all vestiges of Ukrainian nationalism. The purges continued into 1938. Blind Ukrainian street musicians
Kobzars A ''kobzar'' ( ua, кобзар, pl. kobzari ua, кобзарі) was an itinerant Ukrainian bard who sang to his own accompaniment, played on a multistringed bandura or kobza. Tradition Kobzars were often blind and became predominantly so by ...
were also rounded up in Kharkiv and murdered by the NKVD. Confident in his control over Ukraine, in January 1934 Stalin had the capital of the Ukrainian SSR moved from Kharkiv to Kyiv. During April and May 1940 about 3,900 Polish prisoners of
Starobelsk Starobilsk ( uk, Старобільськ, russian: Старобельск) is a city in Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Starobilsk Raion. The modern settlement was founded in 1686, and it was granted city sta ...
camp were executed in the Kharkiv
NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...
building, later secretly buried on the grounds of an NKVD pansionat in Pyatykhatky forest (part of the
Katyn massacre The Katyn massacre, "Katyń crime"; russian: link=yes, Катынская резня ''Katynskaya reznya'', "Katyn massacre", or russian: link=no, Катынский расстрел, ''Katynsky rasstrel'', "Katyn execution" was a series of m ...
) on the outskirts of Kharkiv. Fischer, Benjamin B.,
The Katyn Controversy: Stalin's Killing Field
, ''
Studies in Intelligence ''Studies in Intelligence'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal on intelligence that is published by the Center for the Study of Intelligence, a group within the United States Central Intelligence Agency. It contains both classified and ...
'', Winter 1999–2000, last accessed on 10 December 2005
The site also contains the numerous bodies of Ukrainian cultural workers who were arrested and shot in the 1937–38 Stalinist purges.


German occupation

During
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 ...
, Kharkiv was the focus of major battles. The city was captured by
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
on 24 October 1941. A disastrous
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
offensive Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...
failed to recover the city in May 1942. It was retaken (
Operation Star Operation Star or Operation Zvezda (russian: Звезда, lit=Star) was a Red Army offensive on the Eastern Front of World War II begun on 2 February 1943. The attack was the responsibility of the Voronezh Front under the command of Filipp Goliko ...
) on 16 February 1943, but lost again to the Germans on 15 March 1943. 23 August 1943 saw a final
liberation Liberation or liberate may refer to: Film and television * ''Liberation'' (film series), a 1970–1971 series about the Great Patriotic War * "Liberation" (''The Flash''), a TV episode * "Liberation" (''K-9''), an episode Gaming * '' Liberati ...
. On the eve of the occupation, Kharkiv's prewar population of 700,000 had been doubled by the influx of refugees. What remained of the pre-war Jewish population of 130,000, were slated by the Germans for "special treatment": between December 1941 and January 1942, they killed and buried an estimated 15,000 Jews in a ravine outside of town named
Drobytsky Yar Drobytsky Yar is a ravine in Kharkiv, Ukraine. In December 1941, Nazi troops invading the Soviet Union began killing local residents over the following year. At the end of this period, some 16,000 people, mainly Jews, were killed. Notably on 15 ...
. Over their 22 months occupation they executed a further 30,000 residents, among them suspected Soviet partisans and, after a brief period of toleration, Ukrainian nationalists. 80,000 people died of hunger, cold and disease. 60,000 were forcibly transported to Germany as slave workers (
Ostarbeiter : ' (, "Eastern worker") was a Nazi German designation for foreign slave workers gathered from occupied Central and Eastern Europe to perform forced labor in Germany during World War II. The Germans started deporting civilians at the beginning ...
).Ukraine: A History 4th Edition
by
Orest Subtelny Orest Subtelny ( uk, О́рест Субте́льний, 17 May 1941 – 24 July 2016) was a Ukrainian-Canadian historian. Born in Kraków, Poland, he received his doctorate from Harvard University in 1973. From 1982 to 2015, he was a Professor ...
,
University of Toronto Press The University of Toronto Press is a Canadian university press founded in 1901. Although it was founded in 1901, the press did not actually publish any books until 1911. The press originally printed only examination books and the university calen ...
, 2009,
(Among these was Boris Romanchenko. The 96-year old survivor of forced labor at the
Buchenwald Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or su ...
,
Peenemünde Peenemünde (, en, "Peene iverMouth") is a municipality on the Baltic Sea island of Usedom in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is part of the ''Amt'' (collective municipality) of Usedom-Nord. The communi ...
, Dora and
Bergen Belsen Bergen-Belsen , or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, in 1943, parts of it became a concentr ...
concentration camps Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
was killed when Russian fire hit his apartment bloc on 18 March 2022). By the time of Kharkiv's liberation in August 1943, the surviving population had been reduced to under 200,000. Seventy percent of the city had been destroyed.


Post-World War II

Before the occupation, Kharkiv's tank industries had been evacuated to the
Urals The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through European ...
with all their equipment, and became the heart of
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
's tank programs (particularly, producing the
T-34 The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank introduced in 1940. When introduced its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was less powerful than its contemporaries while its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against Anti-tank warfare, anti-tan ...
tank earlier designed in Kharkiv). These enterprises returned to Kharkiv after the war, and became central elements of the post-war Soviet
military industrial complex A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
. Houses and factories were rebuilt, and much of the city's center was reconstructed in the style of Stalinist Classicism. In the Brezhnev-era, Kharkiv was promoted as a "model Soviet city". Propaganda made much of its “youthfulness”, a designation broadly used to suggest the relative absence in the city of "material and spiritual relics" from the pre-revolutionary era, and its commitment to the new frontiers of Soviet industry and science. The city's machine-and-weapons building prowess was attributed to a forward-looking collaboration between its large-scale industrial enterprises and new research institutes and laboratories. The last Communist Party chief of Ukraine,
Vladimir Ivashko Vladimir Antonovich Ivashko (russian: Влади́мир Анто́нович Ива́шко, link=no; ua, Володимир Антонович Івашко, ''Volodymyr Antonovych Ivashko''; 28 October 1932 – 13 November 1994) was a Sovie ...
, appointed in 1989, trained as a mining engineer and served as a party functionary in Kharkiv. He led the Communists to victory in Kharkiv and across the country in the
parliamentary election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
held in the Ukrainian SSR in March 1990. The election was relatively free, but occurred well before organised political parties had time to form, and did not arrest the decline in the CPSU's legitimacy. This was accelerated by the intra-party coup attempt against President
Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...
and his reforms on August 18, 1991, during which Ivashko temporarily replaced by Gorbachev as CPSU General Secretary. The National University of Kharkiv was at the forefront of democratic agitation. In October 1991, a call from Kyiv for an all-Ukrainian university strike to protest Gorbachev's
new New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...
Union Treaty and to call for new multi-party elections was met with a rally at the entrance to the university attended not only by students and university teachers, but also by a range of public and cultural figures. The protests—the so-called the
Revolution on Granite The Revolution on Granite ( uk, Революція на граніті, translit=Revoliutsiia na hraniti) was a student-led protest campaign that took place primarily in Kyiv and Western Ukraine in October 1990.The lesson of the Revolution on Granite
''
Den Den may refer to: * Den (room), a small room in a house * Maternity den, a lair where an animal gives birth Media and entertainment * ''Den'' (album), 2012, by Kreidler * Den (''Battle Angel Alita''), a character in the ''Battle Angel Alita' ...
'' (4 October 2016)
—ended on October 17 with a resolution of the
Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...
of the Ukrainian SSR promising further democratic reform. In the event, the only demand fulfilled was the removal of the Communist Prime Minister.


Jewish Community

Kharkiv's Jewish community revived after World War II: by 1959 there were 84,000 Jews living in the city.
Soviet anti-Zionism Soviet anti-Zionism is an Anti Zionist and pro-Arab doctrine promulgated in the Soviet Union during the Cold War. While the Soviet Union initially pursued a pro-Zionist policy after World War II due to its perception that the Jewish state woul ...
restricted expressions of Jewish religion and culture, and was sustained until the final Gorbachev years (the confiscated
Kharkiv Choral Synagogue The Kharkiv Choral Synagogue ( uk, Харківська хоральна синагога) is a synagogue located in Kharkiv, Ukraine, the largest in the country, and a building of architectural significance. History Construction of the syna ...
reopened as a synagogue in 1990). The city's Jewish population, 62,800 in 1970, had dropped to 50,000 by the end of the century. During the 1990s post-Soviet aliyah, many Jews from Kharkiv emigrated to
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
or to Western countries.


In Independent Ukraine


Border city

In the 1 December 1991 Referendum on the Act of Declaration of Independence, on a turnout of 76 percent 86 percent of the
Kharkiv Oblast Kharkiv Oblast ( uk, Харківська́ о́бласть, translit=Kharkivska oblast), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna ( uk, Ха́рківщина), is an oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. The oblast borders Russia to the north, Luhans ...
approved separate Ukrainian statehood. The
collapse of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
disrupted, but did not sever, the ties that bound Kharkiv heavy's industries to the integrated Soviet market and supply chains, and did not diminish dependency on Russian oil, minerals, and gas. In Kharkiv and elsewhere in eastern Ukraine, the limited prospects for securing new economic partners in the West, and concern for the rights of Russian-speakers in the new national state, combined to promote the interests of political parties and candidates emphasising understanding and cooperation with the
Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. In the new century, these were represented by the
Party of Regions The Party of Regions ( uk, Партія регіонів, Partiia rehioniv, ; russian: Партия регионов, Partiya regionov) was a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine formed in late 1997 that then grew to be the biggest party of Uk ...
and by the presidential ambitions of
Victor Yanukovych Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych ( uk, Віктор Федорович Янукович, ; ; born 9 July 1950) is a former politician who served as the fourth president of Ukraine from 2010 until he was removed from office in the Revolution of Di ...
, which in Kharkiv triumphed in the city council elections of 2006, in the parliamentary elections of 2007 and in the presidential elections of 2010. Although never attaining the level of protest witnessed in Kyiv and in communities further west, following the disputed 2012 Parliamentary elections public opposition to President Yanukovych and his party surfaced in Kharkiv amid accusations of systematic corruption and of sabotaging prospects for new ties to the European Union.


2014 pro-Russian unrest

The
Euromaidan Euromaidan (; uk, Євромайдан, translit=Yevromaidan, lit=Euro Square, ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protes ...
protests in the winter of 2013–2014 against then president
Viktor Yanukovych Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych ( uk, Віктор Федорович Янукович, ; ; born 9 July 1950) is a former politician who served as the fourth president of Ukraine from 2010 until he was removed from office in the Revolution of Di ...
consisted of daily gatherings of about 200 protestors near the statue of Taras Shevchenko and were predominantly peaceful. Disappointed at the turnout, an activist at Kharkiv University suggested that his fellow students "proved to be as much of an inert, grey and cowed mass as Kharkiv’s ‘''biudzhetniki''’ " (those whose income derives from the state budget, mostly public servants). But Pro-Yanukovych demonstrations, held near the
statue of Lenin This article is a list of current and former known monuments of Vladimir Lenin. Many of the monuments in former Soviet republics and satellites were removed after the fall of the Soviet Union, while some of these countries retained the thousands o ...
in Freedom (previously Dzerzhinsky) Square, were similarly small. In the wake Yanukovych's ouster in February, there were attempts in Kharkiv to follow the example of separatists in neighbouring
Donbass The Donbas or Donbass (, ; uk, Донба́с ; russian: Донба́сс ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. Parts of the Donbas are controlled by Russian separatist groups as a result of the Russo-Ukrai ...
. On 2 March 2014, a Russian "tourist" from Moscow replaced the
Ukrainian flag The flag of Ukraine ( uk, Прапор України, Prapor Ukrainy) consists of equally sized horizontal bands of blue and yellow. The blue and yellow bicolour first appeared during the 1848 Spring of Nations in Lemberg, then part of the A ...
with a
Russian flag The national flag of Russia (russian: Флаг России, Flag Rossii), also known as the ''State Flag of the Russian Federation'' (russian: Государственный флаг Российской Федерации, Gosudarstvenny fla ...
on the Kharkiv Regional State Administration Building. On 6 April 2014 pro-Russian protestors occupied the building and unilaterally declared independence from Ukraine as the "
Kharkiv People's Republic From the end of February 2014, demonstrations by pro-Russian and anti-government groups took place in major cities across the Eastern Ukraine, eastern and Southern Ukraine, southern regions of Ukraine in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dig ...
".Ukraine Authorities Clear Kharkiv Building, Arrest Scores Of 'Separatists'
Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...
(8 April 2014)How Eastern Ukraine Is Adapting and Surviving: The Case of Kharkiv
Carnegie Europe The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) is a nonpartisan international affairs think tank headquartered in Washington D.C. with operations in Europe, South and East Asia, and the Middle East as well as the United States. Founded i ...
(12 September 2018)
Doubts arose about their local origin as they had initially targeted the city's Opera and Ballet Theatre before recognising their mistake. Kharkiv's mayor, Hennadiy "Gepa" Kernes, elected in 2010 as the nominee of the
Party of Regions The Party of Regions ( uk, Партія регіонів, Partiia rehioniv, ; russian: Партия регионов, Partiya regionov) was a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine formed in late 1997 that then grew to be the biggest party of Uk ...
, was placed under house arrest. Claiming to have been "prisoner of Yanukovych's system","Kharkiv's Kernes justifies his 180-degree political turn by saying he was 'prisoner' of Yanukovych system"
MY-MEDIA, 6 March 2014; accessed 28 August 2014.
he now declared his loyalty to acting President
Oleksandr Turchynov Oleksandr Valentynovych Turchynov ( uk, Олександр Валентинович Турчинов; born 31 March 1964) is a Ukrainian politician, screenwriter, Baptist minister and economist. He is the former Secretary of the National Sec ...
. In a televised address on April 7, Turchynov had announced that "a second wave of the Russian Federation's special operation against Ukraine [has] started" with the "goal of destabilising the situation in the country, toppling Ukrainian authorities, disrupting the elections, and tearing our country apart". Kernes persuaded the police to storm the regional administration building and push out the separatists. He was allowed to return to his mayoral duties. Police action against the separatists was reinforced by a special forces unit from Vinnytsia directed by Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov and Stepan Poltorak the acting commander of the Internal Troops of Ukraine, Ukrainian Internal Forces. On 13 April, some pro-Russian protesters again made it inside the Kharkiv regional state administration building, but were quickly evicted. Violent clashes resulted in the severe beating of at least 50 pro-Ukrainian protesters in attacks by pro-Russian protesters. On 28 April, Hennadiy Kernes, Kernes was shot by a sniper, a victim, commentators suggested, of his former pro-Russian allies. Relatively peaceful demonstrations continued to be held, with "pro-Russian" rallies gradually diminishing and "pro-Ukrainian unity" demonstrations growing in numbers.Two liberty square rally
Status quo (17 August 2014)
On 28 September, activists dismantled Ukraine's largest monument to Lenin at a pro-Ukrainian rally in the central square. Polls conducted from September to December 2014 found little support in Kharkiv for joining Russia. From early November until mid-December, Kharkiv was struck by seven non-lethal bomb blasts. Targets of these attacks included a rock pub known for raising money for Ukrainian forces, a hospital for Ukrainian forces, a military recruiting centre, and a National Guard of Ukraine, National Guard base. According to Security Service of Ukraine, SBU investigator Vasyliy Vovk, Foreign Intelligence Service (Russia), Russian covert forces were behind the attacks, and had intended to destabilise the otherwise calm city of Kharkiv. On 8 January 2015 five men wearing Balaclava (clothing), balaclavas broke into an office of Station Kharkiv, a volunteer group aiding refugees from
Donbass The Donbas or Donbass (, ; uk, Донба́с ; russian: Донба́сс ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. Parts of the Donbas are controlled by Russian separatist groups as a result of the Russo-Ukrai ...
. On 22 February an improvised explosive device killed four people and wounded nine during a march commemorating the List of people killed during the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, Euromaidan victims. The authorities launched an 'anti-terrorist operation'. Further bombings targeted army fuel tanks, an unoccupied passenger train and a
Ukrainian flag The flag of Ukraine ( uk, Прапор України, Prapor Ukrainy) consists of equally sized horizontal bands of blue and yellow. The blue and yellow bicolour first appeared during the 1848 Spring of Nations in Lemberg, then part of the A ...
in the city centre. On 23 September 2015, 200 people in balaclavas and camouflage picketed the house of former governor Mykhailo Dobkin, and then went to Kharkiv town hall, where they tried to force their way through the police cordon. At least one tear gas grenade was used. The rioters asked the mayor, Hennadiy Kernes, a supporter of the president, to come out.Unian
''Over 200 men in balaclavas brawl at Kharkiv town hall, clash with police'', 23 September 2015, 14:10.
Following recovery from his wounds, Kernes had been re-elected mayor, and was so again in 2020. He died of COVID-19 related complication in December 2020.
Ukrinform (17 December 2020)
Помер Геннадій Кернес: мер Харкова, який виграв вибори з реанімації
BBC Ukrainian (17 December 2020)
Keys to cities. What is the secret of longevity of mayors
The Ukrainian Week (10 August 2020)
He was succeeded by Ihor Terekhov of the "Kernes Bloc — Successful Kharkiv".


Border fortress

After the Euromaidan events and Russian Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, actions in the Crimea and War in Donbas (2014–2022), Donbas ruptured relations with Moscow, the Kharkiv region experienced a sharp fall in output and employment. Once a hub of cross border trade, Kharkiv was turned into a border fortress. A reorientation to new international markets, increased defense contracts (after Kyiv, the region contains the second-largest umber of military-related enterprises) and export growth in the economy's services sector helped fuel a recovery, but people's incomes did not return to pre-2014 levels. By 2018 Kharkiv officially has the lowest unemployment rate in Ukraine, 6 percent. But in part this reflected labor shortages caused by the steady outflow of young and skilled workers to Poland and other European countries.


Russian invasion 2022

During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kharkiv Battle of Kharkiv (2022), was the site of heavy fighting between the Ukrainian and Russian forces. On 27 February, the governor of Kharkiv Oblast Oleh Synyehubov claimed that Russian troops were repelled from Kharkiv. According to a 28 February 2022, report from Agroportal 24h, the Kharkiv Tractor Plant, Kharkiv Tractor Plant (KhTZ), in the south east of the city, was destroyed and “engulfed in fire” by “massive shelling” from Russian forces. Video purported to record explosions and fire at the plant on 25 and 27 February 2022. UNESCO has confirmed that in the first three weeks of bombardment the city experienced the loss or damage of at least 27 major historical buildings. On 4 March 2022, Human Rights Watch reported that on the fourth day of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, 28 February 2022, Federation forces used cluster munitions in the Industrialnyi District, Kharkiv, KhTZ , the Moskovskyi District, Moskovskyi and Shevchenkivskyi District, Kharkiv, Shevchenkivskyi districts of the city. The rights group—which noted the "inherently indiscriminate nature of cluster munitions and their foreseeable effects on civilians"—based its assessment on interviews and an analysis of 40 videos and photographs. In March 2022, during the Battle of Kharkiv (2022), Battle of Kharkiv, the city was designated as a Hero City of Ukraine. In May 2022, Ukrainian forces began a counter-offensive to drive Russian forces away from the city and towards the international border. By 12 May, the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence reported that Russia had withdrawn units from the Kharkiv area. Russian artillery and rockets remain within range of the city, and it continues to suffer shelling and missile strikes.


Geography

Kharkiv is located at the banks of the
Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Lopan The Lopan (Russian and Ukrainian: Лопань) is a river that rises in Belgorod Oblast of Russia and flows across the Russian-Ukrainian border into Kharkiv Oblast where it joins the Udy in Kharkiv. The river is long. The river Kharkiv K ...
, and Udy River, Udy rivers, where they flow into the Seversky Donets watershed in the north-eastern region of Ukraine. Historically, Kharkiv lies in the Sloboda Ukraine region (''Slobozhanshchyna'' also known as ''Slobidshchyna'') in Ukraine, in which it is considered to be the main city. The approximate dimensions of city of Kharkiv are: from the North to the South — 24.3 km; from the West to the East — 25.2 km. Based on Kharkiv's topography, the city can be conditionally divided into four lower districts and four higher districts. The highest point above sea level, in Pyatikhatky, is 202m, and the lowest is Novoselivka in Kharkiv is 94m. Kharkiv lies in the large valley of rivers of
Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Kharkiv Oblast Kharkiv Oblast ( uk, Харківська́ о́бласть, translit=Kharkivska oblast), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna ( uk, Ха́рківщина), is an oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. The oblast borders Russia to the north, Luhans ...
(Administrative divisions of Ukraine, province), the city affairs are managed by the Kharkiv City Municipality, Kharkiv Municipality. Kharkiv is a Administrative divisions of Ukraine, city of oblast subordinance. The territory of Kharkiv is divided into 9 administrative raions (districts), until February 2016 they were named for people, places, events, and organizations associated with early years of the Soviet Union but many were renamed in February 2016 to comply with Decommunization in Ukraine, decommunization laws.Another 48 streets and 5 districts "decommunized" in Kharkiv
Ukrayinska Pravda ''Ukrainska Pravda'' ( uk, Українська правда, lit=Ukrainian Truth) is a Ukrainian online newspaper founded by Georgiy Gongadze on 16 April 2000 (the day of the Ukrainian constitutional referendum). Published mainly in Ukraini ...
(3 February 2015)Three districts renamed in Kharkiv
SQ (3 February 2015)It was decided not to rename the Zhovtnevyi and the Frunzenskyi districts in Kharkiv
Korrespondent.net (3 February 2015)
Also, owing to this law, over 200 streets have been renamed in Kharkiv since 20 November 2015. The raions are named:In Kharkiv, five metro stations and fifty streets have been communicated
Korrespondent.net, (18 May 2016)
# Kholodnohirskyi District, Kholodnohirskyi ( uk, Холодногірський район, ''Cold Mountain''; namesake: the historic name of the neighbourhood) (formerly Leninskyi; namesake: Vladimir Lenin) # Shevchenkivskyi District, Kharkiv, Shevchenkivskyi ( uk, Шевченківський район); namesake: Taras Shevchenko (formerly Dzerzhynskyi; namesake Felix Dzerzhinsky) # Kyivskyi District, Kharkiv, Kyivskyi ( uk, Київський район); namesake:
Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
(formerly Kahanovychskyi; namesake: Lazar Kaganovich) # Saltivskyi District, Saltivskyi ( uk, Салтівський район); namesake: Saltivka residential area (formerly Moskovskyi; namesake:
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
) # Nemyshlyanskyi District, Nemyshlianskyi ( uk, Немишлянський район) (formerly Frunzensky: namesake: Mikhail Frunze); # Industrialnyi District, Kharkiv, Industrialnyi ( uk, Індустріальний район) (formerly Ordzhonikidzevskyi; namesake: Sergo Ordzhonikidze) # Slobidskyi District, Slobidskyi ( uk, Слобідський район) (formerly Communist International, Kominternіvsky); namesake: Sloboda Ukraine # Osnovianskyi District, Osnovianskyi ( uk, Основ'янський район) (formerly Chervonozavodsky); namesake: Osnova, a city neighborhood # Novobavarskyi District, Novobavarskyi ( uk, Новобаварський район) (formerly Zhovtnevy); namesake: Nova Bavaria, a city neighborhood


Demographics

According to the Soviet Census (1989), 1989 Soviet Union Census, the population of the city was 1,593,970. In 1991, it decreased to 1,510,200, including 1,494,200 permanent residents. Kharkiv is the second-largest city in Ukraine after the capital,
Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
. The first independent all-Ukrainian population census was conducted in December 2001, and the next all-Ukrainian population census is decreed to be conducted in 2020. As of 2001, the population of the Kharkiv region is as follows: 78.5% living in urban areas, and 21.5% living in rural areas.


Ethnicity


Notes

* 1660 year – approximated estimation * 1788 year – without the account of children * 1920 year – times of the Russian Civil War * 1941 year – estimation on 1 May, right before German-Soviet War * 1941 year – next estimation in September varies between 1,400,000 and 1,450,000 * 1941 year – another estimation in December during the occupation without the account of children * 1943 year – 23 August, liberation of the city; estimation varied 170,000 and 220,000 * 1976 year – estimation on 1 June * 1982 year – estimation in March


Religion

Kharkiv is an important religious centre in Eastern Ukraine. There are many old and new religious buildings, associated with various denominations in Kharkiv. The Assumption Cathedral, Kharkiv, St. Assumption Orthodox Cathedral was built in Kharkiv in the 1680s and re-built in 1820s-1830s. The St. Trinity Orthodox Church was built in Kharkiv in 1758–1764 and re-built in 1857–1861. The Annunciation Cathedral, Kharkiv, St. Annunciation Orthodox Cathedral, one of the List of tallest Orthodox churches, tallest Orthodox churches in the world, was completed in Kharkiv on 2 October 1888. Recently built churches include the St. Valentine Orthodox Church and the St. Tamara Orthodox Church. Kharkiv's Jewish population is estimated to be around 8,000 people. It is served by the old
Kharkiv Choral Synagogue The Kharkiv Choral Synagogue ( uk, Харківська хоральна синагога) is a synagogue located in Kharkiv, Ukraine, the largest in the country, and a building of architectural significance. History Construction of the syna ...
, which was fully renovated in Kharkiv in 1991–2016. There are two mosques including the Kharkiv Cathedral Mosque and one Islamic center in Kharkiv.


Economy

The 2016–2020 economic development strategy: "Kharkiv Success Strategy", is created in Kharkiv. Kharkiv has a diversified service economy, with employment spread across a wide range of professional services, including financial services, manufacturing, tourism, and high technology.


International Economic Forum

The International Economic Forum: Innovations. Investments. Kharkiv Innitiatives! is being conducted in Kharkiv every year. In 2015, the International Economic Forum: Innovations. Investments. Kharkiv Innitiatives! was attended by the diplomatic corps representatives from 17 world countries, working in Ukraine together with top-management of trans-national corporations and investment funds; plus Ukrainian People's Deputies; plus Ukrainian Central government officials, who determine the national economic development strategy; plus local government managers, who perform practical steps in implementing that strategy; plus managers of technical assistance to Ukraine; plus business and NGO's representatives; plus media people. The key topics of the plenary sessions and panel discussions of the International Economic Forum: Innovations. Investments. Kharkiv Innitiatives! are the implementation of Strategy for Sustainable Development "Ukraine – 2020", the results achieved and plan of further actions to reform the local government and territorial organization of power in Ukraine, export promotion and attraction of investments in Ukraine, new opportunities for public-private partnerships, practical steps to create "electronic government", issues of energy conservation and development of oil and gas industry in the Kharkiv Region, creating an effective system of production and processing of agricultural products, investment projects that will receive funding from the State Fund for Regional Development, development of international integration, preparation for privatization of state enterprises.


International Industrial Exhibitions

The international industrial exhibitions are usually conducted at the Radmir Expohall exhibition center in Kharkiv.


Industrial corporations

During the Soviet era, Kharkiv was the capital of industrial production in Ukraine and a large centre of industry and commerce in the Soviet Union, USSR. After the history of the Soviet Union (1985–1991)#Dissolution of the USSR, collapse of the Soviet Union the largely defence-systems-oriented industrial production of the city decreased significantly. In the early 2000s, the industry started to recover and adapt to market economy needs. The enterprises form machine-building, electro-technology, instrument-making, and energy conglomerates. State-owned industrial giants, such as
Turboatom UKRAINIAN ENERGY MACHINES JOINT STOCK COMPANY or TURBOATOM ( uk, Турбоатом) is one of the strategic state-owned enterprises of Ukraine, determining to a considerable degree energy and national security of the state. The plant is among t ...
and Elektrotyazhmash occupy 17% of the heavy power equipment construction (e.g., turbines) market worldwide. Multipurpose aircraft are produced by the
Antonov Antonov State Enterprise ( uk, Державне підприємство «Антонов»), formerly the Aeronautical Scientific-Technical Complex named after Antonov (Antonov ASTC) ( uk, Авіаційний науково-технічни ...
aircraft manufacturing plant. The Malyshev factory produces not only armoured fighting vehicles, but also harvesters.
Khartron JSC "Khartron" (Hartron) (Ukrainian: Хартрон, formerly NPO "Electropribor", Russian: НПО "Электроприбор", meaning Scientific Production Association "Electrical device"; originally known as NII-692 or OKB-692 design bureau; ...
is the leading designer of space and commercial control systems in Ukraine and the former Commonwealth of Independent States, CIS.


IT industry

As of April 2018, there were 25,000 specialists in IT industry of the Kharkiv region, 76% of them were related to computer programming. Thus, Kharkiv accounts for 14% of all IT specialists in Ukraine and makes the second largest IT location in the country, right after the capital Kyiv. Also, the number of active IT companies in the region to be 445, five of them employing more than 601 people. Besides, there are 22 large companies with the workers' number ranging from 201 to 600. More than half of IT-companies located in the Kharkiv region fall into "extra small" category with less than 20 persons engaged. The list is compiled with 43 medium (81-200 employers) and 105 small companies (21-80). Due to the comparably narrow market for IT services in Ukraine, the majority of Kharkiv companies are export-oriented with more than 95% of total sales generated overseas in 2017. Overall, the estimated revenue of Kharkiv IT companies will more than double from $800 million in 2018 to $1.85 billion by 2025. The major markets are North America (65%) and Europe (25%).


Finance industry

Kharkiv is also the headquarters of one of the largest Ukrainian banks, UkrSibbank, which has been part of the BNP Paribas group since December 2005.


Trade industry

There are many large modern shopping malls in Kharkiv. There are a large number of markets: * Barabashovo market is the largest market in Ukraine and one of the largest markets in Europe. * Blagoveshinskiy market. * Konniy "horse" market. * Sumskoi market * Raiskiy book market.


Science and education


Higher education

The Kharkiv National University, Vasyl N. Karazin Kharkiv National University is the most prestigious reputable classic university, which was founded due to the efforts by Vasily Karazin in Kharkiv in 1804–1805. On , the Decree on the Opening of the Imperial University in Kharkiv came into force. The Roentgen Institute opened in 1931. It was a specialist cancer treatment facility with 87 research workers, 20 professors, and specialist medical staff. The facilities included chemical, physiology, and bacteriology experimental treatment laboratories. It produced x-ray apparatus for the whole country. The city has 13 national universities and numerous professional, technical and private higher education institutions, offering its students a wide range of disciplines. These universities include Kharkiv National University (12,000 students), Kharkiv Polytechnical Institute, National Technical University "KhPI" (20,000 students), Kharkiv National University of Radioelectronics (12,000 students), Kharkiv National Aerospace University "KhAI", Kharkiv National University of Economics, Ukrainian Academy of Pharmacy, Kharkiv National University of Pharmacy, and Kharkiv National Medical University. More than 17,000 faculty and research staff are employed in the institutions of higher education in Kharkiv.


Scientific research

The city has a high concentration of research institutions, which are independent or loosely connected with the universities. Among them are three national science centres: Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology, Institute of Meteorology, Institute for Experimental and Clinical Veterinary Medicine and 20 national research institutions of the National Academy of Science of Ukraine, such as the B Verkin Institute for Low Temperature Physics and Engineering, Institute for Problems of Cryobiology and Cryomedicine, State Scientific Institution "Institute for Single Crystals", Usikov Institute of Radiophysics and Electronics (IRE), Institute of Radio Astronomy (IRA), and others. A total number of 26,000 scientists are working in research and development. A number of world-renowned scientific schools appeared in Kharkiv, such as the Kharkiv Theoretical Physics School, theoretical physics school and the Kharkiv Mathematical School, mathematical school. There is the Kharkiv Scientists House in the city, which was built by A. N. Beketov, architect in Kharkiv in 1900. All the scientists like to meet and discuss various scientific topics at the Kharkiv Scientists House in Kharkiv.


Public libraries

In addition to the libraries affiliated with the various universities and research institutions, the Kharkiv State Scientific V. Korolenko-library is a major research library.


Secondary schools

Kharkiv has 212 (secondary education) schools, including 10 lyceums and 20 Gymnasium (school), gymnasiums.


Education centers

There is the educational "Landau Center", which is named after Prof. L.D. Landau, Nobel laureate in Kharkiv.


Culture

Kharkiv is one of the main cultural centres in Ukraine. It is home to 20 museums, over 10 theatres and a number of art galleries. Large music and cinema festivals are hosted in Kharkiv almost every year.


Theatres

The Kharkiv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre named after N. V. Lysenko is the biggest theatre in Kharkiv. Kharkiv Ukrainian Drama Theatre named after T. G. Shevchenko is popular among Ukrainian speaking people The Kharkiv Academic Russian Drama Theatre named after A.S. Pushkin was recently renovated, and it is quite popular among locals. The Kharkiv Theatre of the Young Spectator (now the Theatre for Children and Youth) is one of the oldest theatres for children. The Kharkiv Puppet Theatre (The Kharkiv State Academic Puppet Theatre named after VA Afanasyev) is the first puppet theatre in the territory of Kharkiv. It was created in 1935. The Kharkiv Academic Theatre of Musical Comedy is a theatre founded on 1 November 1929 in Kharkiv.


Literature

In the 1930s Kharkiv was referred to as a Literary Klondike Gold Rush, Klondike. It was the centre for the work of literary figures such as: Les Kurbas, Mykola Kulish, Mykola Khvylovy, Mykola Zerov, Valerian Pidmohylny, Pavlo Filipovych, Marko Voronny, Oleksa Slisarenko. Over 100 of these writers were repressed during the Stalinist purges of the 1930s. This tragic event in Ukrainian history is called the "Executed Renaissance" (Rozstrilene vidrodzhennia). Today, a literary museum located on Frunze Street marks their work and achievements. Today, Kharkiv is often referred to as the "capital city" of Ukrainian science fiction and fantasy. It is home to a number of popular writers, such as H. L. Oldie, Alexander Zorich, Andrey Dashkov, Yuri Nikitin (author), Yuri Nikitin and Andrey Valentinov; most of them Russian language in Ukraine, write in Russian and are popular in both Russia and Ukraine. The annual science fiction convention "Star Bridge" (Звёздный мост) has been held in Kharkiv since 1999.


Music

There is the Kharkiv Philharmonic Society in the city. The leading group active in the Philharmonic is the Academic Symphony Orchestra. It has 100 musicians of a high professional level, many of whom are prize-winners in international and national competitions. There is the Organ Music Hall in the city. The Organ Music Hall is situated at the Dormition Cathedral, Kharkiv, Assumption Cathedral presently. The Rieger–Kloss organ was installed in the building of the Organ Music Hall back in 1986. The new Organ Music Hall will be opened at the extensively renovated building of Kharkiv Philharmonic Society in Kharkiv in November 2016. The Kharkiv Conservatory is in the city. The Kharkiv National Kotlyarevsky University of Arts, Kharkiv National University of Arts named after I.P. Kotlyarevsky is situated in the city. Kharkiv sponsors the prestigious Hnat Khotkevych International Music Competition of Performers of Ukrainian Folk Instruments, which takes place every three years. Since 1997 four tri-annual competitions have taken place. The 2010 competition was cancelled by the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture two days before its opening. The music festival: "Kharkiv - City of Kind Hopes" is conducted in Kharkiv. From Kharkiv comes also black metal band Drudkh.


Films

From 1907 to 2008, at least 86 feature films were shot in the city's territory and its region. The most famous is ''Fragment of an Empire'' (1929). Arriving in Leningrad, the main character, in addition to the usual pre-revolutionary buildings, sees the Derzhprom, Gosprom - a symbol of a new era.


Film festivals

The Kharkiv Lilacs international film festival is very popular among movie stars, makers and producers in Ukraine, Eastern Europe, Western Europe and North America. The annual festival is usually conducted in May. There is a special alley with metal hand prints by popular movies actors at Shevchenko park in Kharkiv.


Visual arts

Kharkiv has been a home for many famous painters, including Ilya Repin, Zinaida Serebryakova, Henryk Siemiradzki, and Vasyl Yermilov. There are many modern arts galleries in the city: the Yermilov Centre, Lilacs Gallery, the Kharkiv Art Museum, the Kharkiv Municipal Gallery, the AC Gallery, Palladium Gallery, the Semiradsky Gallery, AVEK Gallery, and Arts of Slobozhanshyna Gallery among others.


Museums

There are around 147 museums in the Kharkiv's region. Museums in the city include: * The M. F. Sumtsov Kharkiv Historical Museum * The Natural History Museum at V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University was founded in Kharkiv on 2 April 1807. The museum is visited by 40000 visitors every year. * The V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University History Museum was established in Kharkiv in 1972. * The V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University Archeology Museum was founded in Kharkiv on 20 March 1998. * The National Technical University "Kharkiv Polytechnical Institute" Museum was created in Kharkiv on 29 December 1972. * The National Aerospace University "Kharkiv Aviation Institute" Museum was founded on 29 May 1992. * The "National University of Pharmacy" Museum was founded in Kharkiv on 15 September 2010. * The Kharkiv Maritime Museum - a museum dedicated to the history of shipbuilding and navigation. * The Kharkiv Puppet Museum is the oldest museum of dolls in Ukraine. * Memorial museum-apartment of the family Grizodubov. * Club-Museum of Claudia Shulzhenko. * The Museum of "First Aid". * The Museum of Urban Transport. * The Museum of Sexual Cultures.


Landmarks

Of the many attractions of the Kharkiv city are the: Assumption Cathedral, Kharkiv, Dormition Cathedral, Annunciation Cathedral, Kharkiv, Annunciation Cathedral,
Derzhprom The Derzhprom ( uk, Держпром) or Gosprom (russian: Госпром) building is an office building located on Freedom Square in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Built in the Constructivist style, it was the first modern skyscraper building in th ...
building, Freedom Square, Kharkiv, Freedom Square, Taras Shevchenko Monument, Mirror Stream, Historical Museum, Kharkov Choral Synagogue, Choral Synagogue, T. Shevchenko Gardens, Zoo, Children's narrow-gauge railroad, World War I Tank Mk V, Memorial Complex, and many more. After the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea the monument to Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny in Sevastopol was removed and handed over to Kharkiv.


Parks

Kharkiv contains numerous parks and gardens such as the Gor'ky park, Shevchenko park, Hydro park, Strelka park
Sarzhyn Yar
and Feldman ecopark. The Gor'ky park is a common place for recreation activities among visitors and local people. The Shevchenko park is situated in close proximity to the V.N. Karazin National University. It is also a common place for recreation activities among the students, professors, locals and foreigners. The Ecopark is situated at circle highway around Kharkiv. It attracts kids, parents, students, professors, locals and foreigners to undertake recreation activities. Sarzhyn Yar is a natural ravine three minutes walk from "Botanichniy Sad" station. It is an old girder that now - is a modern park zone more than 12 km length. There is also a mineral water source with cupel and a sporting court.


Media

There are a large number of broadcast and internet TV channels, AM/FM/PM/internet radio-stations, and paper/internet newspapers in Kharkiv. Some are listed below.


Newspapers

* ''Slobidskyi Krai'' * ''Vremya'' * ''Vecherniy Kharkov'' * ''Segodnya'' * ''Vesti'' * ''Kharkovskie Izvestiya''


Magazines

* ''Guberniya''


TV stations

* "7 kanal" channel * "А/ТВК" channel * "Simon" channel * "ATN Kharkov" channel * "UA: Kharkiv" channel


Radio stations

* Promin * Ukrainske Radio * Radio Kharkiv * Kharkiv Oblastne Radio * Russkoe Radio Ukraina * Shanson * Retro FM


Online news in English

* ''The Kharkiv Times'' * ''Kharkiv Observer''


Transport

The city of Kharkiv is one of the largest transportation centres in Ukraine, which is connected to numerous other cities of the world by air, rail and road traffic. There are about 250 thousand cars in the city. Kharkiv is one out of four Ukrainian cities with a subway system.


Local transport

Being an important transportation centre of Ukraine, many different means of transportation are available in Kharkiv. Kharkiv Metro, Kharkiv's Metro is the city's rapid transit system operating since 1975. It includes three different lines with 30 stations in total.Poroshenko opens new subway station in Kharkiv
Interfax-Ukraine (19 August 2016)
The Kharkiv buses carry about 12 million passengers annually. Trolleybuses, Trams in Kharkiv, trams (which celebrated its 100-year anniversary of service in 2006), and ''marshrutkas'' (private minibuses) are also important means of transportation in the city.


Railways

The first railway connection of Kharkiv was opened in 1869. The first train to arrive in Kharkiv came from the north on 22 May 1869, and on 6 June 1869, traffic was opened on the Kursk–Kharkiv–Azov line. Kharkiv's passenger railway station was reconstructed and expanded in 1901, to be later destroyed in the Second World War. A new Kharkiv railway station was built in 1952. Kharkiv is connected with all main cities in Ukraine and abroad by regular railway services. Regional trains known as elektrichkas connect Kharkiv with nearby towns and villages.


Air

Kharkiv is served by Kharkiv International Airport. Charter flights are also available. The former largest carrier of the Kharkiv Airport — Aeromost-Kharkiv — is not serving any regular destinations . The Kharkiv North Airport is a factory airfield and was a major production facility for Antonov, Antonov aircraft company.


Sport


Kharkiv International Marathon

The Kharkiv International Marathon is considered as a prime international sportive event, attracting many thousands of professional sportsmen, young people, students, professors, locals and tourists to travel to Kharkiv and to participate in the international event.


Football (soccer)

The most popular sport is football (soccer), football. The city has several football clubs playing in the Ukrainian national competitions. The most successful is ''FC Dynamo Kharkiv'' that won eight national titles back in the 1920s–1930s. * FC Metalist Kharkiv, which plays at the Metalist Stadium * FC Metalist 1925 Kharkiv, which plays at the Metalist Stadium * FC Helios Kharkiv, a defunct club, which played at the Helios Arena (Kharkiv), Helios Arena * FC Kharkiv, a defunct club, which played at the Dynamo Stadium (Kharkiv), Dynamo Stadium * FC Arsenal Kharkiv, which played at the Arsenal-Spartak Stadium (participates in regional competitions) * FC Shakhtar Donetsk also play at the Metalist Stadium since 2017, due to the War in Donbas (2014–2022), war in Donbass There is also a female football club WFC Zhytlobud-1 Kharkiv, which represented Ukraine in the European competitions and constantly is the main contender for the national title. Metalist Stadium hosted three group matches at UEFA Euro 2012.


Other sports

Kharkiv also had some ice hockey clubs, MHC Dynamo Kharkiv, HK Vityaz Kharkiv, Vityaz Kharkiv, Yunost Kharkiv, HC Kharkiv, who competed in the Ukrainian Hockey Championship. Avangard Budy is a bandy club from Kharkiv, which won the Ukrainian championship in 2013. There are a men's volleyball teams, VC Lokomotyv Kharkiv, Lokomotyv Kharkiv and VC Yurydychna Akademiya Kharkiv, Yurydychna Akademiya Kharkiv, which performed in Ukraine and in European competitions. RC Olymp is the city's rugby union club. They provide many players for the Ukraine national rugby union team, national team. Tennis is also a popular sport in Kharkiv. There are many professional tennis courts in the city. Elina Svitolina is a tennis player from Kharkiv. There is a golf club in Kharkiv. Horseriding as a sport is also popular among locals. There are large stables and horse riding facilities at Feldman Ecopark in Kharkiv. There is a growing interest in cycling among locals. There is a large bicycles producer, Kharkiv Bicycle Plant within the city. Presently, the modern bicycle highway is under construction at the "Leso park" (Лісопарк) district in Kharkiv.


People

*Anastasia Afanasieva (born 1982) - psychiatrist, poet, writer, translator *Nikolai P. Barabashov (1894–1971) – astronomer, co-author of the first pictures of the far side of the moon *Pavel Batitsky (1910–1984) – Soviet military leader *Vladimir Bobri (1898–1986) – illustrator, author, composer, educator and guitar historian *Inna Bohoslovska (born 1960) – lawyer, politician and leader of the Ukrainian public organization Aktsent, Viche *Sergei Bortkiewicz (1877–1952) – Russian Romantic music, Romantic composer and pianist *Maria Burmaka (born 1970) – Ukrainian singer, musician and songwriter *Leonid Bykov (1928–1979) – Soviet actor, film director, and script writer *Cassandre (1901–1968) – Ukrainian-French painter, commercial poster artist, and typeface designer *Juliya Chernetsky (born 1982) – TV host, actress, model, and music promoter in the US. ''(Mistress Juliya)'' *Andrey Denisov (born 1952) a Russian diplomat in China *Vladimir Drinfeld (born 1954) – mathematician, awarded Fields Medal in 1990 *Isaak Dunayevsky (1900–1955) – Soviet composer and conductor *Konstanty Gorski (1859–1924) – Polish composer, violist, organist and music teacher *Valentina Grizodubova (1909–1993) – one of the first female pilots in the Soviet Union *Lyudmila Gurchenko (1935–2011) – Soviet and Russian actress, singer and entertainer *Mikhail Gurevich (aircraft designer), Mikhail Gurevich (1892–1976) – Soviet aircraft designer, a partner (with Artem Mikoyan) of the MiG military aviation bureau *Diana Harkusha (born 1994) – Miss Ukraine Universe 2014 and Miss Universe 2014's 2nd Runner-up *Leonid Haydamaka (1898–1991) – bandurist and conductor *Vasily Karazin (1773–1842) – founder of
National University of Kharkiv The Kharkiv University or Karazin University ( uk, Каразінський університет), or officially V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University ( uk, Харківський національний університет імені ...
, which bears his name *Hnat Khotkevych (1877–1938) – writer, ethnographer, composer, bandurist *Mikhail Koshkin (1898–1940)– chief designer of Soviet tank
T-34 The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank introduced in 1940. When introduced its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was less powerful than its contemporaries while its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against Anti-tank warfare, anti-tan ...
*Olga Krasko (born 1981) – Russian actress *Mykola Kulish (1892–1937) – Ukrainian prose writer, playwright and pedagogue *Les Kurbas (1887–1937) - a Ukrainian movie and theatre director and dramatist *Simon Kuznets (1901–1985) – Russian-American economist *Evgeny Lifshitz (1915–1985) – Soviet physicist *Eduard Limonov (1943–2020) – writer, poet and controversial politician *Gleb Lozino-Lozinskiy (1909–2001) – lead developer of Soviet Shuttle Buran program *Aleksandr Lyapunov (1857–1918) – Russian mathematician and physicist, invented motion stability theory *Boris Mikhailov (photographer), Boris Mikhailov (born 1938) – photographer and artist *Mykola Mikhnovsky (1873–1924) – Ukrainian political leader and activist *T-DJ Milana (born 1989) – DJ, composer, dancer and model, lives in Kharkiv *Yuri Nikitin (author), Yuri Nikitin (born 1939) – a Russian science fiction and fantasy writer. *H. L. Oldie (Dmitry Gromov and Oleg Ladyzhensky) (both born 1963)– writers *Justine Pasek (born 1979) – Miss Universe 2002 *Valerian Pidmohylny (1901-1937) – poet, novelist and literary critic *Olga Rapay-Markish (1929–2012) – Ceramics, ceramicist *Serafina Schachova – Nephrology, nephrologist *Eugen Schauman (1875–1904) – Finnish nationalist, killed Russian general Nikolay Ivanovich Bobrikov, NA Bobrikov *Alexander Shchetynsky (born 1960) – composer of solo, orchestral and choral pieces. *George Shevelov (1908–2002) – linguist, essayist, literary historian and literary critic *Elena Sheynina (born 1965) – children's author *Lev Shubnikov (1901–1937) – Soviet experimental physicist, worked in the Netherlands and USSR *Klavdiya Shulzhenko (1906–1984) – Soviet and Russian popular female singer and actress. *Alexander Siloti (1863–1945) – Russian pianist, conductor and composer *Hryhorii Skovoroda (1722–1794) – poet, philosopher and composer *Karina Smirnoff (born 1978) – world champion dancer, starring on ''Dancing with the Stars'' *Jura Soyfer (1912–1939) – Austrian political journalist and cabaret writer *Otto Struve (1897–1963) – Russian-American astronomer *Sergei Sviatchenko (born 1952) Danish-Ukrainian artist, photographer and architect. *Mark Taimanov (1926–2016) – concert pianist and chess player *Nikolai Tikhonov (1905–1997) - a Soviet Russian-Ukrainian statesman during the Cold War. *Yevgeniy Timoshenko (born 1988) – poker player in the US *Andriy Tsaplienko (born 1968) - Ukrainian journalist, presenter, filmmaker and writer. *Anna Tsybuleva (born 1990) – classical pianist, winner of the Leeds International Piano Competition *Anna Ushenina (born 1985) – women's world chess champion *Vladimir Vasyutin (1952–2002) – Soviet cosmonaut of Ukrainian descent *Vitali Vitaliev (born 1954) – journalist and author *Alexander Voevodin (born 1949) – biomedical scientist and educator *Yevgania Yosifovna Yakhina (1918 – 1983) – composer *Vasyl Yermylov (1894–1968) - Ukrainian and Soviet painter, avant-garde artist and designer. *Serhiy Zhadan (born 1974) - Ukrainian poet, novelist, essayist and translator. *Valentine Yanovna Zhubinskaya (1926–2013) Ukrainian composer, concertmistress and pianist *Irina Zhurina (born 1946) Russian operatic coloratura soprano. *Alexander Zorich (Dmitry Gordevsky and Yana Botsman) (both born 1973) – writers


Sport

*Leonid Buryak (born 1953) – football coach and former footballer *Valentina Chepiga (born 1962) – Female bodybuilding, female bodybuilder and 2000 Ms. Olympia champion *Olga Danilov (born 1973) – Israeli Olympic speed skater *Alexander Davidovich (wrestler), Alexander Davidovich (born 1967) – Israeli Olympic wrestler *Mikhail Gurevich (chess player), Mikhail Gurevich – (born 1959) a Belgian chess player. *Oleksandr Gvozdyk (born 1987) – boxer *Pavlo Ishchenko (born 1992) – Olympic Ukrainian-Israeli boxer *Oleksandr Kachorenko (born 1980) – professional footballer *Maksym Kalynychenko (born 1979) – footballer *Igor Olshanetskyi (born 1986) – Israeli Olympic weightlifter *Gennady Orlov (born 1945) - Russian sports journalist and former footballer * Ivan Pravilov (1963–2012) - ice hockey coach, sexually abused a teenage student, committed suicide by hanging in prison *Irina Press (1939–2004) – athlete who won two Olympic gold medals *Tamara Press (1937–2021) – Soviet shot putter and discus thrower *Oleh Ptachyk (born 1981) – retired Ukrainian footballer *Igor Rybak (1934–2005) – Olympic champion lightweight weightlifter *Elina Svitolina (born 1994) – tennis player *Ievgeniia Tetelbaum (born 1991) – Israeli Olympic synchronized swimmer *Artem Tsoglin (born 1997) – Israeli pair skater *Yury Vengerovsky (1938–1998) – Olympic gold medal-winning volleyball player *Igor Vovchanchyn (born 1973) – Mixed martial artist *Oleksandr Zhdanov (born 1984) – Ukrainian-Israeli footballer


Nobel and Fields prize winners

*Élie Metchnikoff (1845–1916) - a Russian/French zoologist; researched immunology; jointly awarded the 1908 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine *Simon Kuznets (1901–1985) - an American economist and statistician; received the 1971 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences *Lev Landau (1908–1968) - a Soviet physicist, made fundamental contributions to theoretical physics; Nobel Prize in Physics 1962 *Vladimir Drinfeld (born 1954) - a mathematician now in the United States; awarded the Fields Medal in 1990


Twin towns – sister cities

Kharkiv is Sister city, twinned with: * Bologna, Italy (1966) * Brno, Czech Republic (2005) * Cetinje Municipality, Cetinje, Montenegro (2011) * Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati, United States (1989) * Daejeon, South Korea (2013) * Daugavpils, Latvia (2006) * Debrecen, Hungary (2016) * Gaziantep, Turkey (2011) * Geroskipou, Cyprus (2018) * Jinan, China (2004) * Kaunas, Lithuania (2001) * Kutaisi, Georgia (2005) * Lille, France (1978) * Maribor, Slovenia (2012) * Nuremberg, Germany (1990) * Polis, Cyprus, Polis, Cyprus (2018) * Poznań, Poland (1998) * Rishon LeZion, Israel (2008) * Tbilisi, Georgia (2012) * Tianjin, China (1993) * Tirana, Albania (2017) * Trnava, Slovakia (2013) * Varna, Bulgaria (1995)


See also

* Grigoriev Institute for Medical Radiology *


References


Sources


External links

* *
Citynet UA
– Official website of Kharkiv City Information Centre
Misto Kharkiv
– Official website of Kharkiv City Council
Study in Kharkiv
– Official website of Kharkiv national Universities {{Authority control Kharkiv, Cities in Kharkiv Oblast Kharkovsky Uyezd Populated places established in 1654 Former capitals of Ukraine Cities of regional significance in Ukraine Articles containing video clips Holocaust locations in Ukraine Oblast centers in Ukraine Cities and towns built in the Sloboda Ukraine Territorial disputes of Ukraine