Konotop ( uk, Конотоп ) is a city in

Sumy Oblast Sumy Oblast ( uk, Сумська́ о́бласть, translit=Sumska oblast; also referred to as Sumshchyna – uk, Су́мщина) is an oblast (province) in the northeastern part of Ukraine. Population: The oblast was created in its most r ...

in northeastern

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 ...

. Konotop serves as the administrative center of Konotop Raion. Konotop is located about 129 km from

Sumy Sumy ( uk, Суми ) is a city of regional significance in Ukraine, and the capital of Sumy Oblast. The city is situated on the banks of the Psel River in northeastern Ukraine with a population of according to the 2021 census, making it the 2 ...

, the oblast administrative center. It is host to Konotop air base, now held by Ukraine. The population is

History

During the beginning of the 17th century,

Cossacks 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 ...

were first based in that area. The settlement was first mentioned in 1634 in various documents as Novoselytsia. In 1642 a Polish fortress was built in that place named after the river Konotopka. Probably the river disappeared, and another one was created, Yezuch. The fortification became a key point in the struggle against the Moscow state. Another hypothesis is that the name of the city could originate from the name of the ancient Warmian knyaz (князь) Christopher of Kononowitz of the noble Polish-Belarusian-Lithuanian family Kononowicz-Piłsudski that still exists and uses the Polish coat of arms of Radwan. The name "Konotop" would then mean “the place of Kono(nowitz)” from adjoining the

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...

''topos'' (cf. Ancient Greek τόπος) meaning ''place'' or ''location''. In 1659 the

Battle of Konotop A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

took place near the city, in which

led by

Ivan Vyhovsky Ivan Vyhovsky ( uk, Іван Виговський; pl, Iwan Wyhowski / Jan Wyhowski; date of birth unknown, died 1664), a Ukrainian military and political figure and statesman, served as hetman of the Zaporizhian Host and of the Cossack Hetma ...

(allied with Poles and Crimean Tatars) defeated

Muscovite Muscovite (also known as common mica, isinglass, or potash mica) is a hydrated phyllosilicate mineral of aluminium and potassium with formula K Al2(Al Si3 O10)( F,O H)2, or ( KF)2( Al2O3)3( SiO2)6( H2O). It has a highly perfect basal cleavag ...

forces. In 1782 Konotop was granted

municipal rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

. 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 ...

, Konotop was occupied by the German Army from 3 September 1941 to 6 September 1943. Details of this are recounted in the book ''

The Forgotten Soldier ''The Forgotten Soldier'' (1965), originally published in French as ''Le soldat oublié'', is an account by Guy Sajer (pseudonym of Guy Mouminoux) of his experiences as a German soldier on the Eastern Front during World War II. With reference to ...

'' by

Guy Sajer Guy Mouminoux (13 January 1927 – 11 January 2022), known by the pseudonym Guy Sajer, was a French writer and cartoonist who is best known as the author of the Second World War memoir ''Le Soldat Oublié'' (1965, translated as '' The Forgotten ...

. The Germans operated a Nazi prison and the Stalag 310

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. P ...

in the city.

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

On February 25, 2022, during the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

, the city was reported to be

under siege ''Under Siege'' is a 1992 American action thriller film directed by Andrew Davis, written by J. F. Lawton, and starring Steven Seagal as a former Navy SEAL who must stop a group of mercenaries, led by Tommy Lee Jones, after they commandeer the ...

by Russian forces on their way to

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 ...

. Ukraine later stated that it had lost control of the city. The mayor Artem Seminikhin stated on 2 March that Russian troops who had entered the city had warned him that they would destroy the city if the residents resisted them. An agreement was reached under which Russian forces accepted not to change the city's government or deploy troops, in return for which the residents would not attack them. On 3 April, Ukrainian MP Olexander Kachura stated on Twitter that all Russian forces had left Konotop Raion. On 4 April 2022 Sumy Oblast's Governor

Dmytro Zhyvytskyi Dmytro Oleksiyovych Zhyvytskyi ( uk, Дмитро Олексійович Живицький; born on 17 September 1982), is a Ukrainian politician, entrepreneur, public figure, and civil servant who has been the Governor of Sumy Oblast since ...

stated that Russian troops no longer occupied any towns or villages in Sumy Oblast and had mostly withdrawn, while Ukrainian troops were working to push out the remaining units.Russian troops no longer hold any settlements in Ukraine's Sumy region, says governor

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

(4 April 2022)

Economy

The main industrial enterprises of the city include the Konotop Casting and Mechanical Plant, the Motordetal Plant, the Konotop Fittings Plant, the Konotop Car Repair Plant, the Aviakon Aircraft Repair Plant, a mechanical plant, a garment factory, a meat processing plant (Konotopmyaso OJSC), a dairy plant, and a bakery plant. Konotop is an important mechanical engineering center, food production center.

Transport

The city is an important transportation center. Various railroad connections from Konotop include:

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 ...

–

Simferopol Simferopol () is the second-largest city in the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, and is considered the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. However, ...

–

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

Bakhmach Bakhmach ( uk, Бахмач, lit=plantations, ) is a city located in Nizhyn Raion of Chernihiv Oblast (province), in northern Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Bakhmach urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. It has a population of ...

–

Bryansk Bryansk ( rus, Брянск, p=brʲansk) is a city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, situated on the River Desna, southwest of Moscow. Population: Geography Urban layout The location of the settlement was originally ass ...

–

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 B ...

. Furthermore, Konotop is one of the smallest cities in the country with its own

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

system.

Climate

Gallery

Konotop Mykolayivs'ka Tserkva 02 Petrovs'kogo 61 (YDS 4541).JPG, St. Nikolas wooden church Вознесенська церква Конотоп.JPG, Ascension Church Konotop Sadyba Generala Dragomyrova Golovniy Budynok 01 Dragomyrova 18 (YDS 4528).JPG, Mansion of general Mikhail Dragomirov Скульптура Коня на вул Бр. Радченків у Конотопі.jpg, Horse statue in the downtown Konotop Myru 10 01 (YDS 4450).JPG, Old town Konotop Likarnya Zaliznychnykiv Golovniy Korpus 04 Sadova 98 (YDS 4437).JPG, Konotop Railway Hospital Buildings in Konotop (5).JPG, School in Konotop Konotop Shkola 11 Svobody 8 (YDS 4411).JPG, Old school in Konotop Trams in Konotop (11).JPG, Konotop tram Вокзал Конотоп 003.jpeg, Railway station

References

External links

*
Official website

JewUa.org
– History of Jewish Community in Konotop {{Authority control Cities in Sumy Oblast Konotopsky Uyezd Chernihiv Voivodeship Cities of regional significance in Ukraine