Oleksandriia () is a city located in Oleksandriia Raion,

Kirovohrad Oblast Kirovohrad Oblast ( uk, Кіровоградська область, translit=Kirovohradska oblast; also referred to as #Nomenclature, Kirovohradschyna — uk, Кіровоградщина) is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (prov ...

(

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

) in central

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 ...

. Administratively, Oleksandriia serves as the

administrative center 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 A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or ...

of Oleksandriia Raion (

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

). Oleksandriia also hosts the administration of Oleksandriia urban hromada, one of the

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

s of Ukraine. In 2001, it had a population of 93,357, and including the villages (selo) and

urban type settlement Urban-type settlementrussian: посёлок городско́го ти́па, translit=posyolok gorodskogo tipa, abbreviated: russian: п.г.т., translit=p.g.t.; ua, селище міського типу, translit=selyshche mis'koho typu, ab ...

s in the city municipality a population of 103,856. It had a population of .

History

The city is first mentioned in 1746, as the settlement ''Usivka'' ().Oleksandriia

NASU Institute of History of Ukraine Institute of History of Ukraine is a research institute in Ukraine that is part of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine department of history, philosophy and law and studies a wide spectrum of problems in history of Ukraine. The institute i ...

(last reviewed in 2010) The official record of the settlement is dated 1754, when the Saint Elizabeth fortress was built in the region (today Kropyvnytskyi). During the establishment of the Russian colony of New Serbia in 1752–64, the 3rd Company of New Serbia was quartered in Usivka

Pandurs The Pandurs were any of several light infantry Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line i ...

. In place of Usivka the (

sconce Sconce may refer to: *Sconce (fortification), a military fortification *Sconce (light fixture) *Sconcing, imposing a penalty in the form of drink *Sconce Point Fort Victoria is a former military fort on the Isle of Wight, England (), built to ...

) ''Bechey'' (after the Serbian city of Bečej) encampment was established. In 1764, New Serbia was liquidated, and Usykivka became part of the Elizabethan province of Novorossiya Governorate, which existed until 1783, when its territory was included in the

Yekaterinoslav Viceroyalty The Ekaterinoslav Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire was created on 26 March 1783 by merging the Novorossiya Governorate and Azov Governorate. On 31 December 1796, it was incorporated into the re-established Novorossiya Governorate. Viceroyalty ...

. In 1784, the Russian government gave the settlement a Hellenic name of Aleksandriysk and later Aleksandriya (locally as Oleksandriya). In 1806–1922, Oleksandriya was a county ( uyezd) seat. In 1917, branches of the Ukrainian Free Cossacks appeared on the territory of Oleksandria. In May 1919, the city of Oleksandria was the center of an anti-Bolshevik uprising led by Otaman

Nykyfor Hryhoriv Nykyfor Oleksandrovych Hryhoriv (né Nychypir Servetnyk, 1884 – 27 July 1919) was a Ukrainian paramilitary leader noted for repeatedly switching sides during the Ukrainian Civil War. He was commonly known as "Otaman Hryhoriv." In some historic ...

. On 23 May 1919, the uprising was brutally suppressed by the forces of 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 ...

. On 6 August 1941, (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 ...

) the

of the Soviet Union left the city to the

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 ...

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

without fight. During the Nazi occupation, the city lost almost its entire Jewish population (est. ~2,500). The Nazi administration also executed over 5,500 Soviet

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

as part of the Nazi stance on the issue of the Soviets not signing the 1929 Geneva Convention. The city was recovered by the Soviet armed forces on 6 December 1943. Until 18 July 2020, Oleksandriia was designated as a city of oblast significance and belonged to Oleksandriia Municipality. It was the administrative center of Oleksandriia Raion even though it did not belong to the raion. As part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Kirovohrad Oblast to four, Oleksandriia Municipality was merged into Oleksandriia Raion. On 15 April 12022, at 10:26 p.m., two missiles hit the infrastructure of the city's airport.

Climate

Climate of Oleksandriia is classified as humid continental (Köppen classification: Dfb). Winter is cold and mild. Summer is hot. Coldest month is January (average temperature -5 °C), hottest month is July (average temperature 21.5 °C). With no dry season, winters are snowy and summers are rainy. The wettest month is June (66 mm), the driest is March (30 mm). Average annual precipitation is 526 mm.

Places of interest

A popular place to visit in the town is Oleksandriia's square, known as Soborna Square ("Соборна площа").

Twin towns

Oleksandriia is twinned with: * Jarocin, Poland * Xinyi, China * Tervel, Bulgaria

People from Oleksandriia

* Yuriy Kravchenko, Ukrainian police officer and statesman (1951) *

Pyotr Koshevoy Pyotr Kirillovich Koshevoy ( ua, Петро Кирилович Кошовий; russian: Пётр Кириллович Кошевой; – 30 August 1976) was a Soviet military commander and a Marshal of the Soviet Union. Koshevoy was born to a ...

, Soviet military leader (1968) *

Leonid Popov Leonid Ivanovich Popov (russian: Леони́д Ива́нович Попо́в; born August 31, 1945) is a former Soviet cosmonaut. Biography Popov was born in Oleksandriia, Kirovohrad Oblast, Ukrainian SSR. He was selected as a cosmonaut on ...

, Soviet cosmonaut * Sholom Secunda, Jewish-American composer (1894) * Ihor Nenko, first Ukrainian and post Soviet Union athlete who swam across La Manche (

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

)Crossing the English Channel
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References