The Oskil ( uk, Оскiл) or Oskol (russian: Оскол) is a south-flowing river in Russia and Ukraine. It arises roughly between

Kursk Kursk ( rus, Курск, p=ˈkursk) is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym rivers. The area around Kursk was the site of a turning point in the Soviet–German stru ...

and

Voronezh Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on ...

and flows south to join the

Seversky Donets The Seversky Donets () or Siverskyi Donets (), usually simply called the Donets, is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv, Done ...

which flows southeast to join the

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

. It is long, with a

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

of .«Река Оскол»
Russian State Water Registry The river has its sources on the

Central Russian Uplands The Central Russian Upland (also Central Upland and East European Upland) is an upland area of the East European Plain and is an undulating plateau with an average elevation of . Its highest peak is measured at . The southeastern portion of the u ...

, and flows through

and

Belgorod Oblast Belgorod Oblast (russian: Белгоро́дская о́бласть, ''Belgorodskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Belgorod. Population: History At the turn of the 17th c ...

s in Russia, and through the eastern part 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, Luhan ...

in Ukraine, where it joins the Seversky Donets river. An artificial lake, the Oskil Reservoir (''Oskil Reservoir'', ''Оскільське водосховище''), was created in 1958 to help with flood protection and as a source of electricity. There are several towns along the Oskil:

Stary Oskol Stary Oskol ( rus, Старый Оскол, p=ˈstarɨj ɐˈskol) is a city in Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located south of Moscow. Population: It is called Stary Oskol (Old Oskol) to distinguish it from Novy Oskol (New Oskol) 60 km south. B ...

Novy Oskol Novy Oskol (russian: Но́вый Оско́л) is a town and the administrative center of Novooskolsky District in Belgorod Oblast, Russia, northeast of Belgorod, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: It is called Novy Oskol (N ...

and Valuyki in Russia, and

Kupiansk Kupiansk ( uk, Куп'янськ, ) is a city in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Kupiansk Raion. It is also an important railroad junction for the oblast. Kupiansk hosts the administrative offices of Kupiansk Ur ...

Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi ( uk, Куп'янськ-Вузловий, russian: Купянск-Узловой) is an urban-type settlement in Kupiansk Raion of Kharkiv Oblast in Ukraine. It is located on the left bank of the Oskil, in the drainage basin of ...

Kivsharivka Kivsharivka ( uk, Ківшарівка, russian: Ковшаровка) is an urban-type settlement in Kupiansk Raion of Kharkiv Oblast in Ukraine. It is located on the left bank of the Oskil, in the drainage basin of the Don. Kivsharivka belongs ...

, Borova and

Dvorichna Dvorichna ( uk, Дворічна, ) is an urban-type settlement in Kupiansk Raion, Kharkiv Oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Dvorichna settlement hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population: History ...

in Ukraine. On March 31, 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. ...

, Russian forces destroyed the dam of the Oskil Reservoir. In September of 2022, to resist the

2022 Ukrainian Kharkiv counteroffensive The 2022 Ukrainian eastern counteroffensive is a counteroffensive by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory of Kharkiv Oblast, Donetsk Oblast, and Luhansk Oblast, that was launched on 6 September 2022. Following t ...

, Russian forces unsuccessfully used the Oskil River as a defensive barrier.

References

External links

Oskil (Oskil) River
in th
Encyclopedia of Ukraine vol. 3 (1993)
{{Portal bar, Russia, Ukraine International rivers of Europe Rivers of Belgorod Oblast Rivers of Kursk Oblast Rivers of Kharkiv Oblast