Samar (), formerly known as Novomoskovsk () until 2024, is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Dnipropetrovsk Oblast (), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in simultaneously southern, eastern and central Ukraine, the most important industrial region of the country. It was created on February 27, 1932. Dnipropetro ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. It serves as the administrative center of

Samar Raion Samar Raion (), until 2024 known as Novomoskovsk Raion (), is a Raions of Ukraine, raion (district) of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, southeastern-central Ukraine. Its administrative centre is located at Samar, Ukraine, Samar. Population: On 18 July 202 ...

within the oblast. Samar is located predominantly on the right bank of the Samara River, a left

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of the

Dnieper River The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...

. The city is located from the administrative center of the oblast,

Dnipro Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...

. As of January 2022, Novomoskovsk's population was approximately

History

A city with the name Samar (now known as Old Samar) has existed from the end of the 17th century. The Cossacks abandoned the town in 1688 when

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

built the Bohorodytska Fortress in the city. Soon after, the former inhabitants of the Old Samar founded another settlement named Samar upstream the Samara River. In 18th-century documents, the city is also named Samarchyk, Novoselytsia or Palanka. The town was the administrative center of the (

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

) of the

Zaporozhian Cossacks The Zaporozhian Cossacks (in Latin ''Cossacorum Zaporoviensis''), also known as the Zaporozhian Cossack Army or the Zaporozhian Host (), were Cossacks who lived beyond (that is, downstream from) the Dnieper Rapids. Along with Registered Cossa ...

. In 1777, a town named Yekaterinoslav, meaning "the glory of Catherine" (after Russian empress

Catherine II Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter III ...

), was built on the location. The site was badly chosen – spring waters transformed the city into a bog.Establishment and development of the Dnipropetrovsk city (Виникнення і розвиток міста Дніпропетровськ)

The History of Cities and Villages of the Ukrainian SSR ''The History of Cities and Villages of the Ukrainian SSR'' () is a Ukrainian encyclopedia, published in 26 volumes. It provides knowledge about the history of all populated places in Ukraine. It was approved by the Communist Party of Ukraine in 1 ...

. The surviving settlement was in 1794 renamed to Novomoskovsk.S. S. Montefiore: Prince of Princes – The Life of Potemkin The city name Yekaterinoslav was given to current

. The city is famous for the Holy Trinity Cathedral, built in 1778 by Yakym Pohrybniak from wood without any nails. A novel dedicated to the cathedral by Ukrainian writer

Oles Honchar Oleksandr "Oles" Terentiiovych Honchar (; []; 3 April 1918 – 14 July 1995) was a Soviet and Ukraine, Ukrainian writer and public figure. He also was a veteran of World War II and member of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukrainian parliament. Biograp ...

became a classic of 20th-century Ukrainian literature. In 1917 the

Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) was a short-lived state in Eastern Europe. Prior to its proclamation, the Central Council of Ukraine was elected in March 1917 Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, as a result of the February Revolution, ...

tried to rename Novomoskovsk to Samar. Until 18 July 2020, Novomoskovsk was incorporated as a city of oblast significance and served as the administrative center of

Novomoskovsk Raion Samar Raion (), until 2024 known as Novomoskovsk Raion (), is a raion (district) of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, southeastern-central Ukraine. Its administrative centre is located at Samar. Population: On 18 July 2020, as part of the administrative re ...

though it did not belong to the raion. In July 2020, as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of

to seven, the city of Novomoskovsk was merged into Novomoskovsk Raion. Following the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

in 2022, the city council voted in January 2024 to rename Novomoskovsk to Nova Samar (). On 19 September 2024, the Supreme Council of Ukraine voted to rename Novomoskovsk to Samar.

Demographics

In 2001, Samar (at the time Novomoskovsk) had a population of 71,860 people. In terms of ethnicity,

Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...

constitute a large majority, accounting for over 80% of the population. The second-largest group are people with an ethnic Russian background (13%), while the remaining population consists of

Belarusians Belarusians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Belarus. They natively speak Belarusian language, Belarusian, an East Slavic language. More than 9 million people proclaim Belarusian ethnicity worldwide. Nearly 7.99&n ...

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

, people of Turkic origin,

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

and

Romani people {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...

. The exact ethnic composition was as follows:

Notable people

* Stepan Koval (born 1965), film director and animator *

Viktor Skrypnyk Viktor Anatoliyovych Skrypnyk (; born 19 November 1969) is a Ukrainian professional football manager and former player who has been the manager of Ukrainian Premier League club Zorya Luhansk since 2025. As a player, he played as a left-back and h ...

(born 1969), football manager

Gallery

File:Братські й настоятельські келії.jpg, Samar monastery File:Novomoskovsk Cathedral.JPG, Former synagogue building in Samar File:Новомосковськ Миколаївський собор.jpg, St. Nicholas Cathedral File:Навчальний корпус Новомосковського кооперативного технікуму, Новомосковськ, вул. Радянська, 29.jpg, Novomoskovsk Technical Institute File:Житловий будинок,Новомосковськ, вул. Радянська, 31.jpg, Stalinist architecture File:Сучкова 15.jpg, A residential building in downtown Samar

References

External links