Syzran ( rus, Сызрань, p=ˈsɨzrənʲ) is the third largest

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 ...

Samara Oblast Samara Oblast (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Samara. From 1935 to 1991, it was known as Kuybyshev Oblast. As of the Rus ...

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 ...

, located on the right bank of Saratov Reservoir of the

Volga River The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

. Population:

History

Founded in 1683 as a

fortress A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from L ...

, Syzran grew into an important trading center and was granted town status in 1796. One tower from the 17th-century fortress still stands. It is also the site of Syzran Bridge, once the longest bridge in Europe.

Russo-Ukrainian War

On the night of 18–19 February 2025,

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 ...

launched a drone attack against a

Rosneft PJSC Rosneft Oil Company ( stylized as ROSNEFT) is a Russian integrated energy company headquartered in Moscow. Rosneft specializes in the exploration, extraction, production, refining, transport, and sale of petroleum, natural gas, and pet ...

oil refinery in Syzran, with local

Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

channels claiming that the attack led to a fire in the area. Local governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev claimed that there were no casualties, and that emergency services were working on site. On 4 March 2025, Ukraine launched another drone attack on Syzran. Governor Fedorishchev claimed that local air defence forces destroyed the drones that aimed to target an industrial enterprise, and that there were casualties. There were local reports of explosions and drones targeting an oil refinery in the city.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Syzran serves as the

administrative center An administrative centre 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 the administrative language, such as Belgiu ...

of Syzransky District, even though it is not a part of it. As an administrative division, it is, together with three rural localities, incorporated separately as the city of oblast significance of Syzran—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the

districts 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 ...

.Charter of Samara Oblast As a municipal division, the city of oblast significance of Syzran is incorporated as Syzran Urban Okrug.Law #189-GD

Economy

The city's main employers are a large oil refinery owned by

, OAO Tyazhmash heavy industry machinery metallurgy mechanical turbines related to electricity production (and working with Czech

Blansko Blansko (; ) is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 20,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Svitava River on the border of the Moravian Karst. It is mainly an industrial town. Administrative division Blansko consi ...

firm CKD Blansko on some works, like in South America), and the Syzran power station.

Notable people

Konstantin Fedin Konstantin Aleksandrovich Fedin ( rus, Константи́н Алекса́ндрович Фе́дин, p=kənstɐnʲˈtʲin ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈfʲedʲɪn, a=Konstantin Alyeksandrovich Fyedin.ru.vorb.oga; – 15 July 1977) was a Sovie ...

, novelist and literary functionary * Alexey Tolstoy, writer *

Arkady Ostrovsky Arkady (Avraam) Il'ich Ostrovsky (also spelled Ostrovskij, Ostrovskyj ) (February 25 O.S. February 12">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. February 12/small>, 1914 – September 18, 1967) ...

, composer *

Andrei Sinyavsky Andrei Donatovich Sinyavsky (; 8 October 1925 – 25 February 1997) was a Russian writer and Soviet dissident known as a defendant in the Sinyavsky–Daniel trial of 1965. Sinyavsky was a literary critic for ''Novy Mir'' and wrote works critic ...

, writer *

Mikhail Korniyenko Mikhail Borisovich Kornienko (Михаил Борисович Корниенко; born 15 April 1960) is a Russian cosmonaut who has undertaken multiple missions to the International Space Station (ISS). He first served as a flight engineer duri ...

, cosmonaut * Viktor Nikitin, singer *

Ekaterina Vetkova Ekaterina Vladimirovna Vetkova (; born 1 August 1986) is a Russian former female handballer who played as a pivot. She is a world champion from the 2009 World Championship. Career From 2004 to 2007 she played for Lada Togliatti. Here she won ...

, handball player

Twin towns and sister cities

Syzran is twinned with: *

Pingdingshan Pingdingshan ( zh, s=平顶山, t=平頂山, p=Píngdǐngshān), also known as Eagle City ( zh, s=鹰城, p=Yīngchéng, t=鷹城), is a prefecture-level city in central Henan province, China. It had 4,904,701 inhabitants at the 2010 census who ...

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

, China (November 28, 2000)

References

Notes

Sources

* *

External links

Official website of Syzran

Old photos of Syzran
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Samara Oblast Populated places on the Volga Syzransky Uyezd