The Oskil or Oskol (; ) is a south-flowing river in

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 ...

and

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 arises roughly between

Kursk Kursk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur (Kursk Oblast), Kur, Tuskar, and Seym (river), Seym rivers. It has a population of Kursk ...

and

Voronezh Voronezh ( ; , ) 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 the Southeastern Railway, which connects wes ...

and flows south to join the

Siverskyi 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, D ...

which flows southeast to join the

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *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 village and hill station in Dang district, Gu ...

. It is long, with a

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which 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 Upland The Central Russian Upland (also: Middle Russian 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 porti ...

, and flows through

and

Belgorod Oblast Belgorod Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an oblast) of Russia. Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Belgorod. , the population is 1,540,486. History During the Princely ...

s in Russia, and through the eastern part of

Kharkiv Oblast Kharkiv Oblast (, ), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna (), is an oblast (province) in eastern Ukraine. Kharkiv borders Luhansk Oblast to the east, Donetsk Oblast to the southeast, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast to the southwest, Poltava Oblast to the w ...

in Ukraine, where it joins the Seversky Donets river. An artificial lake, the

Oskil Reservoir The Oskil Reservoir (; , sometimes translated as ''Oskol'', ''Oskilske -'') was an artificial lake on the Oskil River in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. It was formerly known as the Chervony-Oskil Reservoir. The reservoir was opened in 1958. Before it ...

, 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 (, ) is a city in Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located south of Moscow. Population: It is called ''Stary Oskol'' () to distinguish it from Novy Oskol () located south. Both are on the Oskol River. History Oskol was first mentioned i ...

Novy Oskol Novy Oskol () 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'' () to distinguish it from Stary ...

and

Valuyki Valuyki () is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. Urban localities *Valuyki, Belgorod Oblast, a town in Belgorod Oblast Rural localities * Valuyki, Moscow Oblast, a village in Teryayevskoye Rural Settlement of Volokolamsky Distric ...

in Russia, and

Kupiansk Kupiansk or Kupyansk (, ; , ) 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 administration of Kupiansk urban hromada, ...

Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi (, ) is a rural 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. Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi belongs to Kupiansk urban hromada, one of the hromadas ...

Kivsharivka Kivsharivka (, ) is a Populated places in Ukraine#Rural settlements, rural settlement in Kupiansk Raion of Kharkiv Oblast in Ukraine. It is located on the left bank of the Oskil (river), Oskil, in the drainage basin of the Don (river), Don. Kivsha ...

, Borova and

Dvorichna Dvorichna (, ) is a rural settlement in Kupiansk Raion, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Dvorichna settlement hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the town was captured by Ru ...

in Ukraine. On March 31, 2022, during 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 ...

, the

Oskil Dam The Oskil Dam (), also known as the Oskil Hydroelectric Station, was a former hydroelectric plant in Eastern Ukraine along the Oskil River. The plant first began operation in 1958, and was destroyed on April 2, 2022, during the Russo-Ukrainian W ...

was destroyed. In September of 2022, to resist the

2022 Ukrainian Kharkiv counteroffensive On September 6, 2022, the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a major counteroffensive against the Russian military during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As Ukraine announced the start of the Kherson counteroffensive in southern Ukraine in lat ...

, 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