Konotop ( uk, Конотоп ) is a city in

Sumy Oblast Sumy Oblast ( uk, Сумська́ о́бласть, translit=Sumska oblast; also referred to as Sumshchyna – uk, Су́мщина) is an oblast (province) in the northeastern part of Ukraine. Population: The oblast was created in its most ...

in northeastern

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 inva ...

. Konotop serves as the administrative center of Konotop Raion. Konotop is located about 129 km from Sumy, the oblast administrative center. It is host to Konotop air base, now held by Ukraine. The population is

History

During the beginning of the 17th century,

Cossacks The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...

were first based in that area. The settlement was first mentioned in 1634 in various documents as Novoselytsia. In 1642 a Polish fortress was built in that place named after the river Konotopka. Probably the river disappeared, and another one was created, Yezuch. The fortification became a key point in the struggle against the Moscow state. Another hypothesis is that the name of the city could originate from the name of the ancient Warmian knyaz (князь) Christopher of Kononowitz of the noble Polish-Belarusian-Lithuanian family Kononowicz-Piłsudski that still exists and uses the Polish coat of arms of Radwan. The name "Konotop" would then mean “the place of Kono(nowitz)” from adjoining the

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carr ...

''topos'' (cf. Ancient Greek τόπος) meaning ''place'' or ''location''. In 1659 the Battle of Konotop took place near the city, in which

led by Ivan Vyhovsky (allied with Poles and Crimean Tatars) defeated Muscovite forces. In 1782 Konotop was granted municipal rights. 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Konotop was occupied by the German Army from 3 September 1941 to 6 September 1943. Details of this are recounted in the book '' The Forgotten Soldier'' by Guy Sajer. The Germans operated a Nazi prison and the Stalag 310 prisoner-of-war camp in the city.

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

On February 25, 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. A ...

, the city was reported to be under siege by Russian forces on their way to

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Ky ...

. Ukraine later stated that it had lost control of the city. The mayor Artem Seminikhin stated on 2 March that Russian troops who had entered the city had warned him that they would destroy the city if the residents resisted them. An agreement was reached under which Russian forces accepted not to change the city's government or deploy troops, in return for which the residents would not attack them. On 3 April, Ukrainian MP Olexander Kachura stated on Twitter that all Russian forces had left Konotop Raion. On 4 April 2022 Sumy Oblast's Governor Dmytro Zhyvytskyi stated that Russian troops no longer occupied any towns or villages in Sumy Oblast and had mostly withdrawn, while Ukrainian troops were working to push out the remaining units.Russian troops no longer hold any settlements in Ukraine's Sumy region, says governor
National Post (4 April 2022)

Economy

The main industrial enterprises of the city include the Konotop Casting and Mechanical Plant, the Motordetal Plant, the Konotop Fittings Plant, the Konotop Car Repair Plant, the Aviakon Aircraft Repair Plant, a mechanical plant, a garment factory, a meat processing plant (Konotopmyaso OJSC), a dairy plant, and a bakery plant. Konotop is an important mechanical engineering center, food production center.

Transport

The city is an important transportation center. Various railroad connections from Konotop include:

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

–

Simferopol Simferopol () is the second-largest city in the Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, and is considered the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. However, it is ...

–

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative stat ...

, Bakhmach–

, Bryansk– Sumy/ Belgorod. Furthermore, Konotop is one of the smallest cities in the country with its own

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ...

system.

Climate

Gallery

Konotop Mykolayivs'ka Tserkva 02 Petrovs'kogo 61 (YDS 4541).JPG, St. Nikolas wooden church Вознесенська церква Конотоп.JPG, Ascension Church Konotop Sadyba Generala Dragomyrova Golovniy Budynok 01 Dragomyrova 18 (YDS 4528).JPG, Mansion of general Mikhail Dragomirov Скульптура Коня на вул Бр. Радченків у Конотопі.jpg, Horse statue in the downtown Konotop Myru 10 01 (YDS 4450).JPG, Old town Konotop Likarnya Zaliznychnykiv Golovniy Korpus 04 Sadova 98 (YDS 4437).JPG, Konotop Railway Hospital Buildings in Konotop (5).JPG, School in Konotop Konotop Shkola 11 Svobody 8 (YDS 4411).JPG, Old school in Konotop Trams in Konotop (11).JPG, Konotop tram Вокзал Конотоп 003.jpeg, Railway station

References

External links

*
Official website

JewUa.org
– History of Jewish Community in Konotop {{Authority control Cities in Sumy Oblast Konotopsky Uyezd Chernihiv Voivodeship Cities of regional significance in Ukraine