Kherson (, ) is a port city of

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 invas ...

that serves as the

administrative centre An administrative center 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 administrative language (such as Belgium, L ...

of Kherson Oblast. Located on the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, ...

and on the

Dnieper River } The Dnieper () or 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. It is the longest river of Ukrain ...

, Kherson is the home of a major

ship-building Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...

industry and is a regional economic centre. In 2021, the city had an estimated population of 283,649. From March to November 2022, the city was occupied by Russian forces during their invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian forces recaptured the city on 11 November 2022.

Etymology

As the first new settlement in the "Greek project" of Empress Catherine and her favorite

Grigory Potemkin Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tauricheski (, also , ;, rus, Князь Григо́рий Алекса́ндрович Потёмкин-Таври́ческий, Knjaz' Grigórij Aleksándrovich Potjómkin-Tavrícheskij, ɡrʲɪˈɡ ...

, it was named after the ancient Greek city-colony of

Chersonesus Chersonesus ( grc, Χερσόνησος, Khersónēsos; la, Chersonesus; modern Russian and Ukrainian: Херсоне́с, ''Khersones''; also rendered as ''Chersonese'', ''Chersonesos'', contracted in medieval Greek to Cherson Χερσώ� ...

in Crimea. In

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, () means 'peninsular shore'.

History

Russian Empire era (1783–1917)

The city was founded by decree of Catherine the Great on 18 June 1778 on the high bank of the Dnieper as a central fortress of the

Black Sea Fleet Chernomorskiy flot , image = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet , dates = May 13, ...

after the Russian annexation of the territory in 1774. The city was established in place of the Russian-built fort or

sconce Sconce may refer to: * Sconce (fortification), a military fortification * Sconce (light fixture) * Sconcing, imposing a penalty in the form of drink * Sconce Point on the Isle of Wight, England People with the surname *Jeffrey Sconce, professor ...

"Saint Alexander" which existed at least since 1737 and also served as one of administrative centers of the

Zaporizhian Sich The Zaporozhian Sich ( ua, Запорозька Січ, ; also uk, Вольностi Вiйська Запорозького Низового, ; Free lands of the Zaporozhian Host the Lower) was a semi-autonomous polity and proto-state of C ...

and run by local Cossacks. The fort was built during the Russo-Turkish War and improved some 30 years later. Before 1737 in place of Kherson and Fort St.Alexandre, older maps show a settlement of Bilschowisce which carries Ukrainian-like transliteration. 1783 saw the city granted the rights of a district town and the opening of a local shipyard where the hulls of the Russian Black Sea fleet were laid. Within a year the Kherson Shipping Company began operations. By the end of the 18th century, the port had established trade with France, Italy, Spain and other European countries. Between 1783–1793 Poland's maritime trade via the Black Sea was conducted through Kherson by the '' Kompania Handlowa Polska''. In 1791, Potemkin was buried in the newly built St. Catherine's Cathedral. In 1803 the city became the capital of the

Kherson Governorate The Kherson Governorate (1802–1922; russian: Херсонская губерния, translit.: ''Khersonskaya guberniya''; uk, Херсонська губернія, translit=Khersonska huberniia), was an administrative territorial unit (also ...

."Херсон", Большая Советская Энциклопедия, том 46 (''The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, Vol. 46''), Б. А. Введенский 2-е изд.(B. A. Vvedensky ed.. 2nd Edition). . М., Государственное научное издательство «Большая Советская энциклопедия» (State Scientific Publishing House), 1957, pp. 121–122 Industry, beginning with breweries, tanneries and other food and agricultural processing, developed from the 1850s. In 1897 the population of the city was 59,076 of which, on the basis of their first language, almost half were recorded as Great Russian, 30% as Jewish, and 20% Ukrainian. During the

revolution of 1905 The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...

there were workers' strikes and an army mutiny (an armed demonstration by soldiers of the 10th Disciplinary Battalion) in the city.Херсон // Советская историческая энциклопедия / редколл., гл. ред. Е. М. Жуков. том 15. М., государственное научное издательство «Советская энциклопедия», 1974. ("Kherson", ''Soviet Historical Encyclopedia''. Vol. 15, E. M. Zhukov. ed., State Scientific Publishing House), 1974. pp 504–506, 571–573

Soviet era (1917–1991)

Early Bolshevik period

In the Russian Constituent Assembly election held in November 1917—the first and last free election in Kherson for 70 years—Bolsheviks who had seized power in

Petrograd Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

and

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 ...

received just 13.2 percent of the vote in the

Governorate A governorate is an administrative division of a state. It is headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either states or provinces, the term ''governorate'' is often used in translation from ...

. The largest electoral bloc in the district, with 43 percent of the vote, was an alliance of Ukrainian Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs), Russian Socialist Revolutionaries and the United Jewish Socialist Workers Party. The Bolsheviks dissolved SR-dominated Assembly after its first sitting,Orlando Figes, ''A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891–1924'', London: Pimlico (1997), p. 516. and proceeded to force from Kiev the Central Council of Ukraine (Tsentralna Rada) whose response to the

Leninist Leninism is a political ideology developed by Russian Marxist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin that proposes the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat led by a revolutionary vanguard party as the political prelude to the establish ...

coup had been to proclaim the independence of the

Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR), or Ukrainian National Republic (UNR), was a country in Eastern Europe that existed between 1917 and 1920. It was declared following the February Revolution in Russia by the First Universal. In March 1 ...

(UPR). But, before the Bolsheviks could secure Kherson, they were obliged to cede the region under the terms of the March 1918

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (also known as the Treaty of Brest in Russia) was a separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire), that ended Russia's ...

to the German and Austrian controlled

Ukrainian State The Ukrainian State ( uk, Українська Держава, translit=Ukrainska Derzhava), sometimes also called the Second Hetmanate ( uk, Другий Гетьманат, translit=Druhyi Hetmanat, link=no), was an anti-Bolshevik government ...

. After the withdrawal of German and Austrian forces in November 1918, the efforts of the UPR (the Petluirites) to assert authority were frustrated by a French-led Allied intervention which occupied Kherson in January 1919. Kherson aerial view 1918 (01)

In March 1919, the Green Army of local warlord Otaman Nykyfor Hryhoriv ousted the French and Greek garrison and precipitated the Allied evacuation from Odesa. In July, the Bolsheviks defeated Hryhoriv who had called upon the Ukrainian people to rise against the "Communist imposters" and their "Jewish commissars," and had perpetrated pogroms, including in the Kherson region. Kherson itself was occupied by the counter-revolutionary Whites before finally falling to the Bolshevik

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

in February 1920. In 1922 the city and region was formally incorporated into the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

a constituent republic of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. The population was radically reduced from 75,000 to 41,000 by the famine of 1921–3, but then rose steadily, reaching 97,200 in 1939. In 1940, the city was one of the sites of executions of Polish officers and

intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the i ...

committed by the Soviets as part of the Katyn massacre.

World War II and post-War period

Further devastation and population loss resulted from the

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 193 ...

during the

Second World War 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 ...

. The German occupation, which lasted from August 1941 to March 1944, contended with both Soviet and Ukrainian nationalist ( OUN) underground cells. The Kherson district leadership of the OUN was headed by Bogdan Bandera (brother of OUN leader

Stepan Bandera Stepan Andriyovych Bandera ( uk, Степа́н Андрі́йович Банде́ра, Stepán Andríyovych Bandéra, ; pl, Stepan Andrijowycz Bandera; 1 January 1909 – 15 October 1959) was a Ukrainian far-right leader of the radical, ter ...

). The Germans operated a Nazi prison and the Stalag 370

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military priso ...

in the city. In the post-war decades, which saw substantial industrial growth, the population more than doubled, reaching 261,000 by 1970. The new factories, including the Comintern Shipbuilding and Repairs Complex, the Kuibyshev Ship Repair Complex, and the Kherson Cotton Textile Manufacturing Complex (one of the largest textile plants in the Soviet Union), and Kherson's growing grain-exporting port, drew in labour from the Ukrainian countryside. This changed the city's ethnic composition, increasing the Ukrainian share from 36% in 1926 to 63% in 1959, while reducing the Russian share from 36 to 29%. The Jewish population never recovered from the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

visited by the Germans: accounting for 26% of residents in 1926, their number had fallen to just 6% in 1959.

In independent Ukraine

With a turnout of 83.4% of eligible voters, 90.1% of the votes cast in Kherson Oblast affirmed Ukrainian independence in the

national referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a Representative democr ...

of 1 December 1991. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kherson and its industries experienced severe dislocation. Over the following three decades, the population of both the city and the region declined, reflecting both a significant excess of deaths over live births and persistent net-emigration from the area. The 2014 pro-Russian unrest in eastern and southern Ukraine was marked in Kherson by a small demonstration of some 400 persons. Following

Russian occupation of Crimea The Russian occupation of Crimea is an ongoing military occupation within Ukraine by the Russian Federation, which began on 20 February 2014 when the military-political, administrative, economic and social order of Russia was spread to the Aut ...

in 2014, Kherson housed the office of the Ukrainian President's representative in Crimea. In July 2020, as part of the general administrative reform of Ukraine, the Kherson Municipality was merged as an urban hromada into newly established Kherson

Raion A raion (also spelt rayon) is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet states. The term is used for both a type of subnational entity and a division of a city. The word is from the French (meaning 'honeycomb, department'), and is co ...

, one of five raions in the Kherson Oblast of which the city remained the administrative centre. A "City Profile", part of the SCORE (Social Cohesion and Reconciliation) ''Ukraine 2021'' project funded by

USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible f ...

, the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...

(UNDP), and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

, concluded that "more than 80% of citizens in Kherson city feel their locality is a good place to live, work, and raise a family". This was despite a low level of trust in the local authorities in whom corruption was perceived to be high. It also found that, while more inclined to express support for co-operation with Russia than for membership of the EU, "citizens in Kherson feel attached to their Ukrainian identity".

2020 local election

In the last free elections before the 2022 Russian invasion, the Ukrainian local elections held on 25 October 2020, the results of Kherson City Council elections were as follows'':'' The parties widely perceived as pro-Russian, and Euro-skeptic, Opposition Platform, Volodymyr Saldo Bloc, and Party of Shariy (3.89%) had a combined vote of just over 30% of the total, and secured 20 out of the 54 seats on the city council. In the wake of the invasion, the Opposition Platform and the Party of Shariy were banned by the National Security Council for alleged ties to the

Kremlin The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of the kremlins (Ru ...

.Court bans Sharia Party
,

Ukrayinska Pravda ''Ukrainska Pravda'' ( uk, Українська правда, lit=Ukrainian Truth) is a Ukrainian online newspaper founded by Georgiy Gongadze on 16 April 2000 (the day of the Ukrainian constitutional referendum). Published mainly in Ukra ...

(16 June 2022) The Volodymyr Saldo Bloc dissolved; its deputies in

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

joined the newly formed faction "Support to the programs of the

President of Ukraine The president of Ukraine ( uk, Президент України, Prezydent Ukrainy) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, condu ...

". From 26 April 2022, Volodymyr Saldo himself, who had been mayor of Kherson from 2002 to 2012, went on to serve the Russian occupiers, as

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may no ...

of the

Kherson military–civilian administration The Russian occupation of Kherson Oblast is an ongoing military occupation of Ukraine's Kherson Oblast by Russian forces that began on 2March 2022 during the Russian invasion of Ukraine as part of the southern Ukraine campaign. The Russian-i ...

2022 Russian occupation

Kherson witnessed heavy fighting in the first days of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine (

Kherson offensive The Battle of Kherson was a military engagement between Russian and Ukrainian forces that began on 24 February 2022 as part of the southern Ukraine offensive of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The battle ended on 2 March 2022 with the cap ...

). As of 2 March the city was under Russian control, and as early as 8 March the Russian FSB was reported to be tasked with crushing resistance. Under the Russian occupation, locals continued to stage street protests against the invading army's presence and in support of the unity of Ukraine. According to the Ukrainian government, the Russian military sought to create a puppet Kherson People's Republic in the style of the Russian-backed separatist polities in the

Donbas The Donbas or Donbass (, ; uk, Донба́с ; russian: Донба́сс ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. Parts of the Donbas are controlled by Russian separatist groups as a result of the Russo-Ukrai ...

region and tried to coerce local councillors into endorsing the move, detaining those activists and officials who opposed their design. By 26 April 2022, Russian troops had taken over the city's administration headquarters and had appointed both a new mayor, former KGB agent

Alexander Kobets Oleksandr Yuriyovych Kobets (born 27 September 1959) is a Ukrainian and Russian politician, businessman and former intelligence officer who served as the Russian-installed mayor of Kherson from 26 April 2022 until 11 November 2022 when Russia ...

, and ex-mayor Volodymyr Saldo as a new civilian-military regional administrator. The next day, Ukraine's Prosecutor General said that troops used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse a further pro-Ukraine rally in the city centre. In an indication of an intended split from Ukraine, on the 28th the new administration announced that from May it would switch the region's payments to the

Russian ruble ''hum''; cv, тенкĕ ''tenke''; kv, шайт ''shayt''; Lak: къуруш ''k'urush''; Mari: теҥге ''tenge''; os, сом ''som''; tt-Cyrl, сум ''sum''; udm, манет ''manet''; sah, солкуобай ''solkuobay'' , name_ab ...

. Citing unnamed reports about alleged discrimination of Russian speakers, its deputy head, Kirill Stremousov said that "reintegrating the Kherson region back into a Nazi Ukraine is out of the question". On 30 May the Russian-backed occupation authority in Kherson claimed that it had started exporting last year's grain from Kherson to Russia. They would also be working on exporting sunflower seeds. On 6 June it was reported by the Ukrainian mayor of Kherson, Ihor Kolykhaiev, that the occupiers had conducted a meeting of more than 70 Russian sympathizers aimed at conducting a referendum on the region integrating the occupied areas into Russia. His sources told him that the dates discussed were two: in September or at the end of 2022. As a Russian election was going to take place on 11 September, the Kherson vote would be scheduled to coincide with that day. An elected official in Russia named Igor Kastyukevich had discussed this plan on 7 June, following the visit to Kherson of Sergei Kiriyenko, the deputy chief of staff of the Russian presidential administration. By June, the occupiers were switching Ukrainian schools to their educational curriculum and Russian SIM cards were on the market. Kolykhaiev witnessed the occupiers distributing Russian passports. A cafe frequented by the occupiers was bombed on 7 June and at least four people were injured. Stremousov said on 29 June that "The Kherson region will decide to join the Russian Federation and become a full-fledged subject as one unified state." On the same visit, Kiriyenko spoke at the

United Russia United Russia ( rus, Единая Россия, Yedinaya Rossiya, (j)ɪˈdʲinəjə rɐˈsʲijə) is a Conservatism in Russia, Russian conservative List of political parties in Russia, political party. As the largest party in Russia, it hold ...

party's humanitarian aid center in Kherson: "The Kherson region's admission into Russia will be complete, similar to Crimea,” recalling the

2014 Crimean status referendum The Crimean status referendum of 2014 was a disputed referendum on March 16, 2014, concerning the status of Crimea, in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the local government of Sevastopol (both Administrative divisions of Ukraine, subdivi ...

. On 18 June it was announced that Russian FSB officers were in the process of moving from hotels to apartments that had been vacated by Ukrainians. In late June the first Russian bank opened in Kherson, while

Oleksii Kovalov Oleksiy Ivanovych Kovalov ( uk, Олексій Іванович Ковальов, ; 19 January 1989 – 28 August 2022) was a Ukrainian politician. A few months before his death, he had started collaborating with Russia during the 2022 Russian i ...

, an ex-member of the Ukrainian Servant of the People party, survived an assassination attempt after he had been appointed vice-president. On 24 June Dmytro Savluchenko, who led the Directorate for Family, Youth, and Sports of the Russian occupation administration, was assassinated by the explosion of a car bomb. On 29 June the Ukrainian mayor of Kherson, Kolykhaiev, was detained by Russian security forces. On 5 July, Volodymyr Saldo announced that the former deputy head of government in the Russian exclave of

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad ( ; rus, Калининград, p=kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat, links=y), until 1946 known as Königsberg (; rus, Кёнигсберг, Kyonigsberg, ˈkʲɵnʲɪɡzbɛrk; rus, Короле́вец, Korolevets), is the largest city and ...

Sergei Yeliseyev, a graduate of the FSB Academy, was to assume the presidency of the oblast. On 28 August 2022 the vice-president of the occupation administration (Kovalev) was found shot dead inside his own apartment in

Zaliznyi Port Zaliznyi Port (; ), also known as Zhelezny Port (), is a resort village ( selo) along the Black Sea coast, located in the of Skadovsk Raion of Kherson oblast in Ukraine. It is situated near the outskirts of the Black Sea Biosphere Reserve, being ...

. His wife was stabbed in the same attack and she died later in the hospital. On 30 September 2022, the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia North Asia or Northern Asia, also referred to as Siberia, is the northern region of Asia, which is defined in geographic ...

claimed to have

annexed Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...

Kherson Oblast. The

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Cur ...

condemned Condemned or The Condemned may refer to: Legal * Persons awaiting execution * A condemned property, or condemned building, by a local authority, usually for public health or safety reasons * A condemned property seized by power of eminent domain ...

the proclaimed annexations with a vote of 143-5. Russian forces were ordered to withdraw from the city by defence minister

Sergei Shoigu Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu, ; tyv, Сергей Күжүгет оглу Шойгу, translit=Sergey Kyzhyget oglu Shoygu, . (russian: Сергей Кужугетович Шойгу; born 21 May 1955) is a Russian politician who has served as ...

and regroup on the eastern side of the

Dnieper } The Dnieper () or 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. It is the longest river of Ukraine ...

on 9 November 2022. Ukrainian officials claimed that Russian troops were destroying bridges connecting the city to the other bank of the river. On 11 November, Ukraine announced that its forces had entered the city following the Russian withdrawal. Before retreat, Russian army destroyed infrastructure facilities of the city (communications, water, heat, electricity, TV tower), looted two main museums ( and the

Art Museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own Collection (artwork), collection. It might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions in place. ...

), transporting their items to Crimean museums, and took away several monuments to historical figures.

Demographics

Ethnicity

As of Ukrainian National Census in 2001, the ethnic groups living within Kherson included: *

Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Or ...

– 76.6% *

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

– 20.0% *Other – 3.4%

Languages

Administrative divisions

There are three city

raion A raion (also spelt rayon) is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet states. The term is used for both a type of subnational entity and a division of a city. The word is from the French (meaning 'honeycomb, department'), and is co ...

s. * Suvorov Raion, central and oldest district of the city, named after the Russian General Suvorov. Includes departments: Tavrіjs'kij, Pіvnіchnij and Mlini. * Dnipro Raion, named after the

Dnieper river } The Dnieper () or 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. It is the longest river of Ukrain ...

. Includes departments: HBK, Tekstilny, Sklotara, Slobіdka, Voyenka, Skhіdny. * Korabelny Raion. Includes departments: Shumensky, Korabel, Zabalka, Sukharne, Zhitloselishche, Selishche — 4, Selishche — 5.

Climate

Under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

, Kherson has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freez ...

(''Dfa'').

Transport

Ports

Kherson has both a seaport, Port of Kherson and a river port,

Kherson River Port Kherson River Port is a large transport hub in which there is interaction of river, sea, rail and road transport. Kherson River Port was born at the same time as the city (1778). Initially, the first shipments from the upper reaches of the Dnieper ...

Rail

Kherson is connected to the national railroad network of Ukraine. There are daily long-distance services to

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukra ...

and other cities.

Air

Kherson is served by Kherson International Airport. It operates a 2,500 x 42-meter concrete runway, accommodating Boeing 737, Airbus 319/320 aircraft, and helicopters of all series.

Education

There are 77 high schools as well as 5 colleges. There are 15 institutions of higher education, including: * *

Kherson State University of Agriculture Kherson (, ) is a port city of Ukraine that serves as the administrative centre of Kherson Oblast. Located on the Black Sea and on the Dnieper River, Kherson is the home of a major ship-building industry and is a regional economic centre. In 2 ...

Kherson State University Kherson State University is one of the oldest universities in southern Ukraine. Today it is a multidisciplinary academic, cultural and educational centre. History KSU was founded in November 1917 during the First World War , it was modeled on th ...

Kherson National Technical University Kherson National Technical University ( uk, Херсонський національний технічний університет) uk, is a technical institution in Kherson, Ukraine. History The university was founded in 1959 by a group of ...

*International University of Business and Law The documentary '' Dixie Land'' was filmed at a music school in Kherson.

Main sights

St. Catherine's Cathedral, Kherson *The Church of St. Catherine – was built in the 1780s, supposedly to Ivan Starov's designs, and contains the tomb of Prince Grigory Potemkin. *Jewish cemetery – Kherson has a large Jewish community which was established in the mid-nineteenth century. *

Kherson TV Tower Kherson TV Tower ( uk, Херсонська телевежа "Kherson TV Tower") was a tall steel space framed truss communications tower located in the Ukrainian city of Kherson. The building was uniquely built, having been built by using the c ...

Adziogol Lighthouse __NOTOC__ The Adziogol Lighthouse ( uk, Аджигольський маяк), also known as Stanislav–Adzhyhol Lighthouse or Stanislav Range Rear light, is one of two vertical lattice hyperboloid structures of steel bars, serving as active lig ...

, a hyperboloid structure designed by Vladimir Shukhov in 1911 * The Kherson Art Museum has a collection of icons, and Ukrainian and Russian paintings and sculptures. Particularly noteworthy are ''Portrait of a Woman'' (1883) by Konstantin Makovsky; ''The Tempest is Coming'' by

Ivan Aivazovsky Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (russian: link=no, Иван Константинович Айвазовский; 29 July 18172 May 1900) was a Russian Romantic painter who is considered one of the greatest masters of marine art. Baptized a ...

; ''Sunset'' by Alexei Savrasov; ''Cattle Yard in Abramtsevo'' by Vasily Polenov; ''At the Stone'' by

Ivan Kramskoi Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoi (russian: Ива́н Никола́евич Крамско́й; June 8 (O.S. May 27), 1837, Ostrogozhsk – April 6 (O.S. March 24), 1887, Saint Petersburg) was a Russian painter and art critic. He was an intellectual ...

; ''The Charioteer'', by

Peter Clodt von Jürgensburg Peter Jakob Freiherr Clodt von Jürgensburg, known in Russian as Pyotr Karlovich Klodt (russian: Пётр Карлович Клодт; 5 June 1805, Saint Petersburg – 25 November 1867, Klevenoye, Vyborg Governorate), was a favourite sculpto ...

(sculptor); ''Prince Svyatoslav'' by Eugene Lanceray (sculptor); ''Mephistopheles'' by

Mark Antokolsky Mark Matveyevich Antokolsky (russian: Марк Матве́евич Антоко́льский; 2 November 18409 July 1902) was a Russian Imperial sculptor of Lithuanian Jewish descent. Biography Mordukh Matysovich Antokolsky''Boris Schatz: Th ...

(sculptor); ''Near the Monastery'' by German painter August von Bayer (1859); ''Oaks'' (1956); ''Moloditsya'' (1938) and ''Still Life with the Blue Broom'' (1930), by Oleksii Shovkunenko (born in Kherson).

Notable people

* Grigory Adamov (1886–1945) a Soviet science fiction writer * Georgy Arbatov (1923–2010), a Soviet and Russian political scientist. * Vladimir Baranov-Rossine (1888–1944) Ukrainian/Russian/French painter,

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

artist and inventor. * Max Barskih (born 1990), a Ukrainian singer and songwriter. * Stefania Berlinerblau (1852–1921) American anatomist and physician, investigated blood circulation *

Maximilian Bern Maximiliam Bern (November 11, 1849 – September 10, 1923) was a German writer and editor. He was born in Kherson, Ukraine, where his father was a physician. Upon his father's death, his mother took him to Vienna to further his education. From ...

(1849–1923) a German writer and editor. * Sergei Bondarchuk (1920–1994), Soviet and Russian actor, film director, and screenwriter * Lev Davidovitch Bronstein, (1879–1940), better known as ''Leon Trotsky'', Bolshevik revolutionary and Marxist theorist, was born in the village of Bereslavka,

. * Artem Datsyshyn (1979–2022) a Ukrainian ballet dancer and soloist * Ivan Gannibal (1735–1801), an eminent Russian military leader and a founder of the city * Sergei Garmash (born 1958) a Soviet and Russian film and stage actor. * Yefim Golïshev (1897–1970), painter and composer associated with the

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...

movement in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

. * Nikolai Grinko (1920–1989) a Soviet and Ukrainian actor * Kateryna Handziuk (1985–2018), Ukrainian civil rights and anti-corruption activist *

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the ...

(1726–1790), English prison reformer, he died of

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

whilst in Kherson. *

Mircea Ionescu-Quintus Mircea Ionescu-Quintus (; 18 March 1917 – 15 September 2017) was a Romanian politician who served as a senator and Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency ...

(1917–2017), Romanian politician, writer and jurist * Yurii Kerpatenko (1976–2022), Ukrainian conductor * Ihor Kolykhaiev (born 1971) Ukrainian politician and entrepreneur, Mayor of Kherson since 2020 *

Samuel Maykapar Samuel Moiseyevich Maykapar () (18 December 18678 May 1938) was a Russian romantic composer, pianist, professor of music at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and author of a number of piano practice pieces. Life Childhood Samuel Maykapar was bor ...

(1867–1938), a Russian romantic composer, pianist and professor of music * Yuriy Odarchenko (born 5 1960) a politician, Governor of Kherson Oblast since 2014 * Nicholas Perry (born 1992), a social media personality, known online as ''Nikocado Avocado'' * Sergei Polunin, (born 1989) a Russian ballet dancer, actor and model. *Prince

(1739–1791), military leader, statesman and nobleman; a founder of the city. * Salomon Rosenblum (1873–1925), later known as '' Sidney Reilly'', a secret agent, adventurer and playboy, employed by the British

Secret Intelligence Service The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intellige ...

; may have inspired spy character,

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 19 ...

. * Nissan Rilov (1922–2007) former soldier, Israeli artist and supporter of Palestinians *

Moshe Sharett Moshe Sharett ( he, משה שרת, born Moshe Chertok (Hebrew: )‎ 15 October 1894 – 7 July 1965) was a Russian-born Israeli politician who served as Israel's second prime minister from 1954 to 1955. A member of Mapai, Sharett's term was ...

(1894–1965), the 2nd

Prime Minister of Israel The prime minister of Israel ( he, רֹאשׁ הַמֶּמְשָׁלָה, Rosh HaMemshala, Head of the Government, Hebrew acronym: he2, רה״מ; ar, رئيس الحكومة, ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief exec ...

from 1953 to 1955 *

Inna Shevchenko Inna Shevchenko ( uk, Інна Шевченко) is a Ukrainian feminist activist and the leader of international women's movement FEMEN, which often demonstrates topless against what they perceive as manifestations of patriarchy, especially d ...

(born 1990) a Ukrainian feminist activist and leader women's movement FEMEN *

Sergei Stanishev Sergey Dmitrievich Stanishev ( bg, Сергей Дмитриевич Станишев ; born 5 May 1966) is a Bulgarian politician who is serving as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). He previously served as President of the Party of Eu ...

(born 1966), a Bulgarian politician, 49th

Prime Minister of Bulgaria The prime minister of Bulgaria ( bg, Министър-председател, Ministar-predsedatel) is the head of government of Bulgaria. They are the leader of a political coalition in the Bulgarian parliament – known as the National Asse ...

*Prince

Alexander Suvorov Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov (russian: Алекса́ндр Васи́льевич Суво́ров, Aleksándr Vasíl'yevich Suvórov; or 1730) was a Russian general in service of the Russian Empire. He was Count of Rymnik, Count of the Holy ...

(1730–1800) a Russian general, a founder of the city. *

Svitlana Tarabarova Svitlana Vasylivna Tarabarova ( uk, Світлана Василівна Тарабарова; born 26 July 1990) is a Ukrainian singer, songwriter, music producer, and actress. She is the winner of the National Music Award "Song of the Year 201 ...

(born 1990) a Ukrainian singer, songwriter, music producer and actress. *

Mikhail Yemtsev Mikhail Yemtsev (Russian: Михаил Тихонович Емцев, June 3, 1930 – August 25, 2003) - Soviet and Russian science fiction writer who worked mostly in collaboration with Yeremey Parnov Yeremey Iudovich Parnov (russian: link=no ...

(1930–2003), Soviet and Russian science fiction writer Larisa Latynina 2010

Sport

* Anastasiia Chetverikova (born 1998) sprint canoeist, team silver medallist at the 2020 Summer Olympics * Inna Gaponenko (born 1976) a chess player,

International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (chess), Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combinatio ...

Woman Grandmaster FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating an ...

. *

Oleksandr Holovko Oleksandr Borysovych Holovko ( uk, Олександр Борисович Головко; born 6 January 1972) is a Ukrainian former footballer who played as a centre-back and current manager of Dinaz Vyshhorod. Holovko also used to be a regula ...

(born 1972) former footballer with 414 club caps and 58 for

* Pavlo Ishchenko (born 1992), Ukrainian-Israeli boxer * Oleksandr Karavayev (born 1992), footballer with over 250 club caps and 45 for

* Yevhen Kucherevskyi (1941–2006), Ukrainian football coach of Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk * Larisa Latynina (born 1934), Soviet gymnast, has won nine Olympic gold medals * Tatiana Lysenko (born 1975), Soviet and Ukrainian gymnast, two gold and a bronze medal at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

* Yuriy Maksymov (born 1968) football coach and former midfielder with 384 club caps and 27 for

. * Yuri Nikitin (born 1978) gymnast and gold medallist at the 2004 Summer Olympics *

Sergei Postrekhin Sergei Postrekhin (born November 1, 1957 in Kherson, Ukrainian SSR) is a Soviet-born Ukrainian sprint canoer who competed in the late 1970s and early 1980s. At the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, he won a gold in the C-1 500 m event and ...

(born 1957) sprint canoer, gold and silver medallist at the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

Serhiy Tretyak Serhiy Volodymyrovych Tretyak ( uk, Сергій Володимирович Трет`як; russian: Серге́й Владимирович Третьяк; born 7 September 1963) is a retired Ukrainian professional footballer. Tretyak made his p ...

(born 1963) a retired Ukrainian footballer with over 500 club caps * David Tyshler (1927–2014), Ukrainian/Soviet fencer, two gold and a bronze medal at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, wh ...

Roman Vintov Roman Vasilyevich Vintov (russian: Роман Васильевич Винтов; born 1 July 1978) is a former Russian professional football player. He also held Ukrainian citizenship as Roman Vasylyovych Vintov ( uk, Роман Васильов ...

(born 1978) a former Russian/Ukrainian footballer with over 460 club caps

Twin cities

Zalaegerszeg Zalaegerszeg (; hr, Jegersek; sl, Jageršek; german: Egersee) is the administrative center of Zala county in western Hungary. Location Zalaegerszeg lies on the banks of the Zala River, close to the Slovenian and Austrian borders and west-southw ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croa ...

* Shumen,

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Mac ...

* Izmit,

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Bizerte Bizerte or Bizerta ( ar, بنزرت, translit=Binzart , it, Biserta, french: link=no, Bizérte) the classical Hippo, is a city of Bizerte Governorate in Tunisia. It is the northernmost city in Africa, located 65 km (40mil) north of the ca ...

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

References

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 ...

, at

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...

website. {{Authority control Cities in Kherson Oblast Port cities and towns in Ukraine Port cities of the Black Sea Cities of regional significance in Ukraine Populated places on the Dnieper in Ukraine Oblast centers in Ukraine Populated places established in 1778 1778 establishments in the Russian Empire Populated places established in the Russian Empire Khersonsky Uyezd Holocaust locations in Ukraine