Zatoka (; ro, Zatoca or ) is an

urban-type settlement Urban-type settlementrussian: посёлок городско́го ти́па, translit=posyolok gorodskogo tipa, abbreviated: russian: п.г.т., translit=p.g.t.; ua, селище міського типу, translit=selyshche mis'koho typu, ab ...

Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Raion Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Raion ( uk, Білгород-Дністровський район; ro, Raionul Cetatea Albă) is a raion (district) in Odesa Oblast of Ukraine. It is part of the historical region of Bessarabia. Its administrative center is ...

Odesa Oblast Odesa Oblast ( uk, Оде́ська о́бласть, translit=Odeska oblast), also referred to as Odeshchyna ( uk, Оде́щина) is an oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine, located along the northern coast of the Black Sea. Its administr ...

, in southwestern

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 ...

. It belongs to

Karolino-Buhaz rural hromada Karolino-Buhaz rural hromada is a rural hromada in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Raion of Odesa Oblast in southwestern Ukraine. The residence of the hromada is Karolino-Buhaz. It also includes the urban-type settlement of Zatoka. Population: Until 18 ...

, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. The population of Zatoka is . Its name comes from the

Ukrainian-language Ukrainian ( uk, украї́нська мо́ва, translit=ukrainska mova, label=native name, ) is an East Slavic language of the Indo-European language family. It is the native language of about 40 million people and the official state langu ...

word , meaning "bay". The settlement is a local beach resort. Additionally, Zatoka contains a small port named Buhaz, which has a single pier and is part of the

Port of Bilhorod-Dnistrovsky Port of Bilhorod-Dnistrovsky ( uk, Білгород-Дністровський Морський Порт) is a port in the city of Bilhorod-Dnistrovsky, Ukraine. It is located on the north-western shore of Black Sea at Dniester Estuary, to th ...

. The settlement is located on a

sand spit A spit or sandspit is a deposition bar or beach landform off coasts or lake shores. It develops in places where re-entrance occurs, such as at a cove's headlands, by the process of longshore drift by longshore currents. The drift occurs due ...

of the

Dniester Estuary Dniester Estuary, or Dniester Liman ( uk, Дністровський лиман; ro, Limanul Nistrului) is a liman, formed at the point where the river Dniester flows into the Black Sea. It is located in Ukraine, in Odessa Oblast, and connects B ...

next to where the

Dniester The Dniester, ; rus, Дне́стр, links=1, Dnéstr, ˈdⁿʲestr; ro, Nistru; grc, Τύρᾱς, Tyrās, ; la, Tyrās, la, Danaster, label=none, ) ( ,) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and ...

flows into 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, ...

. It is 60 km from Odesa and 18 km from the city of

Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi ( uk, Бі́лгород-Дністро́вський, Bílhorod-Dnistróvskyy, ; ro, Cetatea Albă), historically known as Akkerman ( tr, Akkerman) or #Nomenclature, under different names, is a List of cities in Ukraine ...

, in the historical region of

Budjak Budjak or Budzhak ( Bulgarian and Ukrainian: Буджак; ro, Bugeac; Gagauz and Turkish: ''Bucak''), historically part of Bessarabia until 1812, is a historical region in Ukraine and Moldova. Lying along the Black Sea between the Danube ...

or southern

Bessarabia Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of ...

. Zatoka Bridge opened in 1955 and carries the R70 national road and the railway line from

Odesa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern sho ...

History

On 19 September 2015, local

Euromaidan Euromaidan (; uk, Євромайдан, translit=Yevromaidan, lit=Euro Square, ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protes ...

activist Andriy Yusov was beaten up in the town by people with pro-Russian views. Until 18 July 2020, Zatoka belonged to

Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Municipality Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi ( uk, Бі́лгород-Дністро́вський, Bílhorod-Dnistróvskyy, ; ro, Cetatea Albă), historically known as Akkerman ( tr, Akkerman) or under different names, is a city, municipality and port situated on ...

. The municipality was abolished as an administrative unit in July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of

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 of Odesa Oblast to seven. The area of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Municipality was merged into Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Raion. On 26 July 2022, during the

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. ...

, Russian rocket attacks damaged several civilian buildings and injured a man.

References

{{Authority control Urban-type settlements in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Raion Nude beaches Spa towns in Ukraine Karolino-Buhaz Hromada