Kherson ( Ukrainian and , , ) is a port city in

southern Ukraine Southern Ukraine (, ) refers, generally, to the territories in the South of Ukraine. The territory usually corresponds with the Soviet economical district, the Southern Economical District of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. The region ...

that serves as the

administrative centre 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 Belgi ...

Kherson Oblast Kherson Oblast (, ; ), also known as Khersonshchyna (, ), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in southern Ukraine. It is located just north of Crimea. Its administrative center is Kherson, on the northern or right bank ...

. Located by the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea 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 bound ...

and on the

Dnieper River The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called 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. Approximately long, with ...

, Kherson is the home to a major ship-building industry and is a regional economic centre. At the beginning of 2022, its population was estimated at 279,131. 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. In June 2023, the city was flooded following the Russian

destruction Destruction may refer to: Concepts * Destruktion, a term from the philosophy of Martin Heidegger * Destructive narcissism, a pathological form of narcissism * Self-destructive behaviour, a widely used phrase that ''conceptualises'' certain kin ...

of the nearby Kakhovka Dam.

Etymology

As the first new settlement in the "Greek project" of

Empress Catherine Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter I ...

and her

favourite A favourite was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In Post-classical Europe, post-classical and Early modern Europe, early-modern Europe, among other times and places, the term was used of individuals delegated signifi ...

Grigory Potemkin Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tauricheski (A number of dates as late as 1742 have been found on record; the veracity of any one is unlikely to be proved. This is his "official" birth-date as given on his tombstone.) was a Russian mi ...

, it was named after the Heraclea Pontic colony of

Chersonesus Chersonesus, contracted in medieval Greek to Cherson (), was an Greeks in pre-Roman Crimea, ancient Greek Greek colonization, colony founded approximately 2,500 years ago in the southwestern part of the Crimean Peninsula. Settlers from He ...

( ) which was located on the

Crimean Peninsula Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrai ...

, meaning 'peninsular shore'.

History

Early days and Russian Empire era (until 1917)

Kherson was preceded by the town of ''Bilechowisce'', first marked on a map by

Guillaume Le Vasseur de Beauplan Guillaume Levasseur de Beauplan ( – 6 December 1673) or William le Vasseur de Beauplan was a French-Polish cartographer, engineer and architect. Beauplan is best known for his maps of Ukraine (which he spelt as ''Ukranie'' or ''Vkranie'', wi ...

from 1648. ''Bilchowisce'' was listed as one of the three chief towns of Yedisan in a 1701 book by English cartographer

Herman Moll Herman Moll (mid-17th century – 22 September 1732) was a British cartographer, engraver, and publisher. Origin and early life While Moll's exact place and date of birth are unknown, he was probably born in the mid-17th century in German ...

. A French-language map of the site in 1769 (inset) shows a Russian-built fort or sconce named St. Alexandre. This had been built in 1737 during the

Russo-Turkish War The Russo-Turkish wars ( ), or the Russo-Ottoman wars (), began in 1568 and continued intermittently until 1918. They consisted of twelve conflicts in total, making them one of the longest series of wars in the history of Europe. All but four of ...

and served the

Zaporizhian Sich The Zaporozhian Sich (, , ; also ) was a semi-autonomous polity and proto-state of Zaporozhian Cossacks that existed between the 16th to 18th centuries, for the latter part of that period as an autonomous stratocratic state within the Cossa ...

as an administrative center, run by local

Cossacks The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic languages, East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borde ...

. The

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

annexed the territory from the

Crimean Khanate The Crimean Khanate, self-defined as the Throne of Crimea and Desht-i Kipchak, and in old European historiography and geography known as Little Tartary, was a Crimean Tatars, Crimean Tatar state existing from 1441 to 1783, the longest-lived of th ...

in 1774, and a decree of

Catherine the Great Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter I ...

on 18 June 1778 founded Kherson on the high bank of the Dnieper as a central fortress of the

Black Sea Fleet The Black Sea Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean Sea. The Black Sea Fleet, along with other Russian ground and air forces on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, are subordin ...

. 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 and 1793 Poland's maritime trade via the Black Sea was conducted through Kherson by the ''

Kompania Handlowa Polska Polish Trade Company (), also known as Black Sea Trade Company (), Black Sea Company (), and Kherson Company () was a Joint-stock company which existed in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1783–1793. It controlled international trade of the ...

''. The Poles leased a piece of the shoreline and built houses, exchange offices, workshops and warehouses. There was substantial immigration of

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

and a Polish consulate was established in 1783. In 1791, Potemkin was buried in the newly built St. Catherine's Cathedral. In 1803 the city became the capital of the Kherson Governorate. herson In Vvedensky, B. A., ed. (1957). ' 'The Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' Vol. 46. 2nd ed. Moscow: State Scientific Publishing House. pp. 121–122. Industry, beginning with breweries, tanneries and other food and agricultural processing, developed from the 1850s. According to the Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland and other Slavic Countries from 1880, the city was mostly inhabited by

Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

and

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. According to the 1897 census, the population of the city was 59,076 of which, on the basis of their first language, 47.2% were recorded as Russian, 29.1% as Jewish, 19.6% Ukrainian, 1.7% Polish. During the

revolution of 1905 The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, t ...

there were workers' strikes and an army mutiny (an armed demonstration by soldiers of the 10th Disciplinary Battalion) in the city. herson In Zhukov, E. M., ed. (1974). ' 'Soviet Historical Encyclopedia'' Vol. 15. Moscow: State Scientific Publishing House. 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, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

and

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

received just 13.2 percent of the vote in the

Governorate A governorate or governate is an administrative division headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either states or provinces, the term ''governorate'' is typically used to calque divisions ...

. 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,Figes, Orlando (1997). ''A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891–1924'', London: Pimlico. 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#Vladimir Lenin, dictatorship of the proletariat led by a revolutionary Vangu ...

coup had been to proclaim the independence of the

Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) was a short-lived state in Eastern Europe. Prior to its proclamation, the Central Council of Ukraine was elected in March 1917 Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, as a result of the February Revolution, ...

(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 was a separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Soviet Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria), by which Russia withdrew from World War I. The treaty, whi ...

to the German and Austrian controlled

Ukrainian State The Ukrainian State (), sometimes also called the Second Cossack Hetmanate, Hetmanate (), was an Anti-communism, anti-Bolshevik government that existed on most of the modern territory of Ukraine (except for Western Ukraine) from 29 April to 14 ...

. 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. 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 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 ...

. In July, the Bolsheviks defeated Hryhoriv who had called upon the Ukrainian people to rise against the "Communist impostors" 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, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

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

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

a constituent republic of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. The population was radically reduced from 75,000 to 41,000 by the famine of 1921–1923, but then rose steadily, reaching 97,200 in 1939.

World War II and post-War period

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 The Katyn massacre was a series of mass killings under Communist regimes, mass executions of nearly 22,000 Polish people, Polish military officer, military and police officers, border guards, and intelligentsia prisoners of war carried out by t ...

. Further devastation and population loss resulted from the German occupation during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. 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 (brother of OUN leader

Stepan Bandera Stepan Andriyovych Bandera (, ; ; 1 January 1909 – 15 October 1959) was a Ukrainian far-right leader of the radical militant wing of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, the OUN-B. Bandera was born in Austria-Hungary, in Galicia (Eas ...

). In September 1941, the Germans executed the city's remaining Jewish population, several thousand men, women and children, in anti-tank ditches near the village of Zelenivka. Later, they used the place to bury Soviet soldiers from a

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

in the city (Stalag 370). 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 (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

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 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 the

Russian occupation of Crimea On 27 February 2014, Little green men (Russo-Ukrainian War), unmarked Russian soldiers were deployed to the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula in order to wrest control of it from Ukraine, starting the Russo-Ukrainian War. * * * * * * * This military o ...

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 Kherson urban hromada into newly established

Kherson Raion Kherson Raion (; ) is a raion (district) of Kherson Oblast, Ukraine. History Kherson Raion was created on 18 July 2020 as part of the reform of administrative divisions of Ukraine. The center of the raion is the city of Kherson. The city of Ole ...

, one of five raions in the

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 agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian United States foreign aid, foreign aid and development assistance. Established in 19 ...

, the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

(UNDP), and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, 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 Russophilia is the identification or solidarity with, appreciation of, or support for the Russia, country, Russians, people, Russian language, language, and history of Russia. One who espouses Russophilia is called a russophile. Its Opposite ...

, and Euro-skeptic, * * Opposition Platform, Volodymyr Saldo Bloc, and Party of Shariy (3.9%) 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 Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin (fortification), Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Mosco ...

."Court bans Sharia Party"
. ''

Ukrainska Pravda ''Ukrainska Pravda'' is a Ukrainian socio-political online media outlet founded by Heorhii Gongadze in April 2000. After Gongadze’s death in September 2000, the editorial team was led by co-founder Olena Prytula, who remained the editor-in ...

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

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

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

President of Ukraine The president of Ukraine (, ) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, conducts negotiations and concludes international treaties. ...

". From 26 April 2022,

Volodymyr Saldo Vladimir Vasilyevich Saldo (, ; born 12 June 1956) is a Ukrainian and Russian politician serving as the acting collaborationist governor of the annexed Kherson Oblast since 4 October 2022. A member of the ruling United Russia, he previously ...

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 ani ...

of the Kherson military–civilian administration.

Russian invasion from February 2022

Kherson witnessed heavy fighting in the first days of the

2022 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 ...

( Kherson offensive). 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 ( ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. The majority of the Donbas is occupied by Russia as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War. The word ''Donbas'' is a portmanteau formed fr ...

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 The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

agent Alexander Kobets, and ex-mayor

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 The ruble or rouble (; Currency symbol, symbol: ₽; ISO 4217, ISO code: RUB) is the currency of the Russia, Russian Federation. Banknotes and coins are issued by the Central Bank of Russia, which is Russia's central bank, monetary authority ind ...

. Citing unnamed reports about alleged discrimination against 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 September 2022, the

Russian Federation 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 ...

claimed to have

annexed Annexation, in international law, is the forcible acquisition and assertion of legal title over one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. In current international law, it is generally held to ...

Kherson Oblast. The

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its Seventy-ninth session of th ...

condemned 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; , . (born 21 May 1955) is a Russian politician and military officer who has served as secretary of the Security Council since 2024. He served as Minister of Defence of Russia from 2012 to 2024. Shoigu has served a ...

and regroup on the eastern side of the

Dnieper The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called 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. Approximately long, with ...

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 retreating, the Russian army destroyed infrastructure facilities of the city (communications, water, heat, electricity, TV tower), looted two main museums (

Local History Museum A local museum or local history museum is a type of museum that shows the historical development of a place/region (local history) using exhibits. These museums usually maintain a collection of historic three-dimensional objects which are ex ...

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, be accessible to all, or have restrictions in place. Although ...

), transporting their items to Crimean museums, and took away several monuments to historical figures. In June 2023, the city was flooded following the Russian

of the nearby Kakhovka Dam. On 23 October 2023, online voting concluded on the renaming of numerous streets and localities in Kherson for purposes of

decolonization Decolonization is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby Imperialism, imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. The meanings and applications of the term are disputed. Some scholar ...

and

derussification Derussification (or derussianization) is a process or public policy in different states of the former Russian Empire and the Soviet Union or certain parts of them, aimed at restoring national identity of indigenous peoples: their language, culture ...

. This was in accordance with Law of Ukraine "On Condemnation and Prohibition of Propaganda of Russian Imperial Policy in Ukraine and Decolonization of Toponymy", giving local councils six months to remove problematic toponymy. With Russian forces entrenched just across the Dnipro River, the city remains subject to frequent shelling, and since May 2024, to small drone attacks that target civilians in a Terrorism, terror campaign that has become known as the ″Human safari (terror campaign), human safari″. Drones, according to American freelance journalist Zarina Zabrisky many of them funded by Russian civilians, hit targets such as people at bus stops, commuters and children playing in parks, with footage of the attacks being shared and celebrated on Russian social media. In March 2025, the regional governor, Oleksandr Prokudin, was reporting between 600 and 700 drone attacks a week in the city. In these conditions, the city's pre-war population of 280,000 has shrunk to just 60,000.

Demographics

Ethnicity

According to the Ukrainian Census (2001), Ukrainian National Census in 2001, Kherson had a majority population of

(76.5%), with a large minority of Russians (19.9%) and 3.6% others. The exact ethnic composition was as follows:

Languages

Administrative divisions

There are three Urban districts of Ukraine, urban districts: * Tsentralnyi District, meaning the Central District, is the central and oldest district of the city. Includes departments: , Pіvnichnyi and . It was known as Suvorovskyi District until October 2023, when it was renamed in compliance with nationwide laws on

of toponymy. The old name was derived from that of the Tsarist Russian military leader Alexander Suvorov. * Dniprovskyi District, named for the

river. Includes departments: Antonivka, Molodizhne, Zelenivka, Petrivka, Bohdanivka, Soniachne, Naddniprianske, Inzhenerne. * Korabelnyi District, which includes the following departments: Shumenskyi, Korabel, Zabalka, Sukharne, Zhytloselyshche, Selyshche-4, Selyshche-5.

Geography

Climate

Under the Köppen climate classification, Kherson has a humid continental climate (''Dfa'').

Transport

Kherson has a seaport on the

river – the Port of Kherson – and a port on the Koshevaya or river – the Kherson River Port. Kherson is connected to the national railroad network of Ukraine. There are daily long-distance services to

, Lviv and other cities. 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.

Economy

* Kherson Shipyard * VVV-Spetstekhnika dredger factory

Education

There are 77 high schools as well as 5 colleges. There are 15 institutions of higher education, including: * * * Kherson State University * Kherson National Technical University * International University of Business and Law The documentary ''Dixie Land (Ukrainian film), Dixie Land'' was filmed at a music school in Kherson.

Main sights

file:Екатерининский собор в Херсоне DSC 6637 8 9 tonemapped.jpg, St. Catherine's Cathedral, Kherson * The St. Catherine's Cathedral, Kherson, Church of St. Catherine – was built in the 1780s, supposedly to Ivan Starov's designs, and contains the tomb of Grigory Potemkin, Prince Grigory Potemkin. * Jewish cemetery – Kherson has a large Jewish community which was established in the mid-nineteenth century. * Kherson TV Tower * Adziogol Lighthouse, 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; ''Sunset'' by Alexei Savrasov; ''Cattle Yard in Abramtsevo'' by Vasily Polenov; ''At the Stone'' by Ivan Kramskoi; ''The Charioteer'', by Peter Clodt von Jürgensburg (sculptor); ''Prince Svyatoslav'' by Eugene Lanceray (sculptor); ''Mephistopheles'' by Mark Antokolsky (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), Soviet science fiction writer * Georgy Arbatov (1923–2010), Soviet and Russian political scientist. * Vladimir Baranov-Rossine (1888–1944), Ukrainian/Russian/French painter, Cubo-Futurism, avant-garde artist and inventor. * Max Barskih (born 1990), Ukrainian singer and songwriter. * Stefania Berlinerblau (1852–1921), American anatomist and physician, investigated blood circulation * Maximilian Bern (1849–1923), 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, Ukraine, Bereslavka, Kherson Governorate. * Artem Datsyshyn (1979–2022), Ukrainian ballet dancer and soloist * Ivan Gannibal (1735–1801), eminent Russian military leader and a founder of the city * Sergei Garmash (born 1958), Soviet and Russian film and stage actor. * Yefim Golïshev (1897–1970), painter and composer associated with the Dada movement in Berlin. * Nikolai Grinko (1920–1989), Soviet and Ukrainian actor * Kateryna Handziuk (1985–2018), Ukrainian civil rights and anti-corruption activist * John Howard (prison reformer), John Howard (1726–1790), English prison reformer; he died of typhus whilst in Kherson. * Mircea Ionescu-Quintus (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 (1867–1938), Russian romantic composer, pianist and professor of music * Yuriy Odarchenko (born 1960), a politician, Governor of Kherson Oblast since 2014 * Nicholas Perry (born 1992), social media personality, known online as ''Nikocado Avocado'' * Sergei Polunin (born 1989), 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; may have inspired spy character, James Bond. * Nissan Rilov (1922–2007), former soldier, Israeli artist and supporter of Palestinians * Moshe Sharett (1894–1965), 2nd Prime Minister of Israel from 1953 to 1955 * (1787–1861), wealthy landowner; squadron commander in the Russian French invasion of Russia, Patriotic War of 1812 * Inna Shevchenko (born 1990), Ukrainian feminist and leader of the women's movement FEMEN * Sergei Stanishev (born 1966), Bulgarian politician, 49th Prime Minister of Bulgaria * Prince Alexander Suvorov (1730–1800), Russian general; a founder of the city. * Svitlana Tarabarova (born 1990), Ukrainian singer, songwriter, music producer and actress. * Mikhail Yemtsev (1930–2003), Soviet and Russian science fiction writer Latinina portret

Sport

* Anastasiia Chetverikova (born 1998), sprint canoeist, team silver medallist at the Canoeing at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's C-2 500 metres, 2020 Summer Olympics * Inna Gaponenko (born 1976), chess player, International Master & Woman Grandmaster. * Oleksandr Holovko (born 1972), former footballer with 414 club caps and 58 for Ukraine national football team, Ukraine * Pavlo Ishchenko (born 1992), Ukrainian-Israeli boxer * Oleksandr Karavayev (born 1992), footballer with over 250 club caps and 45 for Ukraine national football team, Ukraine * 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 * Yuriy Maksymov (born 1968), football coach and former midfielder with 384 club caps and 27 for Ukraine national football team, Ukraine. * Yuri Nikitin (gymnast), Yuri Nikitin (born 1978), gymnast and gold medallist at the 2004 Summer Olympics * Tancerev Mykola Olegovich (born 1997), professional rower * Sergei Postrekhin (born 1957), sprint canoer, gold and silver medallist at the Canoeing at the 1980 Summer Olympics – Men's C-1 500 metres, 1980 Summer Olympics * Serhiy Shevchenko (footballer, born 1958), Serhiy Shevchenko (1958-2024), Ukrainian football player and coach * Serhiy Tretyak (born 1963), 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 * Roman Vintov (born 1978), former Russian/Ukrainian footballer with over 460 club caps

Twin cities

* Zalaegerszeg, Hungary * Shumen, Bulgaria * Izmit, Turkey * Bizerte, Tunisia * Bonn, Germany * Kiel, Germany

Notes

References

External links

* *
Pictures of Kherson

The murder of the Jews of Kherson
during World War II, at Yad Vashem website. {{Authority control Kherson, 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 Kherson urban hromada Sites of World War II massacres of Poles