Poliske () or Polesskoye () is an abandoned settlement and former

urban-type settlement Urban-type settlement, abbreviated: ; , abbreviated: ; ; ; ; . is an official designation for lesser urbanized settlements, used in several Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern European countries. The term was primarily used in the So ...

in the

Chernobyl Exclusion Zone The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Zone of Alienation, also called the 30-Kilometre Zone or simply The Zone, was established shortly after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union. Initially, Soviet authorities declar ...

, part of

Kyiv Oblast Kyiv Oblast (, ), also called Kyivshchyna (, ), is an Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in central and northern Ukraine. It surrounds, but does not include, the city of Kyiv, which is administered as a city with special sta ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. It is located on the Uzh River and was an administrative center of Poliske Raion (district). However, later the town was taken out of a registry as it was completely depopulated being located in the

Zone of alienation The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Zone of Alienation, also called the 30-Kilometre Zone or simply The Zone, was established shortly after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union. Initially, Soviet authorities declar ...

. Currently around 20 people live there, so called '' samosely'' ("self-settlers").

History

Overview

Originally called Khabnoye or Khabne (, ), it was renamed Kaganovichi Pervye or Kahanovychi Pershi (, ) in 1934, and Poliske in 1957. Founded in the 15th century, it was the home of the Polish family Horwatt from 1850 to 1918. In the 19th century, this small city was known for its weavers and its textile industry. In 1890, 80% of the population was Jewish. In the later half of the 19th century, and in the beginning of the 20th century, there was known a

klezmer Klezmer ( or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for listening; these wou ...

band of the Makonowiecki family. Khabne lost all its major architecture during 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 castle of Radziwiłł, Orthodox churches, and the Catholic Church. In 1938, Khabne received official city status. After the

Chernobyl disaster On 26 April 1986, the no. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near Pripyat, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine), exploded. With dozens of direct casualties, it is one of only ...

, Khabne's population started to fall off. In 1999, the remaining population was evacuated. In 2005, there were about 1,000 people still living there, mostly senior citizens. From February to April 2022, Poliske was occupied by Russia as a result of the 2022 invasion.

Abandonment

Following the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident, a

Zone of Alienation The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Zone of Alienation, also called the 30-Kilometre Zone or simply The Zone, was established shortly after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union. Initially, Soviet authorities declar ...

(Ukrainian: Зона відчуження Чорнобильської АЕС, zona vidchuzhennya Chornobyl's'koyi AES), also known as the

, the 30 Kilometre Zone, or simply The Zone (Ukrainian: Чорнобильська зона, Chornobyl's'ka zona) was designated by the USSR military after the 1986 disaster. Initially, 30 km radius area was evacuated and placed under military control, however, over time the borders of the Zone of Alienation have increased to cover a larger area of contamination. The zone is now approximately 2,600 km² (1,000 sq miles), where radioactive fallout contamination is highest. Public access and inhabitation is restricted due to radiological hazards and allow for ecological monitoring by environmental scientists.

Geography

Located in the north-western corner of

, at the borders with

Zhytomyr Oblast Zhytomyr Oblast (), also referred to as Zhytomyrshchyna (), is an Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in northwestern Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Zhytomyr. Its population is approximately H ...

, Poliske is part of the natural region of

Polesia Polesia, also called Polissia, Polesie, or Polesye, is a natural (geographic) and historical region in Eastern Europe within the East European Plain, including the Belarus–Ukraine border region and part of eastern Poland. This region shou ...

, and is 27 km from the

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

ian border. Crossed by the regional highway P02

Ovruch Ovruch (, ) is a city in Korosten Raion, Zhytomyr Oblast, northern Ukraine, first mentioned as Vruchiy in 977. It was the capital city of the Drevlians in the 900s, later conquered by the Mongols in the 13th century, then later part of the Grand D ...

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, ...

(135 km south), the town lies between Vilcha (17 km north) and Krasiatychi (27 km south). It is 41 km far from Narodychi, 53 from Ovruch and Ivankiv, 58 from

Pripyat Pripyat, also known as Prypiat, is an abandoned industrial city in Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine, located near the border with Belarus. Named after the nearby river, Pripyat (river), Pripyat, it was founded on 4 February 1970 as the ninth ''atomgrad'' ...

and 65 from

Chernobyl Chernobyl, officially called Chornobyl, is a partially abandoned city in Vyshhorod Raion, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine. It is located within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, to the north of Kyiv and to the southwest of Gomel in neighbouring Belarus. ...

Notable people

*Iser Kuperman, a seven-time world champion of

draughts Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; Commonwealth English), is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve forward movements of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. ...

, was born in Khabne on 21 April 1922. *

Lazar Kaganovich Lazar Moiseyevich Kaganovich (; – 25 July 1991) was a Soviet politician and one of Joseph Stalin's closest associates. Born to a Jewish family in Ukraine, Kaganovich worked as a shoemaker and joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party ...

, one of leaders of the

, was born in the suburb of Kabany (, ), (near Khabne) in 1893. * Avraham-Yehoshua Makonovetsky, klezmer violinist, was born here in 1872 and was the leader of the town klezmer band from the 1890s into the Soviet era.

In popular culture

* In the game '' S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl'', there is a cut location called Dead City which appears to draw inspiration from Poliske.

References

External links

{{Authority control Rural settlements in Vyshhorod Raion Ghost towns in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone Populated places disestablished in 1986