Place:Kremenchuk, Poltava, Ukraine

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Kremenchuk is an industrial city in central Ukraine which stands on the banks of the Dnipro River. The city serves as the administrative center of the Kremenchuk Raion (district) in Poltava Oblast (province). Kremenchuk is administratively incorporated as a city of oblast significance administered by its own city council and does not form a part of the raion. Its population is approximately Along with its city-satellites Svitlovodsk and Horishni Plavni, Kremenchuk is an urban agglomeration and transportation hub.

Although not as large as some other oblast centers and cities of regional significance, Kremenchuk has a large industrial center in Ukraine and Eastern Europe. A KrAZ truck plant, the Kremenchuk Oil Refinery of Ukrtatnafta, the Kriukiv Railway Car Building Works, and Kremenchuk Hydroelectric Power Plant, in nearby Svitlovodsk, are located in or near Kremenchuk. Highway M22 crosses the Dnieper over the dam of the power plant.

Originally established on the left bank, Kremenchuk eventually incorporated the city of on the right bank. The Kryukiv Railway Car Building Works is one of the oldest railway-repair and rail-car-building factories in Eastern Europe, dating from 1869.

Kremenchuk's Ukrtatnafta oil refinery is the largest in Ukraine and for a while was the only one operating since the beginning of the conflict with Russia that left refineries in the Donbas inactive. Because of Russian attacks during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the refinery is expected to be out of operation for the remainder of 2022.^[1]

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Kremenchuk was founded in 1571 as a fortress. The name Kremenchuk is explained as deriving from the word "kremen" - flint (a mineral) because the city is located on a giant chert plate. An alternative explanation says that "Kremenchuk" is the Turkish for "small fortress".

In 1625, at Lake Kurukove in Kremenchuk, the Treaty of Kurukove was signed between the Cossacks and the Poles. Since the establishment of Cossack Hetmanate, the city was part of the Chyhyryn Polk (regiment). Following the Russo-Polish War (1654–1667) and Treaty of Andrusovo, the city was secured by Tsardom of Russia and became part of the Myrhorod Polk (regiment) within the left-bank Cossack Hetmanate. The city played a key role of the Russian colonization policy of Ukraine and their striving for the shores of Black Seas as regional administrative center of the early Novorossiya Governorate and Yekaterinoslav Vice-regency (Namestnichestvo). With creation of Novorossiya Governorate, in Kremenchuk was created Dnieper Pikers Regiment and coincidentally few years later (1768–69) in the neighboring regions of Poland started out so called Koliyivshchyna (literally the Piker's unrest). Here in 1786 started his military career the Russian general Alexander Suvorov when he was appointed a commander the local garrison (in preparation of the 1787–1792 Russo-Turkish War).

Following the loss in the Crimean War, in Russia started intensively to be installed a network of railroads and in 1869 in Kryukiv were built small railcar repair shops, while in 1872 the city of Kriukiv was connected with Kremenchuk by a railroad bridge over Dnieper. In 1870 in Kremenchuk was built a factory in production and maintenance of agrarian equipment and iron cast products. In 1899 in Kremenchuk was introduced a network of tramway transportation that existed until the complete establishment of Soviet regime in Ukraine in 1921.

During the Russian February Revolution of 1917 the power in city was controlled by a council (soviet) of workers' deputies which was dominated by the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party and the head of the city council became a future Ukrainian Communist leader Yuriy Lapchynskyi. During the Ukrainian–Soviet War, on 26 January 1918 the Russian Bolshevik troops secured the city, however already in February of the same year they had to withdraw due to the treaty of Brest-Litovsk and advance of German and Ukrainian armies. Following the World War I hostilities between the Bolshevik Russia and Ukraine renewed and on 1 February 1919 the Russian Red Army once again secured the city. However, in May of the same year Kremechuk was engulfed in the insurgency of Otaman Grigoriev who earlier sided with Bolsheviks and drove the international force of Triple Entante from Odessa. From July to December 1919 the city was occupied by the Russian "White Guard" troops of Anton Denikin. Following their withdrawal, the Denikin's troops blew up the railroad bridge.

In 1920–1922, the city was an administrative center of briefly existed Kremenchuk Governorate during a peasant insurgency (Kholodnyi Yar) near Chyhyryn (just west of the city). During 1930s the Kremenchuk's industry was transformed, its Kriukiv railcar repair shops became a railcar manufacturing factory, while its factory in production of agrarian equipment changed to manufacturing road equipment.

During World War II (1939-1945), Kremenchuk suffered heavily under Nazi occupation. It was occupied from September 15, 1941, to September 29, 1943. More than 90% of the city's buildings were leveled over the course of the war. 29 September, the day when the city was liberated from the Nazis in 1943, is celebrated in Kremenchuk as the City Day. Despite a remarkable post-war recovery and a healthier economy, Kremenchuk lacks much of the architectural charm and distinctly Ukrainian (rather than Russian) character of its sister city, the oblast capital of Poltava.

During the Cold War, Kremenchuk became the headquarters for the 43rd Rocket Division of the 43rd Army of the Soviet Strategic Rocket Forces. The division was equipped with R-12 Dvina intercontinental ballistic missiles.

In 1975 the city of Kryukiv was merged with Kremenchuk, while Kremenchuk was divided in two raions in city.

In 2014 during the mass demolition of monuments to Vladimir Lenin in Ukraine, in the city were removed two monuments of the Russian Communist leader in the city center and near the Kryukiv Railcar Factory.

Oleh Babayev, the mayor of Kremenchuk was assassinated on July 26, 2014. Oleh Babayev opposed separatism and promoted national unity, prior to becoming mayor he was a member of the Batkivshchyna political party which opposed Victor Yanukovich. His political views and Kremenchuk's large industrial base may have been the motivation for the attack.

During the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine security at the Kremenchuk Reservoir was heightened as it was seen as a possible target for saboteurs.

During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kremenchuk has been under attack by Russian forces. On April 27 and May 12 an oil refinery was hit by Russian missiles and will be out of operation for months. On June 27 a shopping mall was hit by Russian missiles and caught fire, 16 people died and 59 were injured. Just after the strike, a nearby factory was hit. Russian authorities claimed that the factory hosted weapons supplied by the US and European countries. In 2014, the factory was known to repair armoured personnel carriers (BTR-70s).

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