In October 1372, Władysław Opolczyk was deposed as count palatine. Although he retained most of his castles and goods in Hungary, his political influence waned. As compensation, Opolczyk was made governor of Hungarian Galicia. In this new position, he contributed to the economic development of the territories entrusted to him. Although Opolczyk primarily resided in Lwów, at the end of his rule he spent more time in Halicz. The only serious conflict during his time as governor involved his approach to the Orthodox Church, which angered the local Catholic boyars. Under Polish rule 325 towns were founded from the 14th century to the second half of the 17th century, most during the 15th and 16th centuries (96 and 153, respectively).


Ruthenia was subject to repeated Tatar and Ottoman Empire incursions during the 16th and 17th centuries and was impacted by the Khmelnytsky Uprising (1648–1654), the 1654–1667 Russo-Polish War and Swedish invasions during the Deluge (1655–1660); the Swedes returned during the Great Northern War of the early 18th century. Red Ruthenia consisted of three voivodeships: Ruthenia, whose capital was Lviv and provinces were Lviv, Halych, Sanok, Przemyśl and Chełm; Bełz, separating the provinces of Lviv and Przemyśl from the rest of the Ruthenian voivodeship; and Podolia, with its capital at Kamieniec Podolski.


Red Ruthenia (except for Podolia) was conquered by the Austrian Empire in 1772 during the First Partition of Poland, remaining part of the empire until 1918. Between World Wars I and II, it belonged to the Second Polish Republic. The region is currently split, with its western portion in southeastern Poland (around Rzeszów, Przemyśl, Zamość and Chełm) and its eastern portion (around Lviv) in western Ukraine.


The Romanian occupation of Pokuttia () took place in early 1919, when, as a result of alliances concluded between Romania and Poland, the former entered the southeastern corner of the former Austro-Hungarian ruled province of Galicia. During the interwar period, Romania was Poland's main ally in Eastern Europe ("see Polish–Romanian alliance"). Both nations were bound by several treaties and history of this alliance dates back to the end of World War I and the Treaty of Versailles. However, to actively cooperate, governments in Bucharest and Warsaw emphasized the necessity of a shared border. Discussions about the border started in Paris some time at the beginning of 1919 and continued during the following months.


The proposal for occupation was first advanced by the Romanian government of Ion I. C. Brătianu on May 8, 1919. Brătianu suggested this as a means to separate both Czechoslovakia and Hungary from Soviet influences, thus consolidating the position of both Greater Romania and the Second Polish Republic, as well as help the Poles get in touch with their Romanian ally.


The proposal was accepted by the Polish leader, Marshal Józef Piłsudski and on May 24, 1919, the Romanian Army 7. Infantry Division, led by General Iacob Zadik, entered Pokuttya. After three days, the Romanians met the Poles in the area of Kalusz. As Polish Army was involved in other conflicts (chiefly with the Soviets), the Romanians stayed in Pokuttia until late August 1919. Their units were stationed in such towns as Ivano-Frankivsk, and Kolomyia. In late summer of 1919 Polish troops entered Pokuttya ("see Polish-Ukrainian War") and the Romanians withdrew to their country.


Also, the mutual cooperation resulted in Romanian permit for the free passage of the 4th Riflemen Division (under General Lucjan Żeligowski). This unit was kept in Romanian province of Bukovina for political purposes, and on June 17, 1919 the Romanians allowed it to enter Poland.


During the Holocaust, the Jewish population of over 3000 in Bolekhiv (Yiddish: Bolechov, בולוחוב or באלעכוב, Polish: Bolechów) in 1940, with additional thousands of Jews brought in from the surrounding villages and towns in 1941 and 1942, was mostly annihilated, brutally, by the Germans with local Ukrainian collaborators. Only 48 of Bolekhiv's Jews were known to have survived the war.


A wealth of documentation exists about the atrocities committed in this town, beginning already in 1935, before World War II, by the local population and government, and ending with the total annihilation of the Jewish population by 1943. A book, "" by Daniel Mendelsohn, tells the story of the town and the demise of its Jews, according to testimony, most of which was found at the Yad Vashem holocaust museum in Jerusalem. A survivor, Shlomo Adler, published a book "I am a Jew Again" about the town in Hebrew, and a German writer Anatol Regnier who married an Israeli singer the daughter of a Jewish Bolechov survivor, wrote another version of the town story "Damals in Bolechów: Eine jüdische Odyssee".


A documentary movie "Neighbors and Murderers" was made, about the books and their authors, following the survivors' stories, and those of some of the Ukrainian neighbors who witnessed what happened, also confronting some of the Ukrainian perpetrators' family. The movie ends with the sister in law of one of the murderers from the Ukrainian police, herself a victim of the communist regime sent to Siberia for many years, asking forgiveness, and the survivor asking if he is allowed to forgive.


A Jewish community existed in Bolekhiv (Yiddish pronunciation: Bolechov) since its establishment by Nicholas Gydzincki. The town founder proclaimed equal rights to Jews as Christians, and this was confirmed by Sigismund III Vasa, the king of the new Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formerly crown prince of Poland, the grand duke of Lithuania, and later to become king of Sweden.


By 1890, seventy-five percent of the population of Bolekhiv (4237 people) was Jewish.


Two Jewish residents of Bolekhiv, Moshe Weiss and Josef Rotte, established and participated in the first Kibbutz by the Shomer Hatzair movement in Palestine, and were members of the Shomriya Workers Battalion.


By 1940 the Jewish population of Bolekhiv reached about 3000.


In 1941 and 1942, thousands of Jews were added to the population, from the surrounding towns.


Only 48 Jews of the town survived World War II


A book about 19th century Bolekhiv, "Memoirs of Reb Bear of Bolechov" is known to be one of the important historical documents about Jewish life in Galicia and eastern Europe in those times.


A Hassidic Rebbe, rabbi Shneibalg, 'the Rebbe of Bolechov', had a large Hassidic court in the town.


In 1935 with the death of the Polish leader Joseph Pilsudski, antisemitism began to prevail. The Polish government encouraged citizens to boycott Jewish businesses, and Christian business owners were warned not to do business with Jewish owned companies. These measures caused a deterioration in the economic status of the Jews of Galicia and among them of the Jews of Bolekhiv. From newspaper reports of the time, it is known that the number of violent attacks against Jews was on a rise, and hundreds of Jews were shot and killed.


In 1940 the thriving Jewish population of Bolekhiv was about 3000, with 4 major Synagogues.


On 28 and 29 October 1941, four months after capturing the town, and 16days after the first mass murders in Galicia at Stanislavov the German police carried out a first "Aktion" (German annihilation operation) in Bolekhiv: About 1000 of the richer Jews, doctors, and others including the Rabbis, were taken from their homes, rounded up in the town square and marched to the "Dom Katolicki" - the catholic center at the north of the town, where they were tortured for 24hours, especially the rabbis, and many killed. They were then taken to the nearby Taniawa forest where they were shot and dropped into a pit and then buried, many of them still alive.


At around the same time the population grew by a few thousand, when Jews from surrounding towns were brought to Bolekhiv.


Ms. Rivka Mondshein gave evidence about this first 'Aktion':


About a year later, on 3 to 5 September 1942, the Germans committed a second 'Aktion' in which about 1,500 Jews were murdered, many of them children, and an additional 2,000 Jews were sent to the Belzec death camp where most were subsequently murdered.


The Jews had received a warning message from the Judenrat of Drohobitz that a murderous attack was ensuing. Local Ukrainian residents decided to begin the massacre before the Germans arrived. Mostly children were brutally murdered, one baby stamped upon after being grabbed from his tortured mother while giving birth. The Gestapo soldiers bragged that they killed 600 children, and one Ukrainian civilian said that he alone killed 97 children. (Following the war, a son of this man, living in the US, and serving as a priest read about these atrocities and dedicated the rest of his life helping commemorate the Jewish community of Bolekhiv).


A total of 600-700 children and 800-900 adults were killed that day. Two thousand others were gathered and sent to the Belzec death camp. While marching to the train station they were forced to sing, mostly the song "Belz mein shtetele Belz".


In 1946 Ms. Mathilda Geleranter gave the following evidence about the second Aktion in Bolechov:


Most of the Jews gathered from the nearby towns or originally living in Bolechov were murdered during 1942. Very few hid in dug out caves in the forest and stole food from nearby farms, or joined the Partisans, and survived the war, but mostly all the Jews left in Bolechov were killed.


A list of deportations to the Belzec death camp list 2000 Jews sent on 3 to 6 August 1942 (perhaps this is a mistake and should be 3 to 6 September during the 2nd action) and then 400 Jews deported there on 21 October and another 300 Jews on 20 to 23 November.


In June Dina Ostrover, a survivor of the train ride to Belzec from Stryi, who was in Bolechov with false papers as a Ukrainian, heard that the next day 30 German soldiers were coming to town. It was obvious that they were coming to finish off the Jews. She saved a Jewish accountant who came regularly to the farm and his wife, and hid them in the attic, till the end of the war.


On 25 August 1943, 3200 Jews, who were most of, or the last of the remaining Jews in Bolechov, were deported to the Stanislavov Ghetto or to a camp nearby.


At some stage in 1943, when there were only about 900 Jews left, working at local makeshift "work camps" for a few days, groups of 100 and 200 Jews were marched to the town cemetery nearby and shot. The sounds were heard well in the town, and one woman testified that her mother, who was then at the age of 40, felt obliged to drown out the sound with an old pedal powered sewing machine.


Surviving Jews testified that several local Ukrainians took a major part in the atrocities.


According to Rab Van der Laarse, in an article written for a conference of the European Union Archaeologist Society, Eastern European "national amnesia" is now (since around 2000 and till today at 2014) being contested, with national and international affiliations, including at times affiliation with the Nazi regime as anti-communist, and emphasizing communist post-war atrocities, as well as pre-war and during the war mass murders and other crimes.


In the documentary movie "Neighbors and Murderers", neighbours of the cemetery, who remember the killing in the cemetery, differ on the perpetrators. One says that "the Jews were taken like a herd of sheep, the Germans surrounded the Jews in cemetery from three sides..." but another, when asked who did the actual shooting, said: "They were all our policemen. Nine Ukrainian policemen, there were no Germans at all." Shlomo Adler, one of the Jewish survivors, discovers that the Ukrainian collaborator that disclosed the hiding place of three families living in a cave, was the brother of the woman that saved his own life and hid him throughout the last years of the war.


In the same movie, the sister in law of Matwiecki is confronted by Adler (mistaking her for Matwiecki's actual sister), and upon hearing of her brother in law's actions, at first cannot believe it and claims it's a mistake, but finally realizes the truth and cries along with Adler.


The District of Galicia (, , ) was a World War II administrative unit of the General Government created by Nazi Germany on 1 August 1941 after the opening of Operation Barbarossa. Initially, during the invasion of Poland by Germany and the Soviet Union, the territory temporarily fell under the Soviet occupation in 1939 as part of Soviet Ukraine.


Then Adolf Hitler (Document No. 1997-PS of 17 July 1941) formed a capital in Lemberg (Lviv), the "Galizien" province existed from 1941 until 1944. It ceased to exist after the Soviet counter-offensive.


District of Galicia comprised mainly the pre-war Lwów Voivodeship of the Second Polish Republic, today part of western Ukraine. The territory was taken over by Nazi Germany in 1941 after the attack on USSR and incorporated into the General Government, governed by "Gauleiter" Hans Frank since the invasion of 1939. The region was taken over again by the Soviet Union in 1944.


The district area was managed by Frank's brother-in-law Karl Lasch (, ) from 1 August 1941 to 6 January 1942, and by SS Brigadeführer Dr. Otto Wächter from 6 January 1942 to September 1943. Wächter utilised the district capital Lemberg as a recruitment base for the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Galicia (1st Ukrainian). In the course of the Holocaust in occupied Poland starting from the year of the invasion, the largest Jewish extermination ghettos were created in Lwów (Lemberg) and in Stanisławów (Stanislau).


The Kerensky offensive (), also commonly known as the July offensive () or Galician offensive, was the last Russian offensive in World War I. It took place in July 1917. It was decided by Alexander Kerensky, Minister of War in the Russian provisional government, and led by General Aleksei Brusilov. Such a decision was ill-timed, because, following the February Revolution, there were strong popular demands for peace, especially within the Russian Army, whose fighting capabilities were quickly deteriorating.


The Russian provisional government was greatly weakened by this military catastrophe, and the possibility of another revolution by the Bolsheviks became increasingly real. Far from strengthening Russian army morale, this offensive proved that Russian army morale no longer existed. No Russian general could now count on the soldiers under his command actually doing what they were ordered to do. This offensive also helped the start of the July Days. One last fight took place between the Germans and the Russians in this war. On September 1, 1917, the Germans attacked and captured Riga. The Russian soldiers defending the town refused to fight and fled from the advancing German troops.


The offensive was ordered by Alexander Kerensky, Minister of War in the Russian provisional government, and led by General Aleksei Brusilov. Such a decision was ill-timed, because, following the February Revolution, there were strong popular demands for peace, especially within the army, whose fighting capabilities were quickly deteriorating.


Riots and mutineering at the front became common and officers were often the victims of soldier harassment and even murder. Furthermore, the policy of the new government towards the war effort was one of fulfilling obligations towards Russia's allies, as opposed to fighting for the sake of total victory, thus giving soldiers a less credible motivation to fight.


However, Kerensky hoped that an important Russian victory would gain popular favour and restore the soldiers' morale, thus strengthening the weak provisional government and proving the effectiveness of "the most democratic army in the world", as he referred to it. Brusilov deemed this the 'last hope to which he could resort', as he saw the collapse of the army as inevitable.


Starting on July 1, 1917 the Russian troops attacked the Austro-Hungarian and German forces in Galicia, pushing toward Lviv. The operations involved the Russian 11th, 7th and 8th Armies against the Austro-Hungarian/German South Army (General Felix Graf von Bothmer) and the Austro-Hungarian 7th and 3rd Armies.


Initial Russian success was the result of powerful bombardment, such as the enemy never witnessed before on the Russian front. At first, the Austrians did not prove capable of resisting this bombardment, and the broad gap in the enemy lines allowed the Russians to make some progress, especially against the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army. However, the German forces proved to be much harder to root out, and their stubborn resistance resulted in heavy casualties among the attacking Russians.


As Russian losses mounted, demoralisation of infantry soon began to tell, and the further successes were only due to the work of cavalry, artillery and special "shock" battalions, which General Kornilov had formed. The other troops, for the most part, refused to obey orders. Soldiers' committees discussed whether the officers should be obeyed or not. Even when a division did not flatly refuse to fight, no orders were obeyed without preliminary discussion by the divisional committee, and if the latter decided to obey orders it was usually too late to be of any use.


The Russian advance collapsed altogether by July 16. On July 19, the Germans and Austro-Hungarians counterattacked, meeting little resistance and advancing through Galicia and Ukraine as far as the Zbruch River. The Russian lines were broken on July 20 and by July 23, the Russians had retreated about (Vinny). "The only limit to the German advance was the lack of the logistical means to occupy more territory".


The Russian provisional government was greatly weakened by this military catastrophe, and the possibility of a Bolshevik Revolution became increasingly real. Far from strengthening Russian army morale, this offensive proved that Russian army morale no longer existed. No Russian general could now count on the soldiers under his command actually doing what they were ordered to do.


This offensive helped the start of the July Days, and also affected the situation in Romania. Romanian and Russian forces, which first broke the Austro-Hungarian front at the Battle of Mărăști in support of the Kerensky offensive, were stopped.


One further fight took place between the Germans and the Russians in 1917. On September 1, 1917, the Germans attacked and captured Riga. The Russian soldiers defending the town refused to fight and fled from the advancing German troops.


The Russian National Party or Russian People's Party (), founded in 1900, was a political party created by Western Ukrainian Russophiles in the Austro-Hungarian Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria to represent their interests. It represented radicalization among western Ukrainian Russophiles towards the end of the 19th and beginning of the twentieth centuries, promoting the standard literary Russian language without local linguistic features and conversion to Russian Orthodoxy. The Russian National Party had ties to Russian nationalist parties in the Russian Empire and received subsidies from the Russian government. Its members actively helped the Russian administration during its rule in western Ukraine during the first world war.


In parliamentary elections, it was a member of the Ukrainian parliamentary association of Austria-Hungary.


Drohobych Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine


The Drohobych Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, commonly referred to as the Drohobych CPU obkom, was the position of highest authority in the Drohobych Oblast, in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union. The position was created on November 1939 following the 1939 Soviet invasion of Poland during the ongoing World War II and abolished in 21 May 1959. On 21 May 1959 the Drohobych Regional Committee was merged into the Lviv Regional Committee.


The First Secretary was a de facto appointed position usually by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine or the First Secretary of the Republic.


Sambir (, , , "Sambor") is a city in Lviv Oblast, Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of Sambir Raion (district), it is designated as a city of oblast significance and does not belong to the raion. It is located close to the border with Poland. Population:


Sambir is situated on the left bank of the Dniester river. The city stands at the crossroads. It is the cultural, industrial and tourist center of modern Ukraine.


The fifth largest city in Lviv Oblast. Distance to the regional center by rail for 78 miles, by road 76 km length of the city from the South-West to North-East is 10.5 km, and from North-West to South-East 4.5 km from the hotel. The area is 24 km2.


The center is located at the height of 305,96 m above sea level.


The city is an important road connecting Eastern and Western Europe, North and South. Through Sambor electrified railway tracks, trunk pipelines and power lines.


The history of the cities Sambir and Staryi Sambir, which are both situated in Halychyna (which is now part of Ukraine), in Lviv Oblast by the Dnister river, begins in a place currently known as Staryi Sambir ("Old Sambir"). This was founded in the 12th century and served as an important center of the Halych Princedom. In the 13th century, the Tatars destroyed it, and in the year 1241 it was burnt down.


Part of the Stariy Sambir population, especially the weavers, moved to a village called Pohonich, at a distance of some twelve kilometers from the old town, and it was called Novyi Sambor (New Sambor) to distinguish it from old Sambor. The latter began to be called Staryi-Sambor, or the old city. The village of Pohonicz was first under the rule of Rus; in 1340 became part of the Kingdom of Poland.


The foundations of the future city of Sambir were laid in 1390 by the voivode of Kraków, Spytek of Melsztyn, a companion and adviser to the Polish king Władysław II Jagiełło (1396–1434) in his war expeditions. The king granted his loyal companion, for his military services, enormous pieces of land, from Dobromyl to Stryi. Spytek (also Spytko), evaluating the importance of Pohonicz, left a document dated 13 December 1390 addressed to the Wojt (Mukhtar), Henrik from Landshut, permitting him to establish a city in Pohonicz to be called Novyi-Sambor, granting it the rights of Magdeburg.


It is not possible to determine exactly when the village of Pohonicz was founded because of the lack of historical sources. It may be assumed that, it being on the important commercial and strategic crossroads near the Dniester and its tributary Mlinuvka, it served as a worth center for fortification and defense. Despite the fact that the village of Pohonicz was raised to the status of a city and its name changed to Novi-Sambor, we find in official documents up to the year 1450 that the city was called by two names: Sambor or Novi-Sambor, formerly Pohonicz.


Sambir is situated on what is almost an island formed between two parallel rivers, the one distant from the other by a few kilometers – the Dniester on one side and the Strwiaz on the other – which come together after Sambir in the vicinity of Dolubova. In the pre-historic period the Dniester, at a distance of about three kilometers from Sambor, created a special kind of tributary called Mlinuvka, which, separating completely from the Dniester, falls into the river Strwionz. The Dniester and the Mlinuvka add a natural charm to Sambor. The grant of municipal rights led to people flocking to the city – Poles, Germans, Russians and Jews.


From the city's founding, Spytko saw to its development and granted it many rights. In January 1394, King Wladyslaw Jagiello, at Spytko's request, exempted the inhabitants from paying various taxes. Not for very long, however, did Sambor benefit from his actions for the good of the city. In 1399 Spytko participated in the war against the Tatars, in which he was killed on 12 August 1399 near the river Worskla (see: Battle of the Vorskla River). After his death, the Sambor properties passed to his wife, Elzbieta Melsztynska.


In the earliest times, Sambir had natural conditions for development of commerce, lying as it did on the important commercial route where the Baltic Sea, through the river San, and the Black Sea, through the river Dniester, are connected. The Dniester had already played an important role as a natural water route leading to Akerman near the Black Sea. From there, the Greek merchants reached the land of Scythia with their products. Through Sambor, an important dry land route also led to Hungary, and by this passage to the borders of Poland, merchandise was brought such as timber, salt, cattle, fox and bear skins, honey, and from Hungary, particularly wines. The Sambor merchants would purchase from the Hungarian merchants wines, horses, leather, cloth and various fruits.


From Sambir there was also a road to Lviv through Rudki and Komarno, which connected it with the commercial center of goods from the east, making Sambor an important commercial juncture.


Sambir was rebuilt several times. In 1498, when Poland was attacked by the Turks and the Tatars, it was burnt down completely. And before the population had recovered from this disaster, the city was threatened, in 1515, by an invasion by the Tatars.


In the 16th century, a new Sambor was established on the ruins of the burnt-out wooden houses.


In 1530, in view of all the invasions and attacks on the city, the Starosta (district governor) Krzysztof Odrowaz Szydlowski surrounded it with a thick wall and deep trenches, to enable it to be defended. For two hundred and fifty years, Sambor, thus enclosed, was compelled to shrink, limiting itself to narrow streets, without any possibility of expanding and developing naturally. The city was frozen into restricting borders until the first years of the Austrian conquest in 1772 (see: Partitions of Poland).


The city's walls, gates and towers were of much concern to the city fathers, who imposed heavy taxes on the population to cover the costs of safeguarding them for defense. Furthermore, each of the eleven artisans' guilds in the city had to take upon itself the obligation to guard and defend a certain part of the wall, as well as provide arms at its own expense.


In the center of the market place stood "Ratusz" (City Hall), with a clock tower on it. This building, the most important in the rebuilt city, was entirely destroyed in 1637 in a fire that wiped out almost all of Sambor. The new "Ratusz" was completed only in 1668, and then, for the first time, at the top of the tower the city emblem was unfurled: a deer with an arrow in its throat.


Second in importance for defense was the royal palace, which was situated outside the city walls, in the suburb of Blich. At first it was built of wood and was burnt down in 1498. When the Starosta Shidlovski rebuilt it in 1530, near the Dniester, he built it as a fortress, surrounded by moats, behind which were earthen walls.


In the royal palace, which was the seat of the Starosta, there was, besides the service workers numbering sixty-five in 1569, a garrison composed of infantry and cavalry. This army was intended not only to protect the palace, but also to safeguard the peace and security of Sambor and the vicinity. Furthermore, it was needed to stamp out gangs which would infiltrate from Hungary and spread panic in the neighborhood.


The royal palace of Sambor had the honor to host within it almost all the kings of Poland and heads of state; many splendid receptions were held there with the participation of the city's notables.


Church of Nativity of the Theotokos in Sambir built of wood in the late 1570s, in the town of Sambir, (in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth), commissioned by the Ruthenians (), Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania Bona. This decision provoked protests and complaints in a multi-confessional environment of the community of Sambir. However, the "dispute was successfully resolved in favor of the Lord" and a wooden The Church of Nativity of the Theotokos was built, which served until 1738, when it was rebuilt in stone.


The stone church, preserved with minor rearrangements and side-chapels (see photo) was built in 1738. Funds for its construction and design were donated by a wealthy family of Galician nobles, the Komarnickis.


The architectural lines of the building have a simple and clear form. On the facade, a balcony and loft house statues of guardian angels. Inside, there is a painting by the artist-painter Yablonski.


There were around 8,000 Jews living in the town of Sambor in 1939, predominantly in the city-centre. There was a Jewish school and a synagogue. The Jews were merchants, craftsmen and artisans.


The German occupation of Sambor began on June 30, 1941. In March 1942, an open ghetto was established in the village. In May, there were around 6,500 Jews in the ghetto because a lot of Jews had managed to flee before the German occupation. Between August and October 1942, there were four Jewish actions carried out in the village. The first action took place on August 4, 1942. A selection was organized in the stadium by the German gendarmerie, Ukrainian police and a team of the Security police. 150 Jews were murdered. On August 6, these Jews were transferred to Lviv. Other Jews were brought to the camp. During this action which lasted three days, 4,000 Jews were shot.


The second action took place on September 25–26, 1942. The Jewish Council selected 300 Jews who were shot in the forest of Ralivka, also called Radlowicze.


On October 17–18 and 22, 1942, a third and then fourth action was perpetrated by the German gendarmerie, Schutzpolizei, and the Ukrainian police. Jews were collected from the jail and from nearby villages.


During the third action, 1,000 Jews were sent to Belzec extermination camp and during the fourth action, 460 Jews were sent to Belzec. During the four actions which were perpetrated from August to October 1942, 5000 Jews were sent from Sambir to Belzec. The open ghetto became a closed ghetto in December 1942. Several actions took place in the ghetto from February to June 1943. During the first action, on February 13, 1943, 500 Jews were executed in the forest of Ralivka. On April 14, 1943, a second action was carried out during which 1,200 Jews were selected and 900 were shot in the cemetery.


On May 20–22, 1943, a third ghetto action was carried out and several hundreds of Jews “incapable of working” were shot in the forest of Ralivka. The liquidation of the ghetto took place on June 5, 1943 and 1,000 Jews were shot in the forest of Ralivka.


There were about 160 Jewish survivors, many of them hidden by local farmers, both Poles and Ukrainians.


The average annual temperature in Sambir is between .


There is a fairly mild winter, with thaws, sometimes without snow cover (for winter precipitation typical minimum amount per year, although they are in the form of rain and snow falls often), in Sambor. Spring is long, sometimes lengthy, windy, cool, and very wet. Summer is warm, hot, a little wet and a little rainy.


Autumn is warm, sunny and dry (usually lasts until the first of November). The average temperature of the coldest month (January ) is , the average temperature in July . The winter 2013-2014 was extremely warm. The average temperature in December stood at , minimum , and maximum . Also, the snow cover at all this month was observed.


In Sambir and throughout Ukraine there's one time zone: the official Kyiv time. Every year there is a transition to summer and winter time on the last Sunday of March at 3:00, which is 1 hour ahead and the last Sunday of October at 4:00 on 1 hour ago.


Maslosojuz or Maslosoiuz (real name: Association of Dairy Cooperatives) was a Ukrainian dairy cooperation, founded in Stryj in 1904/05. At the beginning it was a branch of Prosvita, and in 1907 it was renamed into "National Dairy Union Maslosojuz". By 1914, it united around 100 smaller dairy cooperations, which handled around 7.5 mln liters of milk from Ukrainian farmers in eastern Galicia. The founders of Maslosojuz were: Yevhen Olesnytsky, Ivan Bachynsky, Ostap Nyzhankivsky, and Lev Horalevych.


After World War I, Maslosojuz was recreated in 1924, within boundaries of newly created Second Polish Republic. The cooperation quickly grew, with several professionals being employed. Its turnover was around 12 million zlotys (as for 1938), and export of butter reached 423 000 kilograms (as for 1935). Products of Maslosojuz were available across whole territory of the Second Polish Republic. In the city of Lwow itself, in the 1930s, Maslosojuz had five stores. As leading Polish daily Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny wrote on 15 January 1937: "The products of Maslosojuz are well known across the nation, and the corporation itself controls all dairy markets of former Eastern Galicia".


In 1939, Polish authorities incorporated Maslosojuz into the so-called "Dairy Cooperation". After Polish September Campaign, it ceased to exist. Maslosojuz returned in 1941, and was active during German occupation. Finally, it was closed by the Soviets in 1944.


Drohobych salt plant in the existence from 1250 is the oldest working salt plant in Drohobych, Lviv region, Ukraine. It has been working since 1250.


Drohobych salt plant has been in operation since the 13th century and maybe even earlier on the territory close to sources of raw materials called "salt brine". The foundation of the salt plant was in 1250, and it is believed that this plant is the oldest working industrial company in Ukraine. During this time, Drohobych was one of the richest cities in the Carpathian region making this important in the history of the last decades in the existence of the Galicia-Volyn principality.


Drohobych's growth was caused by the salt manufactory, which provided not only Galician, Transcarpathia but also Volun, Holm, and Kiev regions with salt. In 1339 Drohobych was occupied by Polish seigniors and the Drohobych salt manufactory became the part of the royal property. At that time salt was the most famous good produced in Drohobych. Chumaks from the entire Ukraine (Podillya, Brtislav, and Volun regions) came to Drohobych to purchase salt.


Volyn piers (found on the river Sluch and Horyn) were used to load Drohobych salt on the ships (called "komyaha"), then the salt was transported to Prypyat, and after that it was shipped along Dnipro straight to Kyiv. The towers in Drohobych, Yasenytsya, and other surrounding villages belonged to the king. Peasants were forced to work for the king. The king never visited Drohobych.


Rich Italian merchants rented salterns (salt water pools), because they had caravans traveling from Italy through Lviv and Bukovyna to Crimean city Kapha. During the 14th and 15th centuries these merchants were the intendants and the main workers of the saltern in Drohobych. This benefited King and merchants alike. Italians marchants produced high-quality salt, thus greatly expanding trade relations between Drohobych and Europe, however, this brought many conflicts in Drohobych. These conflicts were caused by citizens' opinion that only some people were seeing profit while and others did not. Conflict in 1491, between Italians merchants with Drohobych citizens was resolved with the help of king's decree.


The king declared that people have to produce a cart (containing 6000 salt barrels). In the years after this, each citizen entering Drohobych was charged 3 dinnars per cart of either salt or other goods. Money was used to keep the Drohobych city streets in good condition. According to documents dating back to 1768, it is known that the upper layer of the road situated in Zhupna street (which exists today) was made of wood. The territory between the saltern and Zhupna Street was joined by the bridge constructed above the river Pobuk. At that time two wells could be found on the territory of Drohobych saltern: the King's saltern and baron Hartenberg's private saltern.


Proceeds from both of these two salters were used to fund Cathedral hospital called "The hospital for the poor". According to documents from 1565, 26,000 barrels of salt was produced in Drohobych; half of this was produced in King's saltern and other half by private salterns. Nowadays, Drohobych salt is producing two types of salt of the high quality.


Lviv Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine


The Lviv Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, commonly referred to as the Lviv CPU obkom, was the position of highest authority in the Lviv Oblast, in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union. The position was created on November 1939 following the 1939 Soviet invasion of Poland during the ongoing World War II and abolished in August 1991. On 21 May 1959 the Drohobych Regional Committee was merged into the Lviv Regional Committee.


The battle of Gródek Jagielloński or battle of Horodok took place during the Russo-Polish War (1654–67) on 29 September 1655. Russian and Ukrainian Cossack forces under Vasily Borisovich Sheremetev and Bohdan Khmelnytsky engaged a Polish–Lithuanian army under Stanisław "Rewera" Potocki near Gródek Jagielloński, which at that time was part of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth's Ruthenian Voivodeship (now Horodok, Lviv Oblast, Ukraine). Polish forces were defeated and forced to retreat, losing their supplies to the Russians. The Russians advanced, besieging Lwow, and Potocki with the remains of his army was soon forced to surrender to the invading Swedes.


In August 1655, Russian-Cossack forces moved into Red Ruthenia, which at that time was one of few provinces of the Commonwealth still controlled by Polish forces, as in July of that year, Poland–Lithuania had been invaded by the Swedish Empire. Russian-Cossack forces were faced by a numerically inferior Polish Crown army commanded by Hetman Stanislaw "Rewera" Potocki. The Poles were supported by light Crimean Tatar cavalry, but their forces were inadequate to stop the Russians, and were steadily pushed westwards by the invaders. Near Grodek Jagiellonski Russian cavalry forced their opponent to fight among swamps and ponds.


First Russian charge was repulsed, and Polish cavalry followed the retreating enemy, getting between two columns of Cossack infantry. Hetman Potocki ordered a retreat, which turned into panic. Potocki managed to regain the control of his army, but Russian-Cossack forces were too numerous, and despite desperate resistance, they managed to capture Polish camp, chasing retreating Poles as far as Jaworow.


After the victory, Russians and Cossacks besieged Lwow: to save itself, the city paid an enormous sum of money. The invaders then headed to Lublin, reaching as far west as the Vistula near Pulawy and Kazimierz Dolny. To save his army from complete annihilation, Potocki surrendered to King of Sweden Charles X Gustav, on October 28, 1655.


The Galician Assembly () was the joint session of the regional oblast councils of Lviv, Ternopil and Ivano-Frankivsk on February 16, 1991 in Ukraine (at the time part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic). The assembly approved an agreement of cooperation between the three regional councils in political, economic, scientific, humanitarian and cultural spheres to counterbalance the political instability in the Soviet Union.


Battle of Kopychyntsi (, ), (May 12, 1651) was a battle of the Khmelnytsky Uprising. Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth forces under the command of Marcin Kalinowski defeated the Cossacks and Tatars forces under the command of Asand Demka.


The Battle of Zboriv (, ), during the Khmelnytsky Uprising, was fought near the vicinity of Zborów (village of , Ukraine) on the Strypa River, and near the Siege of Zbarazh. The battle was fought between the combined Cossack-Crimean force and the Crown army of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.


King John II Casimir Vasa and the main Polish army left Warsaw on 23 June and had made it to Toporiv in the final days of July when Mikolaj Skrzetuski (called Jan Skrzetuski in Henryk Sienkiewicz's "With fire and Sword") informed the king of the desperate situation at Zbarazh. The king made it to within a half-mile of Zboriv on 13 August.


Earlier, on August 9, 1649 Bohdan Khmelnytsky redeployed his main forces from Zbarazh to Staryi Zbarazh to the west where the terrain hid them from the Poles, while he used deception to prevent the besieged from noticing. The Horde, followed by the Cossack Host advanced toward the royal camp during the night of 15 August.


The Crown forces were surprised during the rainy and foggy day while crossing the river Strypa. The Horde split into two parts and attacked from the front and the back, but the king rallied his army to repel the attack and the Tatars retreated by nightfall.


The night brought a council of war on the Polish side and two letters from the king, one for the Khan and one for Khmelnytsky. The letter to the khan "reminded the khan of the favor that he had enjoyed from the Poles in his youth, while sojourning as a captive...invited the khan to a renewal of their old friendship...receiving money for past, present, and future years." The letter to Khmelnytsky commanded him to "abandon all hostile actions and retreat ten miles from our army, and send us your envoys - what you desire from us and from the Commonwealth."


The next day brought more attacks from the Cossacks and the Tatars on two fronts but then a letter from the khan and Khmelnytsky arrived. The khan was prepared to negotiate provided there was "satisfaction of the Cossacks, payment of the suspended tribute...a substantial consideration...above the tribute, as well as permission for the Horde to take captives on its way back." The letter from Khmelnytsky stated, he would "take this occasion earnestly to deliver myself with my humble services beneath the feet of the majesty of Your Royal Highness."


On 18 August, the Treaty of Zboriv (Zborów) was agreed upon by Khmelnytsky and the Lord commissioners Jerzy Ossolinski, Lord Crown chancellor, Kazimierz Lew Sapieha, Lord chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Krzysztof Koniecpolski, Lord Palatine of Belz, Stanislaw Witowski, Lord of Sandomierz, and Adam Kysil, Lord Palatine of Kyiv. "It was drafted not in the form of a treaty...but as a unilateral royal manifesto...at the request and intervention of the Crimean khan."


The Ruthenian Voivodeship (, was a voivodeship of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland from 1434 until the 1772 First Partition of Poland with a center in the city of Lviv (). Together with a number of other voivodeships of southern and eastern part of the Kingdom of Poland, it formed Lesser Poland Province of the Polish Crown, with its capital city in Kraków. Following the Partitions of Poland, most of Ruthenian Voivodeship, except for its northeastern corner, was annexed by the Habsburg Monarchy, as part of the province of Galicia. Today, the former Ruthenian Voivodeship is divided between Poland and Ukraine.


Following the Galicia–Volhynia Wars, the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia was divided between Poland and Lithuania. In 1349 the Polish portion was transformed into the Ruthenian domain of the Crown, while the Duchy of Volhynia was held by Prince Lubart. With the death of Casimir III the Great, the Kingdom of Poland was passed on to the Kingdom of Hungary and the Ruthenian domain was governed by Ruthenian starosta general, one of whom was Wladyslaw of Opole.


The voivodeship was created in 1434 based on the 1430 Jedlnia-Cracow Privilege () on territory that belonged to the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia. Between 1349 and 1434, the territory along with the Western Podolie was known as Ruthenian Domain of the Crown and in such manner the King of Poland were titled as the Lord of Ruthenian lands. Western Podolie was added to the domain in 1394. In 1434 on territory of the domain were created Ruthenian Voivodeship and Podolian Voivodeship.


In Polish sources, western outskirts of the region was called "Ziemia czerwieńska", or "Czerwień Land", from the name of Cherven, a town that existed there. Today there are several towns with this name, none of them related to Red Ruthenia.


Zygmunt Gloger, in his monumental book" Historical Geography of the Lands of Old Poland", provides this description of the Ruthenian Voivodeship:


In the 10th and 11th centuries, Przemysl and Czerwien were the largest gords in this region. Later on, Halych emerged as the capital of the province, while the city of Lwów was founded only in 1250. In ca. 1349, King Casimir III of Poland took control over Principality of Halych. The province was governed by royal starostas, the first one of whom was a man named Jasiek Tarnowski. Most probably in final years of reign of King Władysław II Jagiełło, it was named the Ruthenian Voivodeship, as at that time the voivodes of Przemysl began calling themselves the voivodes of Rus'. Firs such voivode was Jan Mezyk of Dabrowa.


The Land of Przemysl was divided into two counties: those of Przemysl and Przeworsk. In 1676, the County of Przemysl had 657 villages and 18 towns, while the County of Przeworsk had 221 villages and 18 towns (...) The Land of Sanok, located in the Carpathian Foothills, was not divided into counties. In 1676, it had 371 villages and 12 towns (...)


The Land of Halicz, with its own separate local government, was divided into the counties of Trembowla, Halicz and Kolomyja. It had its own sejmik at Halicz, where six deputies were elected to the Polish Sejm (two from each county), also one deputy to the Crown Tribunal and one to the Treasury Tribunal at Radom. The Land of Halicz had one senator, and starostas, who resided in Halicz, Trembowla, Kolomuja, Tlumacz, Rohatyn, Jablonow, Sniatyn, Krasnopol, and other locations. In 1676, it had 565 villages and 38 towns.


Regional Sejmik ("sejmik generalny") for all Ruthene lands


Seats of Regional Sejmik ("sejmik poselski i deputacki"):


List of rulers of Galicia and Volhynia


List of rulers of Halychyna and its sister principality Volhynia. They were basically separate principalities (rulers being closely related) until Roman the Great, Prince of Volhynia who conquered also Halych but immediately gave it to his son. They continued usually as separate states, but within the same dynasty and under vassalage to Knyaz of Halych until Lev, who annexed Volhynia to the principality. The royal crown lapsed and rulers were known as princes and/or dukes after Andriy Yuriyovych.


The Principality in the Kingdom of Halych–Volhynia.


Between 1199 and 1206: annexed by the Kingdom of Halych–Volhynia


Between 1211 and 1213: annexed by the Kingdom of Halych–Volhynia


Between 1228 and 1264: annexed by the Kingdom of Halych–Volhynia


In 1399, Galicia-Volhynia merged in the Kingdom of Poland.


At the end of the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), Russia, first allied with Austria and France, had decided to support Prussia, allowing a victory of the Prussians (allied with Great-Britain) over the Austrians (allied with France).


On 11 April 1764, a new treaty was signed between Frederick of Prussia and Catherine II, choosing Stanislaus Poniatowski (ex-lover of Catherine II) as the future king of Poland after Augustus III's death (October 1763).


Neither France nor Austria were able to challenge this candidate and Stanislas was elected in October 1764.


In the early 18th century the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth had declined from the status of a major European power to that of a Russian protectorate (or vassal or satellite state), with the Russian tsar effectively choosing Polish–Lithuanian monarchs during the "free" elections and deciding the direction of much of Poland's internal politics, for example during the Repnin Sejm (1767-1768), named after the Russian ambassador who unofficially presided over the proceedings.


During this session, the Polish parliament (Sejm) was forced to pass resolutions demanded by the Russians. Many of the conservative nobility felt anger at that foreign interference, at the perceived weakness of the government under king Stanislaus Augustus, and at the provisions, particularly the ones that empowered non-Catholics, and at other reforms which they saw as threatening the Golden Freedoms of the Polish nobility.


The protectorate of Russia over Poland became official with the "Treaty of perpetual friendship between Russia and the Commonwealth" ("Traktat wieczystej przyjaźni pomiędzy Rosją a Rzecząpospolitą") which the Repnin Sejm accepted without debate on 27 February 1768.


Creation of the Bar Confederation (29 February 1768).


In response to that, and particularly after Russian troops arrested and exiled several vocal opponents (namely bishop of Kiev Józef Andrzej Załuski, bishop of Cracow Kajetan Sołtyk, and Field Crown Hetman Wacław Rzewuski with his son Seweryn), a group of Polish magnates decided to form a "confederatio" - a military association opposing the government in accordance with Polish constitutional traditions. The articles of the confederation were signed on 29 February 1768 at the fortress of Bar in Podolia.


The instigators of the confederation included Adam Krasiński, Bishop of Kamieniec, his brother Michał Hieronim Krasiński, Casimir Pulaski, Kajetan Sołtyk, Wacław Rzewuski, Michał Jan Pac, Jerzy August Mniszech, Joachim Potocki and Teodor Wessel. Priest Marek Jandołowicz was a notable religious leader, and Michał Wielhorski the Confederation's political ideologue.


The confederation, encouraged and aided by Roman Catholic France and Austria, declared a war on Russia. Its irregular forces, formed from volunteers, magnate militias and deserters from the royal army, soon clashed with the Russian troops and units loyal to the Polish crown. Confederation forces under Michał Jan Pac and Prince Karol Stanisław Radziwiłł roamed the land in every direction, won several engagements with the Russians, and at last, utterly ignoring the King, sent envoys on their own account to the principal European powers, i.e. Ottoman Empire, the major ally of Bar confederation, France and Austria.


King Stanislaus Augustus was at first inclined to mediate between the Confederates and Russia, the latter represented by the Russian envoy to Warsaw, Prince Nikolai Repnin; but finding this impossible, he sent a force against them under Grand Hetman Franciszek Ksawery Branicki and two generals against the confederates. This marked the Ukrainian campaign, which lasted from April till June 1768, and was ended with the capture of Bar on 20 June. Confederation forces retreated to Moldavia. There was also a pro-Confederation force in Lesser Poland, that operated from June till August, that ended with the royal forces securing Kraków on 22 August, followed by a period of conflict in Belarus (August–October), that ended with the surrender of Nesvizh on 26 October.


However, the simultaneous outbreak of the Koliyivschyna in Ukraine (May 1768–June 1769) made major confederation forces to retreat to Ottoman Empire beforehand and kept the Confederation alive.


The Confederates appealed for help from abroad and contributed to bringing about war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire (the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) that began in September).


An attempt of Bar Confederates (including Casimir Pulaski) to kidnap king Stanislaus II Augustus on 3 November 1771 led the Habsburgs to withdraw their support from the confederates, expelling them from their territories. It also gave the three courts another pretext to showcase the "Polish anarchy" and the need for its neighbors to step in and "save" the country and its citizens. The king thereupon reverted to the Russian faction, and for the attempt of kidnapping their king, the Confederation lost much of the support it had in Europe.


In the meantime, taking advantage of the confusion in Poland, already by 1769–71, both Austria and Prussia had taken over some border territories of the Commonwealth, with Austria taking Szepes County in 1769-1770 and Prussia incorporating Lauenburg and Bütow. On 19 February 1772, the agreement of partition was signed in Vienna. A previous secret agreement between Prussia and Russia had been made in Saint Petersburg on 6 February 1772. Early in August, Russian, Prussian, and Austrian troops fighting the Bar confederation in the Commonwealth occupied the provinces agreed upon among themselves. On 5 August, the three parties issued a manifesto about their respective territorial gains on the Commonwealth's expense.


Bar Confederates taken as prisoners by the Russians, together with their families, formed the first major group of Poles exiled to Siberia. It is estimated that about 5,000 former confederates were sent there. Russians organized 3 concentration camps in Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth for Polish captives, where these concentrated persons have been waiting for their deportation there.


International situation after the defeat of Bar confederation and its Ottoman allies.


Although for a few decades (since the times of the Silent Sejm) Russia had seen weak Poland as its own protectorate, Poland had also been devastated by a civil war in which the forces of the Bar Confederation attempted to disrupt Russian control over Poland. The recent Koliyivschyna peasant and Cossack uprising in Ukraine also weakened Polish position. Further, the Russian-supported Polish king, Stanislaus Augustus, was seen as both weak and too independent-minded; eventually the Russian court decided that the usefulness of Poland as a protectorate had diminished. The three powers officially justified their actions as a compensation for dealing with troublesome neighbor and restoring order to Polish anarchy (the Bar Confederation provided a convenient excuse); in fact all three were interested in territorial gains.


After Russia occupied the Danubian Principalities, Henry convinced Frederick and Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria that the balance of power would be maintained by a tripartite division of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth instead of Russia taking land from the Ottomans. Under pressure from Prussia, which for a long time wanted to annex the northern Polish province of Royal Prussia, the three powers agreed on the First Partition of Poland. This was in light of the possible Austrian-Ottoman -Bar confederation alliance with only token objections from Austria, which would have instead preferred to receive more Ottoman territories in the Balkans, a region which for a long time had been coveted by the Habsburgs, including Bukovina. The Russians also withdrew from Moldavia and Wallachia away from the Austrian border.


Until the times of the Bar Confederation, confederates – especially operating with the aid of outside forces – were seen as unpatriotic antagonists. But in 1770s, during the times that the Russian Army marched through the theoretically independent Commonwealth, and foreign powers forced the Sejm to agree to the First Partition of Poland, the confederates started to create an image of Polish exiled soldiers, the last of those who remained true to their Motherland, an image that would in the next two centuries lead to the creation of Polish Legions and other forces in exile.


The Confederation has generated varying assessments from the historians. All admit its patriotic desire to free the Commonwealth from outside (primarily-Russian) influence. Some, such as Jacek Jędruch, criticise its regressive stance on civil rights issues, primarily with regards to religious tolerance (Jędruch writes of "religious bigotry" and a "narrowly Catholic" stance), and assert that to have contributed to the First Partition. Others, such as Bohdan Urbankowski, applaud it as the first serious national military effort to restore Polish independence.


The Bar Confederation has been described as the first Polish uprising and the last mass movement of szlachta. It is also commemorated on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Warsaw, with the inscription "".


Tavria Okruha () was an administrative territorial entity of the Ukrainian State (Ukraine) and created in April 1918. The okruha was governed by a starosta from Berdyansk. The territory was named after the Crimean Peninsula.


After the return of the Soviets, the okruha was split between the Kherson Governorate and Aleksandrovsk (Zaporizhzhia) Governorate.


Following withdrawal of forces of the Central powers in late 1918, in most of the Okruha were raised Russian tri-colors of the Armed Forces of South Russia, except for few localities in Dnipro County closer to Kherson Governorate.


The Crimean Socialist Soviet Republic ( or Крымская Советская Социалистическая Республика; ) or the Soviet Socialist Republic of the Crimea was a state allied with Soviet Russia that existed in Crimea for several months in 1919 during the Russian Civil War. It was the second Bolshevik government in Crimea and its capital was Simferopol.


In April 1919, the Bolsheviks invaded Crimea for the second time (the first was in March 1918 and led to the creation of the short-lived Taurida Soviet Socialist Republic). After the conquest of Crimea (with the exception of the Kerch Peninsula) by the 3rd Ukrainian Red Army, a Crimean Regional Party Conference at Simferopol from 28–29 April adopted a resolution forming the Crimean Soviet Socialist Republic and a revolutionary committee government.


By 30 April, the Bolsheviks had occupied the entire peninsula and, on 5 May, the government was formed with Dmitry Ilyich Ulyanov, Vladimir Lenin's brother, as chairman. On 1 June, the Crimean SSR joined in military union with soviet republics in Russia, Ukraine, Belorussia, Lithuania, and Latvia.


The republic was declared to be a non-national entity based on the equality of all nationalities. Nationalization of industry and confiscation of the land of landlords, kulaks, and the church were implemented. The Crimean SSR was more friendly toward the interests of Crimean Tatars than the Taurida SSR had been and leftist Tatars were allowed to take positions in the government.


Starting in late May, Anton Denikin's White Volunteer Army, which had been gaining strength, threatened seizure of Crimea. On 18 June, White forces under Yakov Slashchov () landed in the area Koktebel and, as a result, the authorities of the Crimean SSR were evacuated from Crimea from 23–26 June and the Whites assumed control of the peninsula. Crimea did not have its own government again until the formation of the South Russian Government by the Whites in February 1920.


The Crimean Oblast (; ; ) was an oblast (province) of the former Russian SFSR (1945–1954) and Ukrainian SSR (1954–1991) within the Soviet Union. Its capital was the city of Simferopol.


The Crimean Oblast replaced the Crimean ASSR on 30 June 1945.


The oblast was transferred from the Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian SSR on 19 February 1954.


Sevastopol was a closed city due to its importance as the port of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet and was attached to the Crimean Oblast only in 1978.


Following a referendum held on 20 January 1991, the Crimean Oblast was given back its pre-World War II status of Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic on 12 February 1991, by the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR.


With effect from 6 May 1992, the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was transformed into the "Republic of Crimea" within Ukraine. 21 September 1994 it was renamed to Autonomous Republic of Crimea by Verkhovna Rada. This name was used for Crimea (with the exception of the city of Sevastopol) in new Ukrainian Constitution of 1996. The status of Sevastopol, due to its strategic importance as the port of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, remained disputed between Ukraine and Russia until 1997 when it was agreed that it should be treated as a "city with special status" within Ukraine.


In 2014, Crimea and Sevastopol were annexed by the Russian Federation amid pro-Russian unrest in various regions of Ukraine, although Ukraine, along with most of the international community, still considers Crimea and Sevastopol to be Ukrainian territory.


The blockade of Southern Naval Base lasted from 3 March to 27 March, 2014. It began with the blocking of the exit from Donuzlav by the Russian missile cruiser "Moskva", Russian Navy later flooded the Russian anti-submarine ship "Ochakov" to prevent Ukrainian ships from leaving and reaching the Ukrainian fleet in Odessa. As a result of the blockade, 13 Ukrainian ships were blocked in Donuzlav. The blockade ended with the establishment of Russian control over the last ship under the Ukrainian flag in Crimea, "Cherkasy".


In 1961 a 200-meter canal was made, which was made from the lake Donuzlav Bay. Since then, the development of the region has been linked to the Southern Naval Base. After the separation of the Black Sea Fleet, the base passed under the control of Ukraine. The Southern Naval Base of Ukraine was created. Several joint exercises between NATO and Ukraine "Sea Breeze" took place on Donuzlav's territory, which caused disapproval of Russia, as well as the pro-Russian forces of the peninsula.


At the beginning of the blockade, the following military units and naval units of Ukraine were located in the Novoozerne settlement: 257 combined armaments and assets (air force A4290), a naval intelligence station (A / 343 military unit), the Southern Naval Base Ukraine (air force A2506) and 21 district of the coastal surveillance system (airborne A4249). Also, in the Donuzlav area in the village Mirny is the abandoned air base of anti-aircraft aviation.


As of March 2014, the ships of 5 brigades of surface ships of the Naval Forces were based in Novoozerne:


In the structure of 8 separate divisions of the ships were the provision of:


From 23 to 27 February, the executive power of Sevastopol and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea was changed. The new Crimean authorities have declared illegitimacy of the authorities of Ukraine and appealed for help to the leadership of Russia, which gave her support.


On March 1, after receiving an appeal from the Government of Crimea and Viktor Yanukovych, Russian President Vladimir Putin appealed to the Federation Council on the use of Russian troops on the territory of Ukraine. The same day, the Federation Council, having gathered for an extraordinary meeting, agreed to use Russian troops in Ukraine.


Also on March 1, 2014 by decree in. at. President of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov appointed Denis Berezovsky the commander of the Naval Forces of Ukraine. The next day, the Rear Admiral swore an oath to the new leadership of Crimea and was appointed Commander of the Navy of Crimea. That same day he was removed from office by a decision of Defense Minister of Ukraine Ihor Tenyukh and decree by President of Ukraine. Instead of Berezovsky's commander Serhiy Hayduk was appointed.


According to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Igor Tenyukh, at the moment of blockage, only four ships remained in the quasi-combatant capacity, including the large landing ship "Konstantin Olshansky", which was based in Donuzov. Answering the question why Ukrainian ships were not withdrawn from Crimea at the end of February 2014, Tenyukh accused the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Yuriy Ilyin, who, according to him did not issue an order. However, Ilyin himself accused Tenyukh of the absence of such an order.


On March 2, 2014, four KamAZ trucks with armed people arrived in Novoazerne settlement. On March 3 information appeared on the blocking of the Southern Naval Base of Ukraine by military servicemen of the Russian Federation. The 200-meter-long exit from the Gulf of Donuzlav blocked the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet of Russia, missile cruiser "Moskva", accompanied by four ships of support. On land, the Ukrainian part was blocked by about 100 military servicemen of Russia. At the same time, Ukrainian Navy's ships were ordered to take off from the pier and concentrate on Donuzlav.


The commander of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation, Aleksandr Vitko personally came to negotiations with the command of the part, during which he offered to surrender and oath to the Crimean people, but he was denied. Denied and in execution of the order of Denis Berezovsky - the ships retired to the berth and handed over the weapons to the warehouses. On the morning of March 4 Crimean Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov said that personnel of the Ukrainian military units ready to submit to the new government of Crimea and that for commanders who refused to do his bidding, will be prosecuted.


On March 4, armed people without identification marks began to dig trenches near the berth. On March 5, Donuzlav blocked the exit of ships SFP-183, "Moskow", "Shtel" and "Lightning". In order to prevent the release of Ukrainian ships to Odessa on the night of March 5 to 6, 2014, a large antifouling ship "Ochakov" (length about 180 meters) and a rescue ship "Shakhty" belonging to the Russian Federation were flooded at the exit from Donuzlav. "Ochakov", blocked the exit from the bay. The flooding "Ochakov" took about 80 minutes.


In connection with the blockade of Ukrainian ships in Donuzlav, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expressed its strong protest to the Russian Federation. On March 7 flooded fire boat BM-416 was flooded, it had a displacement of 30-40 tons.


On March 13, there was information about the flooding of the fourth ship at the exit of the Gulf, after which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine handed a verbal note to Russia in connection with the flooding of ships in Donuzlav and the threat to environmental safety in the Black Sea. Director of the Information Policy Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Yevhen Perebyinis stated that the responsibility for damage to the marine environment and natural resources rested on the Russian side.


Also, on March 13, to the location of the Southern Naval Base of Ukraine, food was delivered in the amount of about 25 tons collected by farmers from the Rivne region. Base commander Vladimir Dogonov said that there is a lot of assistance for their base, and therefore shared it with neighboring military units. Through the Red Cross, residents of Kropyvnytskyi and Novomyrhorod passed the aid. Yuri Fedash, commander of the Cherkasy minesweeper, said that Crimean Tatars from the neighboring villages of Medvedev and Kirovske also provided assistance.


Following a referendum on the Crimea status on March 16, the seamen requested a clear plan from the Ukrainian leadership for further action on the evacuation of servicemen and their families from Donuzlav. However, the Acting President of Ukraine, Oleksandr Turchynov, said that the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff issued orders to protect their ships. Turchynov also stressed the need to withstand and prevent further Russian invasion of Ukraine.


Volodymyr Komoedov, deputy of the State Duma of Russia and former commander of the Black Sea Fleet Volodymyr Komoedov, said that Ukrainian vessels that are in the Crimea will become Russian after the referendum.


On March 19, 2014, the headquarters of the Southern Naval Base of Ukraine went under the control of the Russian Federation. The headquarters gates near the checkpoint were demolished by a bulldozer. Russian military civilian vehicles blocked the exit from the fleet of vehicles. After that, the ships "Vinnitsa", "Konstantin Olshansky", "Kirovograd", "Cherkassy" and "Chernigov" came to the middle of Donuzlav to prevent capture. March 20, Vitaliy Zvyagintsev, commander of the 5 brigades of the surface ships of the Naval Forces of Ukraine, who crossed Russia, ordered all ships to berth.


On March 21, three machine gun points were deployed on the shore, the berth was occupied by Russian military personnel. On the same day, the ships "Kirovograd", "Theodosius" and "Chernigov" approached the berth and surrendered. The commander of Kirovgrad, captain of the 3rd rank Volodymyr Khromchenkov, called the Shuster Live transmission live in the evening and told that the ships are waiting for an adequate order for their further fate, adding that the leadership is not connected with him. The next day, with the commander contacted the head of the Presidential Administration Serhiy Pashynskyi.


Later, the commander of "Kirovograd" Volodymyr Khromchenkov, the commander of "Theodosius" O. Bily and the commander of "Chernigov" Boris Paliy passed to the side of Russia.


March 21, the minesweeper Cherkasy made the first attempt to break through with Donuzlav. "Cherkasy" was hit by mooring cables one of the flooded ships and tried to delay it. The operation lasted about two hours, but the miner was not able to do it because of a lack of power. The commander of the ship Yuri Fedash asked for help from the minesweeper "Chernigov", but he was denied. On this day, two officers, one midshipman and nine people came from Cherkassy. Instead, on board three sailors climbed from the minesweeper "Chernigov".


On March 22, the corvette "Vinnitsa", as a result of the assault, raised the Andriyivsky flag, and the commander Sergei Zagolnikov eventually turned to Russia. On the same day, Sergei Gaiduk said that food supplies on ships that are in Donuzlav are left for 10 days. On March 23, the "Henichesk" raid trawler attempted to exit Donuzlav, however, it was blocked by the tug of the Black Sea Fleet of Russia. On the same day, Yuri Fedash, commander of the Cherkasy minesweeper, said that he had a relationship with the command.


On the night of March 24, a small vessel was flooded. Later, Konstantin Olshansky used smokescreens, but was still captured from the boat U8301, as well as the minesweeper Genichesk. Captain Konstantin Olshansky Dmitry Kovalenko said that the issue of flooding was not considered. At the time of capture of the ship from 120 crew left 21. For all time, "Konstantin Olshansky" was thrown about 400 grenades. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine named the seizure of ships by Russia - piracy.


The trawler "Cherkasy" made an attempt to leave Donuzlav, passing between two floodplain ships. As a result, the trawler was blocked by a towering vessel, from which attempts were made to land on board. According to Fedash, he considered a variant of capture of this vessel, but the leadership in Kiev refused. He also said that in order to prevent the seizure of the ship, they fired on water and used grenades. Also on March 24 President of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchinov said that the Ministry of Defense was given an order to withdraw military units from the Crimea.


On March 25, an unknown boat traveled around the minesweeper "Cherkasy". March 26, the last Ukrainian ship in Crimea - a minesweeper "Cherkasy" was captured by two Mi-35 helicopters and three boats. The ship maneuvered for several hours, but was still captured using firearms and light-and-noise grenades. According to Fedash, Tambov Special Forces participated in the capture of "Cherkasy".


During the assault, there we no victims, however, control mechanisms were damaged. As a result, the tug "Kovel" pulled "Cherkasy" to the berth. The next day the crew went to the coast and traveled to the mainland Ukraine, the last of the ship came commander Yuri Fedash, after which the Ukrainian symbolism was removed from the minesweeper.


Following the capture of Ukrainian ships, Alexander Turchinov instructed the Defense Minister of Ukraine Mikhail Koval that "no warships should remain in captivity". On April 19, 2014, the ships "Kirovograd", "Vinnytsia", "Kherson", "Kovel", "Gorlovka" and "Novoozernye" were returned to Ukraine and relocated to Odessa. The transfer took place in neutral waters, where the ships were towed by the Russian side, after which the Ukrainian flags were again raised on the ships. In May the minesweeper "Genichesk" and passenger boat "Dobropillya" were transferred to Ukraine.


As of June 2015, the ships "Chernihiv", "Cherkasy" and "Konstantin Olshansky" were not returned to Ukraine.


On August 8, 2014, in Novoozerne, the head of the State Council of the Crimea, Volodymyr Konstantinov opened a memorial sign to the flooded ships that blocked the exit of the naval ships of the Naval Forces of Ukraine. On the memorial plaque it is written: In memory of the ships that were flooded in March 2014 for the reunification of the Crimea with Russia.


On March 27, 2014, the commander of theminesweeper "Cherkasy" Yury Fedash was awarded the title of honorary citizen of the city of Cherkasy, and on August 24 the Order of Danylo Halytsky was presented. April 4, congratulations were received by the crew of the minesweeper "Cherkasy" in the center of the city of the same name, where they were greeted as heroes.


In April 2014, the rock band "Lyapis Trubetskoy" invited the sailors of the "Konstantin Olshansky" to his concert in Odessa and called the Ukrainian sailors in Donuzlav heroes. They also noted a video clip that was shot on a ship, where sailors perform the song "Warriors of the World". However, it is erroneously believed that the video was taken to the Cherkasy minesweeper. On April 6, 2014, before the match between Dynamo Kyiv and Kharkiv Metalist within the framework of the Ukrainian Championship, seamen from Kirovograd were invited to the stadium "Olimpiysky ", whom they met as heroes.


On August 24, 2014, during a military parade on the occasion of the Independence Day of Ukraine, the President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, said: "Ukraine will never forget the actions of the crew of the minesweeper Cherkasy, which until recently maneuvered and defended its ship in the Donuzlav bay".


The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the disputed territory of Crimea (claimed and "de facto" administered by Russia as the Republic of Crimea, but recognised as a part of Ukraine by most of the international community as the Autonomous Republic of Crimea) in March 2020. The Russian government includes cases in the Republic of Crimea in the count of cases in Russia.


On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.


The case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower than SARS of 2003, but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll.


On 21 March, the first case was confirmed.


As of May 11, the Russian head of Crimea reported 126 COVID-19 cases in the city of Sevastopol and 202 cases in the rest of the peninsula, for 328 cases in total.


According to the Crimean Human Rights Group, on July 10, 2020, there were ten new cases in Crimea including Sevastopol. The total count during the pandemic was 1,089 with 37 deaths.


The Krymchaks (Krymchak: , , , ) are Jewish ethno-religious communities of Crimea derived from Turkic-speaking adherents of Rabbinic Judaism. They have historically lived in close proximity to the Crimean Karaites, who are also Turkic but follow Karaite Judaism.


At first "krymchak" was a Russian descriptive used to differentiate them from their Ashkenazi Jewish coreligionists, as well as other Jewish communities in the former Russian Empire such as the Georgian Jews, but in the second half of the 19th century this name was adopted by the Krymchaks themselves. Before this their self-designation was "Срель балалары" ("Srel balalary") – literally "Children of Israel". The Crimean Tatars referred to them as "zuluflı çufutlar" ("Jews with pe'ot") to distinguish them from the Karaites, who were called "zulufsız çufutlar" ("Jews without pe'ot").


The Krymchaks are likely a result of diverse origins whose ancestors probably included Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews, and Jews from the Byzantine empire, Genoa, Georgia, and other places.


The late classical era saw great upheaval in the region as Crimea was occupied by Goths, Huns, Bulgars, Khazars, and other peoples. Jewish merchants such as the Radhanites began to develop extensive contacts in the Pontic region during this period, and probably maintained close relations with the proto-Krymchak communities. Khazar dominance of Crimea during the Early Middle Ages is considered to have had at least a partial impact on Krymchak demographics.


In the late 7th century most of Crimea fell to the Khazars. The extent to which the Krymchaks influenced the ultimate conversion of the Khazars and the development of Khazar Judaism is unknown. During the period of Khazar rule, intermarriage between Crimean Jews and Khazars was likely, and the Krymchaks probably absorbed numerous Khazar refugees during the decline and fall of the Khazar kingdom (a Khazar successor state, ruled by Georgius Tzul, was centered in Kerch). It is known that Kipchak converts to Judaism existed, and it is possible that from these converts the Krymchaks adopted their distinctive language.


In times when the Crimea belonged to the Byzantine Empire and after then, waves of Byzantine Jews settled there. These newcomers were in most cases merchants from Constantinople and brought with them Romaniote Jewish practices (Bonfil 2011).


The Mongol conquerors of the Pontic–Caspian steppe were promoters of religious freedom, and the Genoese occupation of southern Crimea (1315–1475) saw rising degrees of Jewish settlement in the region. The Jewish community was divided among those who prayed according to the Sephardi, Ashkenazi and Romaniote rites. In 1515 the different traditions were united into a distinctive Krymchak prayer book, which represented the Romaniote rite by Rabbi Moshe Ha-Golah, a Chief Rabbi of Kiev, who had settled in Crimea.


In the 18th century the community was headed by David Ben Karasubazar Lehno Eliezer (d. 1735), author of the introduction to the "Kaffa" rite prayer book and "Mishkan David" ("Abode of David"), devoted to Hebrew grammar. He was also the author of a monumental Hebrew historical chronicle, "Devar sefataim" ("Utterance the mouth"), on the history of the Crimean Khanate.


Under the Crimean Khanate the Jews lived in separate quarters and paid the dhimmi-tax (the Jizya). A limited judicial autonomy was granted according to the Ottoman millet system. Overt, violent persecution was extremely rare.


According to anthropologist S.Vaysenberg, "The origin of Krymchaks is lost in the darkness of the ages. Only one thing can be said, that they carry less Turkic blood than the Karaites, although certain kinship between both peoples and the Khazars can hardly be denied. But Krymchaks during the Middle Ages and modern times constantly mixed with their European counterparts. There was an admixture with Italian Jews from the time of the Genoeses with the arrival of the Lombroso, Pyastro and other families. Cases of intermarriage with Russian Jews occurred in recent times.


There is no general work on the ethnography of Krymchaks. The available summary of folklore materials is not complete. Extensive anthroponimic data has been collected from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but does not cover earlier periods, for which archival material does exist. The study of each of these groups of sources can shed light on the ethnogenesis of the Krymchak ethnic minority.


The Russian Empire annexed Crimea in 1783. The Krymchaks were thereafter subjected to the same religious persecution imposed on other Jews in Russia. Unlike their Karaite neighbors, the Krymchaks suffered the full brunt of anti-Jewish restrictions.


During the 19th century many Ashkenazim from Ukraine and Lithuania began to settle in Crimea. Compared with these Ashkenazim the Krymchaks seemed somewhat backward; their illiteracy rates, for example, were quite high, and they held fast to many superstitions. Intermarriage with the Ashkenazim reduced the numbers of the distinct Krymchak community dramatically. By 1900 there were 60,000 Ashkenazim and only 6,000 Krymchaks in Crimea.


In the mid-19th century the Krymchaks became followers of Rabbi Chaim Hezekiah Medini, also known by the name of his work the Sedei Chemed, a Sephardi rabbi born in Jerusalem who had come to Crimea from Istanbul. His followers accorded him the title of gaon. Settling in Karasubazaar, the largest Krymchak community in Crimea, Rabbi Medini spent his life raising their educational standards.


The picture of the Sedei Chemed here incorrectly says: Krymchak, Crimean Jew (author of the Sdei Hemed, Rabbi Chaim Hezekiah Medini.) The Sedei Chemed himself was not a Krymchak, but he did marry one, so his children were Krymchaki, and he still has Krymchaki descendants today. (Heard verbally from the former head of the Crimean Krymchak community, Viktor Lombrozo, and others.)


By 1897, the Krymchaks stopped being "the majority of Talmudic Jews on the Crimean Peninsula".


After the Russian Revolution of 1917, civil war tore apart Crimea. Many Krymchaks were killed in the fighting between the Red Army and the White Movement. More still died in the famines of the early 1920s and the early 1930s. Many emigrated to the Holy Land, the United States and Turkey.


Under Joseph Stalin, the Krymchaks were forbidden to write in Hebrew and were ordered to employ the Cyrillic alphabet to write their own language. Synagogues and yeshivas were closed by government decree. Krymchaks were compelled to work in factories and collective farms.


Unlike the Crimean Karaites, the Krymchaks were targeted for annihilation by the Nazis. Six thousand Krymchaks, almost 75% of their population, were killed by the Nazis. Moreover, upon the return of Soviet authority to the region, many Krymchaks found themselves deported to Central Asia along with their Crimean Tatar neighbors.


By 2000, only about 600 Krymchaks lived in the former Soviet Union, about half in Ukraine and the remainder in Georgia, Russia, and Uzbekistan. Some 600–700 Krymchaks still clinging to their Crimean identity live in Israel, and others in the United States.


The Krymchaks practice Orthodox or Talmudic Judaism. Their unique "nusah," or prayer book, known as Nusah Kaffa, emerged during the 16th century. Kaffa was a former name of the Crimean city of Feodosia.


Traditional occupations for the Krymchaks included farming, trade, and viticulture.


The dress and customs of the Krymchaks resembled that of the nearby Karaites and Crimean Tatars.


The Kymchaks considered themselves a distinct group and rarely intermarried with Karaites or the Crimean Tatars. The Krymchaks used to practice polygamy but then adopted monogamy by the late 19th century.


The North Crimean Canal (, ; in the Soviet Union: North Crimean Canal of the Lenin's Komsomol of Ukraine) is a land improvement canal for irrigation and watering of Kherson Oblast in southern Ukraine, and the Crimean Peninsula. The canal also has multiple branches throughout Kherson Oblast and the Crimean Peninsula.


The construction preparation started in 1957 soon after the transfer of Crimea of 1954. The main project works took place between 1961 and 1971 and had three stages. The construction was conducted by the Komosomol members sent by the Komsomol travel ticket ("Komsomolskaya putyovka") as part of shock construction projects and accounted for some 10,000 volunteer workers.


The idea to construct the canal was raised in the 19th century, particularly by the Russian-Finnish botanist Christian von Steven. But it was not until after World War II when the decision was finally adopted on September 21, 1950 by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Government of the Soviet Union. The decision was to build the Kakhovka Hydro Electric Station, South Ukrainian and North Crimean canals. In 1951 the Soviet postal service released a commemorative post stamp where the North Crimean Canal was categorized as one of the Great Construction Projects of Communism.


Since the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea.


After the Russian annexation of Crimea, Ukrainian authorities greatly cut the volume of water flowing into Crimea via the canal, citing a huge outstanding debt on water supplies owed by the peninsula. This caused the peninsula's agricultural harvest which is heavily dependent on irrigation to fail in 2014.


Crimean water sources are being connected to the North Crimean Canal to replace the former Ukrainian sources. The objective is to restore irrigation and urban supplies to the Kerch Peninsula and to smaller communities on the east coast of Crimea. In 2014, a reservoir was built to store water of the rivers of the Eastern Crimea near the village of Novoivanovka, Nyzhnohirskyi Raion. The North Crimean Canal is connected with the Novoivanovka reservoir.


According to official Russian statistics, the Crimean agricultural industry fully overcame the consequences of blocking the North Crimean Canal and crop yields grew by a factor of 1.5 from 2013 by 2016. The reported rapid growth in agricultural production in the Crimea is due to the fact that, with the help of subsidies of the order of 2–3 billion rubles a year from the budget of the Russian Federation, agricultural producers of Crimea were able to increase the fleet of agricultural machinery.


These statistics contrasts with reports of a massive shrinkage in the area under cultivation in Crimea, from 130,000 hectares in 2013 to just 14,000 in 2017.


The President of the Republic of Crimea (; ) was the head of the state of the Republic of Crimea, Ukraine from February 16, 1994 to the time of the liquidation of this position on March 17, 1995. The post was liquidated as it contradicted the Constitution of Ukraine.


The first round of voting in the Crimean presidential elections was held on January 16, 1994, and on January 30, the second round was held. With 72.9% of the vote, the pro-Russian politician Yuriy Meshkov was declared the winner. He was the only person to hold the post of President of the Republic of Crimea.


Eski Yurt (, , ) — a historical settlement in South West Crimea, presently a historical quarter in the western part of Bakhchisaray. Its name derives from the Crimean Tatar language terms for "old settlement" or "old headquarter" and "felt tent".


Eventually, after the new Crimean capital Bakhchisaray had been founded in 1532, Eski Yurt lost its economic and administrative status (and apparently received its later name of "Old Settlement"; the original name remains unknown). Nevertheless, up to the beginning of the 20th century Eski Yurt was still considered by the Crimean Tatars as one of the most important Muslim religious centers in the Crimea due to the sanctuary of Malik Ashtar which existed there.


Aziz of Malik Ashtar in Eski Yurt.


The Aziz ("sanctuary") of Malik Ashtar was located in the central part of Eski Yurt. It was a large Muslim cemetery whose main object was the "maqam" (symbolical tomb) of Malik al-Ashtar en-Nahai (618-658), a companion of khalif Ali Ibn Abi Talib (618-657), actually buried in Cairo, Egypt. Similar "maqam" attributed to Malik Ashtar is situated also in Diyarbakır, Turkey.


The Crimean Tatar tales portray Malik Ashtar as a dragon fighter and the brave warrior, who was the first to spread Islam in Crimea. According to the legends, he was wounded to the death in a battle with giants and died in Eski Yurt. Long time after, the legends say, his grave was discovered in a miraculous way by dervishes of the Nakshbandi (or Mevlevi) order, who established the shrine of his name. The Crimean Tatars believed that those bitten by snakes may obtain healing visiting the Aziz of Malik Ashtar and praying there.


The shrine was surrounded by a large Muslim cemetery with hundreds of engravements arranged in common graves, underground stone vaults and in mausoleums. As narrative sources state, the cemetery was a place to bury noble people including some of the Crimean Tatar rulers from the Giray dynasty. The mosque at Aziz, besides being a common prayer house, was also used as a "tekiye" for the dervishes who practiced their mystical rituals and prayer dances inside it.


The Muslim religious center in Eski Yurt attracted a lot of visitors and existed till the 1920s when the Soviet regime closed it along with many other shrines and temples of different faiths.


Fyodor Fyodorovich Ushakov (; – ) was the most illustrious Russian naval commander and admiral of the 18th century. He is notable for winning every engagement he participated in as the Admiral of the Russian fleet.


On 15 February 1761, he signed up for the Russian Navy in Saint Petersburg. After training, he served on a galley in the Baltic Fleet. In 1768 he was transferred to the Don Flotilla (Azov Sea Navy) in Taganrog, and served in the Russo-Turkish War (1768–74). He commanded Catherine II's own yacht, and was active in protecting Russian merchant ships in the Mediterranean during the First League of Armed Neutrality.


After the Russian Empire conquered the Crimean Khanate in 1783, Ushakov personally supervised the construction of a naval base in Sevastopol and the building of docks in Kherson. During the Russo-Turkish War (1787–92), he defeated the Ottomans at Fidonisi (1788), Kerch Strait (1790), Tendra (1790), and Cape Kaliakra (1791). In these battles, he demonstrated the ingenuity of his innovative doctrines in the art of naval warfare.


In 1798 Ushakov was promoted to full admiral and given command of a squadron which sailed to the Mediterranean via Constantinople, where it joined with a Ottoman squadron. The combined Russian-Ottoman fleet then operated under Ushakov's command in the War of the Second Coalition against the French Republic. The expedition started by conquering the Ionian islands, acquired by France the year before from the defunct Republic of Venice in the Treaty of Campo Formio. This action culminated in the Siege of Corfu (1798–1799), and led to the subsequent creation of the Septinsular Republic. Ushakov's squadron then blockaded French bases in Italy, notably Genoa and Ancona, and successfully assaulted Naples and Rome.


Tsar Paul, in his capacity as the Grand Master of the Order of St. John, ordered Ushakov to proceed to Malta, which a British fleet under Nelson was assisting in besieging.


However, after rendezvousing with the Coalition forces on Malta, Ushakov was almost immediately recalled back home to Russia in 1800 (along with his fleet), where the new Emperor, Alexander I, failed to appreciate his victories. Ushakov resigned command in 1807 and withdrew into the Sanaksar Monastery in modern-day Mordovia. He was asked to command the local militia during the Patriotic War of 1812 but declined.


In the course of 43 naval battles under his command he did not lose a single ship and never lost a battle.


Distinguishing features of Ushakov's tactics were: use of unified marching and fighting orders; resolute closing to close quarters with the enemy forces without evolution of a fighting order; concentration of effort against enemy flagships; maintaining a reserve (Kaiser-flag squadrons); combination of aimed artillery fire and maneuvering; and chasing the enemy to its total destruction or capture. Giving great value to sea and fire training of his staff, Ushakov was a supporter of generalissimo Suvorov's principles of training for sailors and officers. Ushakov's innovations were among the first successful developments of naval tactics, from its "line" to maneuvering concepts.


Several warships have been named after Admiral Ushakov.


On 3 March 1944 the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR established the Order of Ushakov for Navy officers who showed outstanding achievement leading to victory over a numerically superior enemy. This medal was one of several which was preserved in Russia upon the dissolution of the Soviet Union, thus remaining one of the highest military awards in the Russian Federation. The Ushakov Medal was established simultaneously for servicemen who had risked their life in naval theatres defending the Soviet Union. In May 2014, the medal was presented to 19 surviving British sailors who had served on the Arctic convoys during World War II in a ceremony aboard HMS "Belfast".


The Baltic Naval Institute in Kaliningrad also carries his name. The minor planet 3010 Ushakov, discovered by Soviet astronomer Lyudmila Ivanovna Chernykh in 1978, is named after him.


In 1953 two Soviet films were released portraying his career "Attack from the Sea" and "Admiral Ushakov". In both films he was played by Ivan Pereverzev.


Ushakov is one of the eight patrons depicted in the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ at Patriot Park, Moscow


On 7 August 2001 the Russian Orthodox Church glorified Fyodor Ushakov as a Saint and declared as the patron of Russian Navy, His relics are enshrined in Sanaksar Monastery, Temnikov, Russia.


In 2005, in the Cathedral of St. Theodore Ushakov in Saransk (Mordovia), Patriarch Alexius II declared Saint Feodor Ushakov the patron saint of Russian nuclear-armed strategic bombers.


The Crimean journey of Catherine the Great (, also known as Таврический вояж (Taurida Voyage) at the time) was a six-month (January 2, 1787 — July 11, 1787) inspection trip of Catherine II of Russia to the newly acquired lands of New Russia and Crimea, gained as a result of the victorious wars against the Ottoman Empire (1735–39 and 1768–74) and peace treaties with the Cossack Hetmanate followed by the forced liquidation of free Zaporizhian Sich. The trip was carried out with her court and several ambassadors. During the trip she met with the Austrian emperor Joseph II, travelling incognito. The trip was arranged by Gregory Potemkin, a favorite and lover of Catherine II. The trip happened when the Russo-Turkish War (1787–92) was just about to erupt.


Since these times the expression "Potemkin village" came into being, referring to the legend about fake villages hastily erected by Potemkin along the Catherine's route, in order to impress the Empress.


Taurida Oblast (, "Tavricheskaya oblast′") was an oblast (province) of the Russian Empire. It roughly corresponded to most of the Crimean peninsula and parts of the Southern Ukraine regions. It was created out of territories of the Crimean Khanate, which Russia annexed in 1783. In 1796 it was merged into the Novorossiya Governorate.


The oblast was created under the Imperial ukase of 13 February 1784 signed by Catherine the Great. The administrative seat of the region was declared the city of Simferopol. Before 1784 Qarasuvbazar served as a temporary administrative center.


The oblast was divided into seven counties (uyezd).


In 1787 Levkopol and Levkopol county were renamed into Feodosiya and Feodosiya county respectfully. In 1791 an administrative seat of Melitopol county was moved to Great Tokmak.


On 12 December 1796 the oblast was abolished, its territory was redivided into two counties (Aqmescit (former Simferopol) and Perekop) and passed to the Novorossiya Governorate. The city of Simferopol was changed to Aqmescit.


Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Empire


The territory of Crimea, previously controlled by the Crimean Khanate, was annexed by the Russian Empire on . The period before the annexation was marked by Russian interference in Crimean affairs, a series of revolts by Crimean Tatars, and Ottoman ambivalence. The annexation began 134 years of rule by the Russian Empire, which ended with the Russian Revolution of 1917.


After changing hands several times during the Russian Civil War, Crimea was part of the Russian Soviet Republic from 1921, and then was transferred to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1954, which became independent Ukraine in 1991–1992. The Russian Federation annexed Crimea in March 2014, re-establishing Russian rule of the peninsula, though that annexation is not internationally recognised.


In March 1783, Prince Potemkin made a rhetorical push to encourage Empress Catherine to annex Crimea. Having just returned from Crimea, he told her that many Crimeans would "happily" submit to Russian rule. Encouraged by this news, Empress Catherine issued a formal proclamation of annexation on . Tatars did not resist the annexation. After years of turmoil, the Crimeans lacked the resources and the will to continue fighting. Many fled the peninsula, leaving for Anatolia. Count Alexander Bezborodko, then a close advisor to the Empress, wrote in his diary that Russia was forced to annex Crimea:


This view was far from reality. Crimean "independence" had been a puppet regime, and the Ottomans had played little role in the Crimean revolts. Crimea was incorporated into the Empire as the Taurida Oblast. Later that year, the Ottoman Empire signed an agreement with Russia that recognised the loss of Crimea and other territories that had been held by the Khanate. The agreement, signed on 28 December 1783, was negotiated by Russian diplomat Yakov Bulgakov.


Feodosiysky Uyezd ("Феодосийский уезд") was one of the subdivisions of the Taurida Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the southeastern part of the governorate, in eastern Crimea. Its administrative centre was Feodosiya.


At the time of the Russian Empire Census of 1897, Feodosiysky Uyezd had a population of 24,096. Of these, 46.8% spoke Russian, 18.8% Crimean Tatar, 11.4% Yiddish, 7.7% Ukrainian, 5.3% Greek, 3.7% Armenian, 2.5% Polish, 1.3% German, 0.6% Belarusian, 0.5% Turkish, 0.3% Latvian, 0.2% Italian, 0.2% Bulgarian, 0.2% French, 0.1% Moldovan or Romanian and 0.1% Czech as their native language.


Yevpatoriysky Uyezd ("Евпаторийский уезд") was one of the subdivisions of the Taurida Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the southwestern part of the governorate, in western Crimea. Its administrative centre was Yevpatoria.


At the time of the Russian Empire Census of 1897, Yevpatoriysky Uyezd had a population of 63,211. Of these, 42.7% spoke Crimean Tatar, 21.1% Ukrainian, 17.6% Russian, 12.0% German, 2.5% Yiddish, 1.6% Greek, 0.7% Armenian, 0.6% Estonian, 0.3% Polish, 0.3% Belarusian, 0.2% Czech, 0.1% Romani, 0.1% Mordvin and 0.1% Moldovan or Romanian as their native language.


Yaltinsky Uyezd ("Ялтинский уезд") was one of the subdivisions of the Taurida Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the southern part of the governorate, in southern Crimea. Its administrative centre was Yalta.


At the time of the Russian Empire Census of 1897, Yaltinsky Uyezd had a population of 73,260. Of these, 59.0% spoke Crimean Tatar, 27.1% Russian, 5.4% Greek, 2.8% Ukrainian, 1.5% Turkish, 0.9% Armenian, 0.6% Polish, 0.4% German, 0.3% Belarusian, 0.1% French, 0.1% Estonian and 0.1% Czech as their native language.


The Battle of Malakoff (, ) was a French attack against Russian forces on the Malakoff redoubt and its subsequent capture on 8 September 1855 as a part of the siege of Sevastopol during the Crimean War. The French army under General MacMahon successfully stormed the Malakoff redoubt, while a simultaneous British attack on the Redan to the south of the Malakoff was repulsed. In one of the war's defining moments, the French "zouave" Eugène Libaut raised the French flag on the top of the Russian redoubt. The Battle of Malakoff resulted in the fall of Sevastopol on 9 September, bringing the 11-month siege to an end.