Kremenchuk

Not to be confused withKermenchyk.

Kremenchuk Кременчук
City
Top left: Soborna Street, Top right: Dnipro River and Kryukov Bridge, Center: Victory Square, Bottom left: Memorial of Vichno Zhyvym, Bottom right: Saint Nicolas Church
Flag Coat of arms
Kremenchuk Location inPoltava Oblast Kremenchuk Location in Ukraine
Coordinates:49°03′47″N33°24′14″E
Country	Ukraine
Oblast	Poltava Oblast
Raion	Kremenchuk Raion
Hromada	Krememchuk urban hromada
Founded	1571
Government
•Mayor	Vitalii Maletskyi
Area
• Total	96 km2(37 sq mi)
Elevation	80 m (260 ft)
Population (2022)
• Total	215,271
• Density	2,200/km2(5,800/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+2(EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3(EEST)
Postcode district(s)	39600-39689
Area code	5366
Vehicle registration	BI
Website	www.kremen.gov.ua

The Dnieper River in Kremenchuk, Ukraine

Kremenchuk(/ˌkrɛmənˈtʃuːk,ˌkrɪmɪnˈ-/;Ukrainian:Кременчук,IPA:[kremenˈtʃuk]) is an industrial city in centralUkrainewhich stands on the banks of theDnieper River.The city serves as theadministrative centerofKremenchuk RaionwithinPoltava Oblast.Kremenchuk also hosts the administration ofKremenchuk urban hromada,one of thehromadasof Ukraine.Its population is approximately215,271 (2022 estimate),ranking 31st in Ukraine. In 2001, the Ukrainian government included the city in the list of historical settlements.

Although not as large as some other oblast centers, Kremenchuk has a large industrial center in Ukraine and Eastern Europe. AKrAZtruck plant, theKremenchuk Oil RefineryofUkrtatnafta,theKriukiv Railway Car Building Works,andKremenchuk Hydroelectric Power Plant,in nearbySvitlovodsk,are located in or near Kremenchuk.Highway M22crosses the Dnieper over the dam of the power plant.

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

Kremenchuk'sUkrtatnaftaoil refinery is the largest in Ukraine and for a while was the only one operating since the beginning of the conflict with Russia that left refineries in the Donbas inactive. Because of Russian attacks during theRussian invasion of Ukraine,the refinery was out of operation in 2022.

History

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

In 1625, atLake Kurukovein Kremenchuk, theTreaty of Kurukovewas signed betweenCossacksand thePoles.Since the establishment of theCossack Hetmanate,the city was part of theChyhyryn Polk(regiment). Following theRusso-Polish War (1654–1667)andTreaty of Andrusovo,the city was secured by theTsardom of Russiaand became part of the Myrhorod Polk (regiment) within the left-bank of theCossack Hetmanate.The city played a key role in the Russian colonization policy of Ukraine and their striving for the shores of Black Seas as regional administrative center of the earlyNovorossiya GovernorateandYekaterinoslav Vice-regency(Namestnichestvo).With the creation of Novorossiya Governorate, the Dnieper Pikemen Regiment (Russian:Днепровский пикинёрный полк) was created and coincidentally a few years later (1768–69) in the neighboring regions of Poland began theKoliyivshchyna.Here in 1786 the Russian generalAlexander Suvorovstarted his military career when he was appointed a commander of the local garrison (in preparation of the1787–1792 Russo-Turkish War).

Kremenchuk, XIX

Following defeat in theCrimean Warbegan the installation of a network of railroads in Russia, and in 1869 in Kryukiv were built small railcar repair shops, while in 1872 the city of Kriukiv was connected with Kremenchuk by a railroad bridge over theDnieper.In 1870 in Kremenchuk a factory was built that produced and maintained agrarian equipment and iron cast products. In 1899 a network oftramwaytransportation was introduced in Kremenchuk that existed until the complete establishment of Soviet regime in Ukraine in 1921.

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

In 1920–1922, the city was the administrative center of the short-livedKremenchuk Governorateduring a peasant insurgency (Kholodnyi Yar) nearChyhyryn(just west of the city). During the 1930s, Kremenchuk's industry was transformed, its Kriukiv railcar repair shops became a railcar manufacturing factory, while its factory in production of agrarian equipment changed to manufacturing road equipment.

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

During the Cold War, Kremenchuk became the headquarters for the 43rd Rocket Division of the 43rd Army of the SovietStrategic Rocket Forces.The division was equipped withR-12 Dvinaintercontinental ballistic missiles.

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

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

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

During the2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukrainesecurity at theKremenchuk Reservoirwas heightened as it was seen as a possible target for saboteurs.

Until 18 July 2020, Kremenchuk was designated as acity of oblast significanceand did not belong to Kremenchuk Raion even though it was the center of the raion. As part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Poltava Oblast to four, the city was merged into Kremenchuk Raion.

During the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine,Kremenchuk has been under attack by Russian forces. On April 27 and May 12 an oil refinery was hit by Russian missiles and will be out of operation for months. On June 27a shopping mall was hitby Russian missiles and caught fire, 16 people died and 59 were injured.Just after the strike, a nearby factory was hit. Russian authorities claimed that the factory hosted weapons supplied by the US and European countries.In 2014, the factory was known to repair armoured personnel carriers (BTR-70s).

Jewish community and Holocaust

Jews initially began to settle in the city in 1782, and by 1801, there were 454 registered taxpayers in Kremenchuk. As a result of Jewish emigration from further north in the Pale of Settlement, many Jews from northern provinces settled in the city in the mid-19th century. The community had grown sevenfold within a half decade to 3,475 by 1847.The1897 All-Russia Censusrecorded the Jewish population of Kremenchuk at 29,768, or at 47% of the total population.Growth of the city's Jewish population stagnated, still hovering at 28,969 by 1926, around 50% of the population, later heavily falling to 19,880 by 1939.

Nazi forces occupied Kremenchukon September 9, 1941, setting restrictions on Jewish purchases and forcing them to wear theYellow Star of Jude.On September 27, 1941, they were exiled from the city, and forced to move into the Ghetto in Novo-Ivanovka.^[uk]Many Jews who hid throughout the city were later caught and forced into the Ghettos as well. Between October 1941 and January 1942, a total of around 8,000 Jews were shot and killed in various instances of execution over the months, although the community was not entirely wiped out. The Ghetto and town were liberated September 29th, 1943 by theRed Army.A Jewish community of over 5,000 remained in the city throughout the 1950s, although dwindled in the 1990s duringmigration to Israel.

There are a few Jewish cemeteries from different parts of the 20th century in the area, with the last burials having occurred in Jewish Cemetery II in the 1990s.

Population

Language

Distribution of the population by native language according to the2001 census:

Language	Percentage
Ukrainian	75.48%
Russian	23.94%
other/undecided	0.58%

Economy

KrAZautomobile plant

Kremenchuk is the economic center of thePoltava Oblastand one of the leading industrial centers of Ukraine. As of 2005,it contributed about 7 percent of the national economy and accounted for more than 50 percent of the industrial output in Poltava Oblast.The city is home toKrAZ,a truck-manufacturing company (one of the largest inEastern Europe) as well as a major European oil refinery operated byUkrtatnafta,the road-making machine works,Kremenchuk Automobile Assembly Plant,the Kryukivsky Car Manufacturing Plant, train railway rolling stock wagons, the wheel plant, thecarbon blackplant, the steel works and others.

The light industries of the city include tobacco (JTI), confectionery (Roshen), a knitting factory as well as milk and meat processing plants.

Kremenchuk is one of the most important railway junctions in Central Ukraine (thanks to its geographical position and abridgeover the Dnieper River) and a major river port on the main river of Ukraine.

Sport

Kremin stadium in Kremenchuk

Kremenchuk is home toHK Kremenchukice hockey team who compete in theUkrainian ChampionshipandFC Kremin Kremenchukfootball team.

Beside FC Kremin, the city was also represented by number of other professional football clubs such asFC Adoms Kremenchuk,FC Naftokhimik Kremenchuk,andFC Vahonobudivnyk Kremenchuk.

The city has severalsports schools,about six stadiums includingPolytechnic Stadium(main city stadium),Kremin Stadium,and others, as well as couple of swimming pools and couple of athletic halls.

Gallery

• 
  Former State Bank building
• 
  Formerzemstvoresidence
• 
  Churkin house
• 
  Rabinovich house
• 
  Historical building in Kremenchuk
• 
  Former Bryansk regiment barracks
• 
  Stalinist architecture in the city centre
• 
  City Hall
• 
  TV company office building
• 
  A park in Kremenchuk
• 
  Poltava railway department in Kremenchuk
• 
  Sunset atKremenchuk Reservoir

Notable people

• Fedor Opanasovich Chaika, great-grandfather of the composerTchaikovsky
• Alexander Pechersky,one of the leaders ofSobiboruprising
• Emmanuel Mané-Katz,artist
• Leo Ornstein,composer and pianist
• Avraham Shlonsky,Israeli poet and editor
• Dimitri Tiomkin,film composer
• Anton Makarenko,educator, social worker and writer.
• Sergey Vashchenko,Balalaikavirtuoso and conductor
• Vyacheslav Senchenko,World welterweight boxing champion
• Charles David Spivak,founder of theJewish Consumptives' Relief Society
• Yehoshua Hankin,Zionist pioneer

Twin towns – sister cities

Kremenchuk istwinnedwith:

• Svishtov,Bulgaria
• Wenzhou,China
• Bydgoszcz,Poland
• Berdiansk,Ukraine
• Bila Tserkva,Ukraine
• Kolomyia,Ukraine
• Jiayuguan,China
• Alytus,Lithuania
• Sidoarjo,Indonesia
• Michalovce,Slovakia
• Snina,Slovakia
• Providence, Rhode Island,United States
• Bitola,North Macedonia
• Rishon LeZion,Israel

See also

• Kremenchuk University
• Kremenchuk River Port
• Kremenchuk Steel Works

External links

• (in Ukrainian)Official homepage of Kremenchuk
• (in Ukrainian and English)Today's photo of Kremenchuk
• Soviet topographic map 1:100,000
• The murder of the Jews of KremenchukduringWorld War II,atYad Vashemwebsite.