Korosten

{{short description|City in Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukraine}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Korosten | official_name = | native_name = {{lang|uk|Коростень}} | native_name_lang = uk | settlement_type = [[City status in Ukraine|City]] | image_skyline = {{Photomontage|position=center | photo1a = Коростень 3749.jpg | photo2a = Городища літописного міста Іскоростеня 01.jpg | photo2b = Коростень, "Баранячі лоби" DSCF6448.jpg | size = 270 | spacing = 2 | color = #FFFFFF | border = 0 }} | imagesize = | image_caption = {{hlist|Clockwise from top: City centre|River Uzh embankment in the city park|Site of ancient Iskorosten}} | image_flag = File:Korosten prapor.png | flag_link = List of Ukrainian flags | image_shield = Korosten misto gerb.png | image_blank_emblem = | shield_size = 75px | mapframe = yes | mapframe-zoom = 10 | mapframe-wikidata = yes | pushpin_map = Ukraine Zhytomyr Oblast#Ukraine | pushpin_label_position =  | pushpin_map_caption = Location of Korosten | pushpin_mapsize = | image_map = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{Flagu|Ukraine}} | subdivision_type1 = [[Oblasts of Ukraine|Oblast]] | subdivision_name1 = [[Zhytomyr Oblast]] | subdivision_type2 = [[Raions of Ukraine|Raion]] | subdivision_name2 = [[Korosten Raion]] | subdivision_type3 = [[Hromada]] | subdivision_name3 = [[Korosten urban hromada]] | seat_type = [[City council]] | seat = [[Korosten City Council]] | established_title = First mentioned | established_date = 945 | established_title1 = Charter granted | established_date1 = 1589 | established_title2 = City Status | established_date2 = 1 January 1926<ref name="Big Encyclopedic Dictionary 1991. p. 633">Korosten // Big Encyclopedic Dictionary (in 2 vols.). / editorial board, ch. ed. A.M. Prokhorov. volume 1. M., "Soviet Encyclopedia", 1991. p. 633</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://korosten.osp-ua.info/ |title=Коростень - офіційний сайт міста |access-date=2006-04-01 |archive-date=2011-08-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110820173910/http://korosten.osp-ua.info/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> | leader_title = [[Mayor]] | leader_name = Volodymyr Moskalenko | unit_pref = Metric | area_total_km2 = 42.31 | demographics_type1 = | demographics1_footnotes = | demographics1_title1 = | demographics1_info1 = | demographics1_title2 = | demographics1_info2 = | population_as_of = 2022 | population_total = 61496 | language = | format = | population_metro = | population_density_km2 = auto | timezone = EET | utc_offset = +2 | timezone_DST = EEST | utc_offset_DST = +3 | coordinates = {{coord|50|57|N|28|38|E|type:city_region:UA-18|display=it}}  | elevation_m = 171 | population_demonym = | postal_code_type = Postal code | postal_code = 01xxx–04xxx | area_code = +380 44 | blank_name = [[Federal Information Processing Standards|FIPS code]] | blank_info = [[List of FIPS region codes (S-U)#UP: Ukraine|UP27]] | blank1_name = [[Vehicle registration plate]] | blank1_info = AМ | website = {{official website|http://www.korosten.osp-ua.info/}} | footnotes = }} '''Korosten''' ({{langx|uk|Коростень}}, {{IPA|uk|ˈkɔrostenʲ|pron|audio=Uk-Коростень.ogg}}), also historically known as '''Iskorosten''' ({{lang|uk|Іскоростень}}), is a historic [[city]] and a large [[transport hub]] in [[Zhytomyr Oblast]], northern [[Ukraine]]. It is located on the [[Uzh (Pripyat)|Uzh River]]. Korosten serves as the [[Capital city|administrative center]] of [[Korosten Raion]]. As of January 2022, Korosten's population was approximately {{Ua-pop-est2022|61496|punct=.|showyear=false}}

[[File:Fragment of monument to knyaz Mal in Korosten town, Ukraine.jpg|thumb|Monument to knyaz Mal in Korosten]]

==Name== There are different theories about the origin of the name of the city.

The name may be derived from the word ''korost'', 'brushwood, bushes, shrubbery'; the form ''Iskorosten'' sometimes found in early sources is probably based on the common repetition of prepositions in [[Old East Slavic]]: ''iz grada iz''... 'from the city from...'.<ref name=Pospelov/>

Another theory holds that the city was built entirely of wood, and its walls were surrounded by an oak fence, unhewn, with bark, leading to the name Is-koro-sten, i.e. the city "from bark on the wall" in Ukrainian.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

Alternatively, the city might have been named after the [[sun god]] [[Khors]]/Xors - the main god of many tribes that inhabited the area, including the [[Drevlians]]. According to this theory, the names of the settlements of [[Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi|Korsun]] and [[Korostyshiv]] also come from Khors/Xors.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

==History== ===Early history=== {{Quote box |width=24em |align=left |bgcolor=GhostWhite |title=Historical affiliations |quote=

{{flagicon image|Coin of Yaroslav the Wise (reverse).png}} [[Kievan Rus']] 879-1097 {{flagicon image|Lob Moneta Kiev 1388.svg}} [[Principality of Kiev]] 1097–1240 {{flagicon image|Golden Horde flag 1339.svg}} [[Golden Horde]] 1240–1363 {{flagicon image|Flag of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (1410–1403).svg}} [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] 1363–1569 {{flagicon image|Chorągiew królewska króla Zygmunta III Wazy.svg}} [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] 1569–1649 {{flagicon image|Flag of the Cossack Hetmanate.svg}} [[Cossack Hetmanate]] 1649-1667 {{flagicon image|Chorągiew królewska króla Zygmunta III Wazy.svg}} [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] 1667-1795 {{flag|Russian Empire}} 1795–1917 {{flagicon|RUS}} [[Russian Republic]] 1917 {{flagicon|UKR}} [[Ukrainian War of Independence|''Various Ukrainian states'']] 1917–1920 {{flagicon image|Flag of Ukrainian SSR (1919-1929).svg}} [[Soviet Ukraine]] 1920–1922 {{flag|Soviet Union}} 1922–1991 (Occupied by [[Nazi Germany]] between 1941-1943) {{flag|Ukraine}} 1991–present }}

The city was founded over a millennium ago and was the capital of the [[Drevlians]], an ancient Slavic tribe (later incorporated into [[Kievan Rus′]]).<ref name=Pospelov>E.M. Pospelov, ''Geograficheskie nazvaniya mira'' (Moscow: Russkie slovari, 1998), p. 216. The earliest references to the town, from the mid-tenth century, are на Коростень град [na Korosten' grad] 'to Korosten city,' Из града ис Коростеня [iz grada is Korostenya] 'from the city [from] Korosten,' and на Изкоростень град [na Izkorosten' grad] 'to Izkorosten city.'</ref>

===The Rus'=== [[File:Radzivill Olga-Avenge-to-Drevlians.jpg|thumb|300x300px|''Fourth revenge of [[Olga of Kiev|Olga]]: The Burning of Iskorosten'' from the [[Radziwiłł Chronicle]] (Unknown Artist)]] In 945, [[Igor of Kiev]], ruler of the [[Kievan Rus]], was killed while collecting [[tribute]] from the [[Drevlians]] in Iskorosten. According to 10th century [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] historian and chronicler, [[Leo the Deacon]]: "They [Drevlians] had bent down two [[birch tree]]s to the prince's feet and tied them to his legs; then they let the trees straighten again, thus tearing the prince's body apart."<ref name="korosten"> {{cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/korostencity/iskorosten.htm |title=Korosten (Iskorosten): A small town with a great history |publisher=geocities.com |date=27 February 2008 |access-date=16 February 2014 |last=Tarasenko |first=Leonid |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091026051916/http://geocities.com/korostencity/iskorosten.htm |archive-date=26 October 2009 }}</ref> The ''Primary Chronicle'' blames Igor's death on his own excessive greed, indicating that he tried to collect tribute for the second time in a month.

Igor's widow, [[Olga of Kiev]], as regent on behalf of their son [[Sviatoslav I, Prince of Kiev|Svyatoslav]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Barbara Evans Clements|title=A History of Women in Russia: From Earliest Times to the Present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xa2yCC2apZAC&pg=PA7|year=2012|publisher=Indiana University Press|page=7|isbn=978-0-253-00104-7}}</ref> avenged his death by punishing the Drevlians. Olga then led her army to Iskorosten. The siege lasted for a year without success when Olga thought of a plan to trick the Drevlians. She sent them a message: "Why do you persist in holding out? All your cities have surrendered to me and submitted to tribute so that the inhabitants now cultivate their fields and their lands in peace. But you had rather a tide of hunger without submitting to the tribute."<ref name=":4">''Primary Chronicle'' 80-1 (line 6454).</ref> The Drevlians responded that they would submit to tribute but that they were afraid she was still intent on avenging her husband. Olga answered that the murder of the messengers sent to Kyiv, as well as the events of the feast night, had been enough for her. She then asked them for a small request: "Give me three pigeons...and three sparrows from each house."<ref name=":4" /> The Drevlians rejoiced at the prospect of the siege ending for so small a price and did as she asked.

Olga then instructed her army to attach a piece of sulphur bound with small pieces of cloth to each bird. At nightfall, Olga told her soldiers to set the pieces aflame and release the birds. They returned to their nests within the city, which subsequently set the city ablaze. As the ''Primary Chronicle'' tells it: "There was not a house that was not consumed, and it was impossible to extinguish the flames because all the houses caught fire at once."<ref name=":4" /> As the people fled the burning city, Olga ordered her soldiers to catch them, killing some of them and giving the others as slaves to her followers. She left the remnant to pay tribute. As a result of this [[Olga of Kiev|Olga]] changed the system of tribute gathering (''[[poliudie]]'') in what may be regarded as the first legal reform recorded in Eastern Europe.

In 968 the nomadic [[Pechenegs]] attacked outlying regions of the Rus and then [[Siege of Kiev (968)|besieged the city]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.geocities.com/egfroth1/Pechenegs |title= The Pechenegs |access-date= 2009-10-27 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091027115640/http://www.geocities.com/egfroth1/Pechenegs |archive-date= 27 October 2009|first1= Steven |last1= Lowe |first2= Dmitriy V. |last2= Ryaboy}}</ref>

===The Middle Ages=== After the partition of Rus in 1097, Iskorosten remained under the jurisdiction of the Kyivan princes. In December 1240, the [[Mongol invasion of Rus']], led by [[Batu Khan]], sacked and burned many cities and settlements in the region of Iskorosten. {{Citation needed|date=November 2022}} From 1243, the Mongol-Tatars, in the form of the [[Golden Horde]] (the western section of the [[Mongol Empire]]), ruled.<ref>Henry Smith Williams ''The Historians' History of the World'', p.654</ref> After victories over the Tatars at the [[Battle of Blue Waters]]<ref>{{cite book| first=Virgil |last=Ciocîltan |translator=Samuel Willcocks |title=The Mongols and the Black Sea Trade in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries |publisher=Brill |year=2012 |page=221 |isbn=9789004226661}}</ref> in 1362 (or 1363) the [[Grand Duke of Lithuania]] [[Algirdas]] annexed these lands to the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]].<ref name=kiaupa>{{cite book | last1=Kiaupa | first1=Zigmantas |first2=Jūratė |last2=Kiaupienė |first3=Albinas |last3=Kuncevičius | title=The History of Lithuania Before 1795 | year=2000 | publisher=Lithuanian Institute of History | location=Vilnius | isbn=9986-810-13-2 | page=121}}</ref> Later he presented them to one of his knights [[Terekha]] from [[Bryansk]] for faithful service. From 1385, after the formation of the [[Union of Krewo]], this territory came under the influence of Poland.<ref name=ki>{{citation |first=Jūratė |last=Kiaupienė |author-link=Jūratė Kiaupienė |chapter-url=http://www.istorija.lt/html/krevos2002_summary.html |chapter=Summary |title=1385 m. rugpjūčio 14 d. Krėvos aktas |location=Vilnius |publisher=Žara |year=2002 |isbn=9986-34-080-2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927205040/http://www.istorija.lt/html/krevos2002_summary.html |archive-date=2007-09-27 }}</ref>

===Early Modern Period=== [[File:Ivan Bondarenko haidamaka.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Haydamak]] leader Ivan Bondarenko]] In 1586, a powerful Polish [[magnate]], [[Prokop Mrzewicki]], married one of Terekh's heiresses and became the owner of Iskorosten. He managed to persuade the Polish king to grant this small walled settlement the status of a city. On 22 May 1589, [[Sigismund III Vasa|King Sigismund III]] granted the city of Iskorosten its first charter.

In 1649, during the [[Khmelnytsky Uprising]], a detachment of [[Cossacks]] led by [[Geraski]] laid siege to the city. After a bloody battle, the Cossacks captured Iskorosten from the Polish defenders, and the city's fortifications were completely destroyed during the assault. In 1654, [[Hetman of Zaporizhian Host|Hetman]] [[Bohdan Khmelnytsky]], as a result of the [[Pereyaslav Rada]], signed an agreement with [[Russian tsar|Tsar]] [[Alexei Mikhailovich]] on the transition of Ukraine to Russian jurisdiction. However, from 1667 to 1795, the lands surrounding Iskorosten continued to be part of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]. In 1768, during the uprising of [[Zaporozhian Cossack|Zaporozhian]] and [[Uman|Uman Cossacks]] uprising led by [[Maksym Zalizniak]] and [[Ivan Gonta]] respectfully, Ukrainian [[haidamak]] leader [[Ivan Bondarenko]] of [[Kriukivshchyna]] intended to storm Korosten and incorporate it into his territory. However, the uprising was crushed, and his intentions were never realized.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

===Russian Imperial Period=== After the [[Third Partition of Poland|Third Partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] in 1795,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kasprzyk.demon.co.uk/www/history/index.html|title=The History Of Poland|website=www.kasprzyk.demon.co.uk|access-date=2020-07-01|archive-date=2018-09-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180912101518/http://www.kasprzyk.demon.co.uk/www/history/index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Iskorosten passed into the Russian Empire as the centre of the Iskorosten parish of the [[Ovruch district]] of the Volyn province. For a long time, it was a quiet, inconspicuous provincial town. The construction of the 417-km [[Kyiv-Kovel railway]] in 1902 allowed the town to grow, becoming a major railway junction. In 1909 a porcelain factory opened, further industrialising the town. In 1917 the town was renamed Korosten.{{Citation needed|date=July 2020}}

===Civil War=== On 10 June 1917, the [[Tsentralna Rada|Ukrainian Central Council]] declared its autonomy as part of the [[Russian Republic]] by its First Universal at the All-Ukrainian Military Congress. After the proclamation of the [[Ukrainian People's Republic]] (UPR), its [[President of Ukraine (in exile)|government]] and [[Central Council of Ukraine|parliament]] were forced to leave Kyiv during its occupation by [[Bolshevik]] troops.{{Citation needed|date=July 2020}}

In November 1917, Soviet authority was established in the city, but later Korosten was occupied by the advancing Austro-German troops<ref>Korosten // Ukrainian Soviet Encyclopedia. Volume 5. Kyiv, "Ukrainian Soviet Encyclopedia", 1981. p. 321</ref> The [[German Imperial Army|German army]] would remain in Ukraine until November 1918.

The [[Tsentralna Rada|Ukrainian Central Council]] were in Korosten during 14–15 February and 24–26 February 1918. On 25 February, the Tryzub or [[Coat of arms of Ukraine|Trident of St. Vladimir]] was approved as the emblem of the Ukrainian People's Republic by a resolution of the Central Rada. Between 14 and 27 February 1918, units of the UPR Army have stationed in Korosten at various times.{{Citation needed|date=July 2020}}

The Red Army took it in February 1918, followed by the Army of the [[German Empire]] in March; Ukrainian forces retook the city in December. During February 1919 the [[Red Army]] regained control; in August, it was taken first by [[Symon Petlura]]'s men and then by [[Anton Denikin|Denikin]]'s army. The Soviets regained control in December 1919.<ref name="Studies in Contemporary Jewry: The Jews and the European Crisis, 1914–1921">{{cite book|author=Institute of Contemporary Jewry|others=Jonathan Frankel, Peter Y. Medding, Universiṭah ha-ʻIvrit bi-Yerushalayim Makhon le-Yahadut zemanenu, Ezra Mendelsohn|title=Studies in Contemporary Jewry: The Jews and the European Crisis, 1914–1921|year=1988|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V_qXQO5omKAC&q=scorched+earth+kiev+1920&pg=PA5 | isbn=978-0-19-505113-1}} {{page needed|date=August 2012}}</ref> On the eve of [[Kiev offensive (1920)|Kyiv offensive]] Korosten lay on the frontlines between the [[Polish Second Republic|Polish]] and Soviet Forces. On 27 February 1921 The Haydamatsky Kish of the [[Ukrainian People's Republic]] led by [[Symon Petliura]], a separate Zaporizhzhya detachment led by [[Konstantin Prisovsky]], and a unit of [[Sich Riflemen]] led by [[Yevhen Konovalets]] passed through Korosten, heading for Kyiv, in an attempt to recapture it from [[Bolshevik]] troops.{{Citation needed|date=July 2020}}

On 7 November 1921, during the November raid, Korosten, occupied by units of the [[395th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)|395th Rifle Regiment of the 132nd Brigade of the 44th Rifle Division of the Moscow Troops]], attempted to capture the [[Volyn Group]] commander [[Yuriy Tyutyunnyk]] of the UPR Insurgent Army. The beginning of the counteroffensive was successful. Ukrainian troops, unexpectedly attacking Korosten, captured the railway station. However, the inconsistency in the actions of different units and the large numerical advantage of the Soviet units did not allow UPR to capitalise on this advantage, and the Ukrainian troops were forced to retreat from the city.{{Citation needed|date=July 2020}} Captain [[Volodymyr Stefanyshyn]] was killed during the withdrawal, however [[Ivan Rembolovych]], [[Semen Khmara-Kharchenko]] and [[Mykola Tobilevych]] were decorated for their actions.{{Citation needed|reason=Is this correct, I have found it difficult to find reliable sources for this event|date=July 2020}}

===Interwar period=== In 1926, Korosten received city status.<ref name="Big Encyclopedic Dictionary 1991. p. 633">Korosten // Big Encyclopedic Dictionary (in 2 vols.). / editorial board, ch. ed. A.M. Prokhorov. volume 1. M., "Soviet Encyclopedia", 1991. p. 633</ref> In October 1926, with the permission of the authorities and under the supervision of the [[Joint State Political Directorate|OGPU]], a conference of the rabbis of the Volyn province was held in Korosten, which actually had an all-Ukrainian, and partly all-Union character; which adopted a decree on counteracting atheistic propaganda.

The city suffered from the man-made famine [[Holodomor|Holodomor of 1932-1933]]. In 2008, the National Museum of the Holodomor Genocide published the National Book of Memory of the Victims of the Holodomor of 1932–1933 in Ukraine. Zhytomyr region.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://holodomormuseum.org.ua/hololomor/natsionalna-knyha-pam-iati-zhertv-holodomoru-1932-1933/ |title=National Book of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine. Zhytomyr region. — Zhytomyr: «Polissia», 2008. — 1116 pp. |date=3 October 2019 |accessdate=17 April 2023}}</ref> The book has 1116 pages and consists of three sections. According to historical records, more than 2288 people died during Holodomor in 1932–1933.

In 1936, the city had a population 28,000, a [[Porcelain|porcelain factory]], a metalworking factory "Oktyabrskaya Kuznitsa", car repair shops and a municipal power plant with a capacity of 20 kW operated here.<ref>Korosten // Great Soviet Encyclopedia. / editorial board, ch. ed. O. Yu. Schmidt. 1st ed. T-34. M., OGIZ, "Soviet Encyclopedia", 1937. Article 346</ref>

===World War II=== During the initial [[Operation Barbarossa|invasion]] of the [[Soviet Union]] as part of [[Army Group South Ukraine|Army Group South]] the [[62nd Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|62nd Infantry Division]] (part of [[XVII Army Corps (Wehrmacht)|XVII Army Corps]] under 6th Army) advanced towards Korosten.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|title=Vernichtungskrieg: Verbrechen der Wehrmacht 1941-1944|last=Anderson|first=Truman|publisher=Zweitausendeins|year=1997|editor-last=Naumann|editor-first=Klaus|pages=297–322|language=de|chapter=Die 62. Infanterie-Division: Repressalien im Heeresgebiet Süd, Oktober bis Dezember 1941}}</ref> Soviet forces initially held out on the vital railhead to [[Kyiv]] with heavy artillery.<ref name="ReferenceA">Wehrmacht Combat Reports: The Russian Front By Bob Carruthers 2012</ref> [[Generalfeldmarschall]] [[Walther von Reichenau|von Reichenau]], commander of the 6th Army reported

"The railway junction... was defended by [[Soviet Armed Forces|Soviet forces]] with bitter determination, and it fell... only after hard fighting"<ref name=":3"/>

Soviet forces initially held out on the vital railhead to [[Kyiv]] with heavy artillery.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> When the Soviet forces were forced to retreat northeast to Kyiv in early August 1941, the 6th Army moved in. Korosten was occupied by the [[Wehrmacht|German Army]] from 7 August 1941 to 28 December 1943 (it was briefly [[1st Ukrainian Front|captured]] by [[60th Army (Soviet Union)|60th Army]] forces during the [[Battle of Kyiv (1943)|Kyiv offensive]] on 17 November 1943,<ref>The Eastern Front 1943-1944: The War in the East and on the Neighbouring Fronts By Karl-Heinz Frieser, Klaus Schmider pp 333</ref> but retreated after a strong [[4th Panzer Army|German]] counterattack). It was during the occupation that nationalists, Liked to OUN-Bandera faction of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and working under the auspices of German Security Police and the ''[[Einsatzgruppen]]''<ref name="USHMM-Symposium">{{cite web|url=http://www.ushmm.org/research/center/publications/occasional/2005-10/paper.pdf |title=The Holocaust and [German] Colonialism in Ukraine: A Case Study |publisher=The Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum |work=The Holocaust in the Soviet Union |date=September 2005 |access-date=7 December 2014 |author=Symposium Presentations |pages=15, 18–19, 20 in current document of 1/154 |format=PDF file, direct download 1.63 MB |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120816044021/http://www.ushmm.org/research/center/publications/occasional/2005-10/paper.pdf |archive-date=16 August 2012 }}</ref> compiled lists of targets for the branch offices of the [[Sicherheitspolizei|KdS]] and assisted with the roundups of Jewish families and other ‘Non-desirables’. In Korosten<ref>The Fallacy of Race and the Shoah By Naomi Kramer, Ronald Headland pp211</ref> nationalists carried out the killings by themselves,<ref name="Headland1992">Ronald Headland (1992), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Mue8a5Rwyi0C Messages of Murder: A Study of the Reports of the Einsatzgruppen of the Security Police and the Security Service, 1941–1943.]'' Fairleigh Dickinson Univ. Press, pp. 125–126. {{ISBN|0838634184}}. Accessed February 23, 2023</ref> same as reported in [[Sokal]]. During the war, Korosten was once again completely destroyed. On 28 December 1943, during the [[Zhitomir–Berdichev Offensive]], the city was liberated by units of the [[13th Army (Soviet Union)|13th Army]] of [[Nikolai Pukhov|Lieutenant General Pukhov]].

====The Holocaust==== In 1939, the Jewish population of Korosten was 10,991 (36% of its total population).<ref name="collections.yadvashem.org">{{cite web | url=https://collections.yadvashem.org/en/untold-stories/community/14622178-Korosten | title=Korosten }}</ref> On 10 August 1941 (3 days after [[Wehrmacht]] forces entered the city),<ref name="collections.yadvashem.org"/> 53 Jews were rounded up and shot in the city. The German military administration formed a city government with auxiliary Ukrainian police.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ushmm.org/information/exhibitions/online-exhibitions/special-focus/ukraine | title=The Holocaust in Ukraine — United States Holocaust Memorial Museum }}</ref> The latter was formed out of the local citizens and took an active part in all "Jewish actions". On 20 August, another 160 Jewish civilians were shot. On 27 August, 238 Jews were executed, and on 10 September 1941, about a thousand Jewish men, women and children were killed.<ref name="collections.yadvashem.org"/> In late October 1941, the power passed to the German Civil administration. Korosten became an administrative centre of the [[Military Administration (Nazi Germany)|gebiet]], a part of the larger Zhitomir general district, [[Reichskommissariat Ukraine]]. Soon after the occupation of Korosten "a Jewish residential area" (an open ghetto) was formed. In total, over 6,000 Korosten Jews were killed between 1941 and 1942.<ref name="collections.yadvashem.org"/> Other killings in central Ukraine soon followed.<ref name="Grelka2005">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H6cdeIGI8uwC&q=%22ukrainische+Miliz%22 | title=Ukrainischen Miliz | publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag | work=Die ukrainische Nationalbewegung unter deutscher Besatzungsherrschaft 1918 und 1941/42 | date=2005 | access-date=17 July 2015 | author=Dr. Frank Grelka | pages=283–284 | quote=RSHA von einer begrüßenswerten Aktivitat der ukrainischen Bevolkerung in den ersten Stunden nach dem Abzug der Sowjettruppen. | isbn=3447052597 | location=[[Viadrina European University]]}}</ref>

===Post 1945=== After the war, a massive rebuilding programme was undertaken. In 1971, a 600-seat club was built for the citizens.<ref>Yearbook of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 1972 (issue 16). M., "Soviet Encyclopedia", 1972. p.186</ref>

On 26 April 1986, the nearby [[Chornobyl nuclear power plant]] suffered a containment breach in No. 4 reactor. After [[Chornobyl disaster|the nuclear incident in Chornobyl]], which is around 90 kilometres away, it suffered considerable fallout. In May 1986, The city was classified as a "zone of guaranteed voluntary resettlement." In addition, the city's economy suffered greatly from the crisis in the first years after Ukraine's independence and the move to free-market economics.

===Independence=== [[File:МісцеПамятникаЛенінуКоростень.JPG|thumb|250x250px|The Remains of Lenin monument after it was toppled in 2014]] In 2006, Korosten became one of the six cities in Ukraine that received a quality certificate according to international standards ISO 9001: 2000. [[Viktor Vasylchuk]], a well-known Ukrainian writer, Honored Journalist of Ukraine, and editor-in-chief of the Vecherniy Korosten newspaper was born, lives, and works in Korosten.

In 2014, the [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]] statue, which stood on Main Street (and just off to the right of the city's government building) which had survived the end of the [[Soviet Union|USSR]] was [[Demolition of monuments to Vladimir Lenin in Ukraine|toppled]]. It was one of 552 monuments demolished during the 2013-2014 period.<ref>{{cite news|script-title=uk:Від ленінізму до ленінопаду|url=https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/26770232.html|website=Радіо Свобода|date=January 2015 |access-date=17 May 2017|language=uk|author1= }}</ref> Today the plinth remains, but with no statue atop of it.

On 28 February, as [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine|the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]] began, an emergency meeting was held by the city from the Department of Civil Protection to the operation of electric sirens <ref>{{cite web|script-title=uk:korosten-rada.gov.ua/narada-shhodo-roboty-elektrosyren|url=https://korosten-rada.gov.ua.html|website=Meeting on the operation of electric sirens|access-date=5 March 2022|language=uk}}{{Dead link|date=March 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> On 5 March reports suggest Russians troops were on the outskirts of [[Malyn]] (57.3 km from Korosten).<ref>{{cite web |date=5 March 2022 |title=Ukrainian boy's first train journey is escape from war |script-title= |url=http://www.euronews.com/2022/03/05/us-ukraine-crisis-border |access-date=2023-07-07 |language=uk}}</ref>

== Symbols of the city == [[File:Radomyshl herb.png|thumb|150x150px|Coat of arms of Radomyshl with a plot from the history of Korosten]] The flag of the city of Korosten is a panel with two horizontal stripes of the same width. The upper stripe is blue, the lower stripe is red. The stripes are separated by a symbolic image of the Uzh River - a stripe 0.16 times the width of the flag. The stripe repeats the color scale of the symbolic image of the Uzh River on the city's coat of arms: the middle of the river is blue (0.1 width of the flag), the banks are golden (0.03 width of the flag). The ratio of the width of the flag to its length is 2 to 3. The blue colour of the field of the flag's cloth symbolizes the greatness and beauty of the ancient city. The red color of the flag field symbolizes the bravery and courage of the Drevlian defenders of the city in 946 when [[Princess Olga]] laid siege to Korosten, and the defenders of the Korosten fortified area No. 5 in 1941 during the Great Patriotic War.

The new coat of arms of the city of Korosten was developed, taking into account the composition of the previous coat of arms. The old coat of arms of the city was a blue French shield, in the heart of which there is a red shield, the main field of which is reserved for the depiction of a dark red fortress wall. Against the background of the fortress wall, a green stem of flax is depicted, which symbolizes the nature of Polissya; a four-petal red flower symbolizes ancient settlements that were located on both sides of the Uzh River and protected each other. A flax flower wraps around the river Uzh, blue in color with golden banks. On the head of the shield, there is the name of the city KOROSTEN, separated from the middle shield by a golden stripe. The shield and visor are framed with gold edging. The new coat of arms repeats the main composition of the old coat of arms, only a blue flax flower and a blue field above the fortress wall. The shield is framed by a cartouche, adopted in the modern heraldry of Ukrainian cities. The cartouche is crowned with an urban modernized golden three-tower crown. The modernized heraldic crown has wooden walls instead of stone walls, which were used during the Drevliansky principality. In the blue field of the heraldic shield above the fortress wall, the name of the city is written in Cyrillic letters, "KOROSTEN". The motto "DOES NOT BURN IN A FLAME" is written at the foot of the shield.

The coat of arms of the city is strictly historical for Radomyshl (the history of the burning of the city of Korosten by Princess Olga is shown in the coat of arms of another city).

== Economy == [[Korosten Industrial Park]] (KIP) is an industrial zone within the city with a total area of 246 hectares (0.94 sq mi). Conceptual design of the park was developed by Czech design bureau DHV. The project envisages the creation of the territory of the KIP high-tech enterprises, enterprises of light and medium industrial production – the assembly, integration, surface processing, light engineering and electrical industries.

The project is designed for 10 years and is divided into three phases: * Conduct communications: roads, railway, electricity, water supply, sanitation; construction and commissioning of the plant manufacturing [[medium-density fibreboard]] (MDF) boards; * Construction and commissioning of small and medium industrial enterprises (perspective) * Construction and development of logistic center (perspective)

By October 2010 all communications are already conducted. Construction of a plant manufacturing MDF boards is almost complete. This plant will become the first manufacturer of MDF boards in Ukraine.

==Transport== [[File:Вокзал станції Коростень.jpg|thumb|[[Korosten railway station|Korosten Railway station]]]]

===Rail=== [[Korosten railway station|Korosten]] is an important railway junction on the [[Kovel-Kiev railway|Kovel-Kyiv]] and [[Kelmenzi-Kalinkawitschy railway|Kelmenzi-Kalinkawitschy]] railway lines. The city is served by rail links to the national and regional capitals, as well as cross-border connections to neighbouring [[Belarus]]. The station and track are part of [[Southwestern Railways (Ukraine)|Southwestern Railways]] (PZZ), (a component part of the [[Ukrainian Railways]]). Currently (as of July 2020), the station is served by a single service to/from [[Kyiv]], (one in each direction) on the electrified<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ec.europa.eu/transport/sites/transport/files/themes/international/studies/doc/2015-06-eastern-partnership-regional-transport-study-annex-3.pdf|title=Mobility and transport|date=26 October 2023 }}</ref> section of the mainline,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ec.europa.eu/transport/sites/transport/files/themes/international/studies/doc/2015-06-eastern-partnership-regional-transport-study-annex-3.pdf|title = Mobility and transport| date=26 October 2023 }}</ref> with no through services to [[Zhytomyr]]. Almost all trains from Western Ukraine to Kyiv pass through the city, and there is a constant movement of suburban trains in the following directions:

*Korosten — [[Malyn]] — [[Kyiv]] *Korosten — [[Zviahel|Zvyagel]] — [[Shepetivka]] *Korosten — [[Zhytomyr]] — [[Berdychiv]] — [[Koziatyn|Kozyatyn]] — [[Vinnytsia]] *Korosten — [[Luhyny]] — [[Bilokorovychy]] — [[Olevsk]] *Korosten — [[Ovruch]] — [[Berezhest]] — [[Vystupovychi]] *Korosten — Ovruch — [[Velidniki]]

There are also regular bus routes in these directions that leave from the railway station and the bus station.<ref>Транспортне сполучення // Коростень. Туристичний інформатор., Коростень: «Тріада С», 2009, стор. 33</ref>

===Road=== {{Jct|country=UKR|M|21}} {{jct|country=EUR|E|583 }} trunk road crossing Ukraine from east to west runs North of the city.

Some other roads: * {{Jct|country=UKR|M|07}} {{jct|country=EUR|E|373}} connecting the cities [[Roman, Romania|Roman]] and Zhytomyr (through [[Vinnytsia]])

== People == According to the 2001 census, the ethnic composition of Korosten is as follows: 89% — Ukrainian, 7,5% — Russian, 1,5% — Pole, 0,6% — Belarusian, 0,5% — Jews.<ref>[http://database.ukrcensus.gov.ua/MULT/Database/Census/databasetree_uk.asp Банк даних Державної служби статистики України] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140731182036/http://database.ukrcensus.gov.ua/Mult/Database/Census/databasetree_uk.asp |date=2014-07-31 }} {{in lang|uk}}</ref>

=== Population === {| border="0" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="5" style="border:1px solid #AAAAAA;" |-bgcolor="#EEEEEE" ! 1939 !! 1959 !! 1979 !! 1989 !! 2001 !! 2025 |- bgcolor="#FFFFFF" | align=center| 30,806 | align=center| 38,041 | align=center| 65,333 | align=center| 72,367<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng89_reg2.php|title = Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей}}</ref> | align=center| 66,669 | align=center| 56,073<ref>{{cite report |url=http://ukrcensus.gov.ua |title=Chyselnist' nayavnoho naselennya Ukrayiny na 1 sichnya 2025 roku |trans-title=The number of available population of Ukraine as of January 1, 2025 |date=2025-01-01 |page= |language=uk |access-date= |archive-url= |archive-date= |format= |url-status= |section=Чисельність наявного населення (за оцінкою) |script-title=uk:Чисельність наявного населення України на 1 січня 2025 року |department=[[State Statistics Service of Ukraine]]}}</ref> |}

=== Population distribution by native language (2001) === {| width="250px" border="0" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="5" style="border:1px solid #AAAAAA;" |-bgcolor="#eeeeff" ! Ukrainian !! Russian |- bgcolor="#f7f9ff" | align=center|86.69 % | align=center|12.73 % |}

== Potato pancakes festival ==

The international [[potato pancakes]] ({{langx|uk|деруни|deruny}}) festival is held annually on the third Saturday of September in the city park since 2008.

During the festival, competitions in "potato pancakes [[triathlon]]" are held. The triathlon includes such contests:

* "Potato pancakes [[powerlifting]]": squat with two heavy jugs full of pancakes; * Throwing potato pancakes in a bowl with [[sour cream]] with 5 meters (16.4 ft); * Throwing potato pancakes to the competitor with 5 meters (16.4 ft).

There is a potato pancakes school at the festival, where experienced cooks teach everyone to cook the pancakes.

However, the main intrigue of the festival is the competition for the tastiest pancake. The jury determines the winner. For a few [[hryvnia]]s each taster can get a patent and thus become a member of the jury.

Various competitions, exhibitions, tastings of traditional [[Polesia]]n beverages, and performances by [[folk music]] ensembles are usually conducted.

==Twin towns – sister cities== {{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Ukraine}} Korosten is [[Sister city|twinned]] with:<ref>{{cite web|title=Міста-партнери|url=http://korosten-rada.gov.ua/about-the-town/mista-partneri/|website=korosten-rada.gov.ua|publisher=Korosten|language=uk|access-date=2020-03-30|archive-date=2020-04-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200425150846/http://korosten-rada.gov.ua/about-the-town/mista-partneri/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=2023 Korosten Ukraine Sister City|url=https://www.cityofwabash.com/category/subcategory.php?categoryid=24|website=cityofwabash.com|publisher=|language=en|access-date=2025-03-05|archive-date=2025-03-05|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250305025115/https://www.cityofwabash.com/category/subcategory.php?categoryid=24}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Membership Directory New – Sister Cities International (SCI)|url=https://sistercities.org/membership-directory/|website=sistercities.org|publisher=|language=en|access-date=2025-03-05|archive-date=2025-03-05|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250305033948/https://sistercities.org/membership-directory/}}</ref> {{div col|colwidth=20em}} *{{flagicon|MDA}} [[Anenii Noi]], Moldova (2006) *{{flagicon|POL}} [[Kraśnik]], Poland (2007) *{{flagicon|UKR}} [[Sloviansk]], Ukraine (2014) *{{flagicon|UKR}} [[Svitlovodsk]], Ukraine (2005) *{{flagicon|UKR}} [[Volodymyr (city)|Volodymyr]], Ukraine *{{flagicon|FRA}} [[Bourges]], France (2022) *{{flagicon|US}} [[Wabash, Indiana|Wabash]], Indiana, United States of America (2023)  {{div col end}}

==Gallery== <gallery> File:Будівля окружного суду ( нині дитяча поліклініка ) Коростень.jpg|Children's clinic in Korosten File:Франка4 1.JPG|Public library File:Будівля школи фабрично-заводського навчання DSCF6527.JPG|Vocational school in Korosten File:Korosten park.JPG|[[Uzh|River Uzh]] in the city park File:We2 016.jpg|Bath of Princess Olga File:Будівля житлового будинку.JPG|Residential building in Korosten File:Будинок, в якому працювали Горбатюк О. Я., Давидюк Т. С., Монастирецький В. І.- учасники громадянської війни.jpg|Historical building File:We2 018.jpg|A hill over Uzh River in Korosten File:We2 005.jpg|Korosten military museum File:Korosten4.JPG|[[Olga of Kiev|Saint Olga]] Orthodox church in Korosten </gallery>

== References == {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Korosten}} *{{in lang|uk}} [http://korosten.osp-ua.info/index.php Official website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190921132210/http://korosten.osp-ua.info/index.php |date=2019-09-21 }} *{{in lang|en}} [http://korosten.info Korosten: a small town with a great history] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201209222821/http://korosten.info/ |date=2020-12-09 }} *{{in lang|ru}} [http://www.korosten.biz/krs.php Information on the city of Korosten] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130210084022/http://www.korosten.biz/krs.php |date=2013-02-10 }} *{{in lang|ru}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20150207151240/http://ukrainian.travel/ru/pro-ukrayinu/mista/korosten Изучи Коростень @ Ukrainian.Travel] *{{in lang|en}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20130814202731/http://ukrainian.travel/en/pro-ukrayinu/mista/korosten Find out Korosten @ Ukrainian.Travel] *{{in lang|uk}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20140314224642/http://ukrainian.travel/ua/pro-ukrayinu/mista/korosten-2 Віднайди Коростень @ Ukrainian.Travel]

[[Category:Korosten| ]] [[Category:Cities in Zhytomyr Oblast]] [[Category:Cities of regional significance in Ukraine]] [[Category:Populated places established in the 8th century]] [[Category:Drevlians]] [[Category:Ovruchsky Uyezd]] [[Category:Pancake festivals]]