Mykolayiv, Mykolaiv Oblast, Ukraine

🇺🇦 Mykolaiv (Миколаїв, Nikolayev) is a city and a municipality in southern Ukraine. Mykolaiv is the administrative centre of Mykolaiv Oblast. The city of Mykolaiv, which provides Ukraine with access to the Black Sea, is the location of the most downriver bridge crossing of the Southern Bug river. This city is one of the main shipbuilding centres of the Black Sea. Aside from three shipyards within the city, there are a number of research centres specialising in shipbuilding such as the State Research and Design Shipbuilding Center, Zoria-Mashproekt and others. Mykolaiv holds the honorary title Hero City of Ukraine.

The city serves as a transportation hub for Ukraine, containing a sea port, commercial port, river port, highway, railway junction, and airport.

Much of Mykolaiv's land area consists of parks. Park Peremohy (Victory) is a large park on the peninsula just north of the city centre, on the north side of the Inhul river.

Name The city is known under two names, which differ in Ukrainian and Russian; there are several transliterations of each name. The Ukrainian name of the city is Микола́їв, transliterated as Mykolaiv or (officially) Mykolayiv. The Russian name, Никола́ев, transliterates as Nikolaev or as Nikolayev. The city's founding was made by the Russian conquests during the Second Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1792. Founded by Prince Grigory Potemkin as Nikolaev, it was the last of the many cities he established. On 27 August 1789, Potemkin ordered its naming near the wharf at the mouth of the Ingul river, on a high, cool and breezy spot where the Ingul river meets the Southern Bug river. To build the city he brought in peasants, soldiers, and Turkish prisoners; 2,500 were working there during 1789. The shipyards were built first (1788).

Potemkin named the city after Saint Nicholas, the patron of seafarers, on whose day (6 December) he had obtained victory at the siege of Ochakov in 1788. The name Nikolaev is known from the legal order (writ) Number 1065 by Prince Potemkin to Mikhail Faleev [ru] dated 27 August 1789.

In 1920, after the establishment of Soviet power, the Odesa provincial council (of laborers and peasants' deputies) petitioned the Soviet Ukrainian government—the All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee (VUTSIK)—to rename the city of Mykolaiv to Vernoleninsk ("Faithful to Lenin"). As the city of Mykolaiv was a district centre of the Odesan province, presumably, the petition would have been initiated by the Odesa city council, but documentary evidence of this so far has not been identified. On 15 April 1924 the Plenum of the Central Administrative-Territorial Commission of the VUTSIK considered and rejected the petition of the Odesan executive committee. Perhaps the members of the Soviet-Ukraine government thought that the name sounded too obsequious.

Information regarding the alleged renaming of Mykolaiv was disseminated by German maps of the 1920s and 1930s, as well as in German encyclopedic publications in 1927 and 1932, which show Vernoleninsk on the USSR part of the European maps. The city was designated as Mykolaiv in publications of the same map in other languages.

To distinguish Mykolaiv from the much smaller west Ukraine city of Mykolaiv in Lviv Oblast, the latter is sometimes called "Mykolaiv on the Dniester" after the major river that it is situated on, while the former is located on the Southern Bug, another major river, and may also be called "Mykolaiv on the Bug".

History Archaeologists have found proof of ancient settlements on the territory of Mykolaiv. In 2018, archaeologists discovered a sunken Ancient Greek ship near the Mykolaiv region, dating from the fifth century BC, the period of Greek colonization of the Northern Black Sea. Researchers stated: "This Ancient Greek ship is one of the oldest known in the Northern Black Sea".

The city has long had close associations with shipbuilding.

The area was populated throughout time by Scythians, ancient Greeks, Slavic tribes, hordes of nomads and free Zaporozhian Cossacks. However, the intensive settlement of the Mykolaiv peninsula started in the last quarter of the 18th century already after the liberation of the northern Black Sea coast region from the Ottoman Empire.

The Russian Empire's Black Sea Navy Headquarters was in Mykolaiv for more than 100 years until the Imperial Russian Navy moved it to Sevastopol, near the southern tip of the Crimean Peninsula. During the Crimean War (1853-1856), Mykolaiv became the main rear base to support Russia's efforts in the war. Most businesses that were created in the city belonged to the military-industrial complex, and, consequently, Mykolaiv was closed to foreigners for many decades.

By the late 19th century, Mykolaiv's port ranked third in the Russian Empire (after Saint Petersburg and Odesa) in trade with foreign countries. Grain-export suppliers of the steppe region (of Ukraine and Southern Russia) were the greatest in the Russian Empire. Mykolaiv had become a great industrial centre in the Southern Ukraine.

Jews started to settle in Nikolayev in the late 18th century. By being in the area west of the Dnieper which was where Jews were legally allowed to reside (the Pale of Settlement), Mykolaiv became a major Jewish centre of the Russian Empire in the 19th century. During the course of the 19th century, the Czarist governments largely banned Jews from living east of the Dnieper River. In 1866 restrictions were lifted and the Jewish community of Mykolaiv developed rapidly but years later Jews suffered in the pogroms of May 1881 and April 1899. The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson (the seventh leader in the Chabad-Lubavitch dynasty) was born in Mykolaiv on 18 April 1902. In 1920, Soviet power was established. In 1926 there were 21,786 Jews (about 20.8% of the total population) in Mykolaiv.

In the course of Operation Barbarossa Mykolaiv was occupied on 16 August 1941 by German invaders. In September, German forces massacred over 35,000 non-combatants, many of them Jews, in the city and its region. During the occupation, an underground partisan sabotage group, the Mykolaiv Center, conducted guerilla activities. On 28 March 1944 the city was liberated, in part because of Soviet Senior Lieutenant Konstantin F. Olshansky's paratroopers and their daring raid during which the majority of his troops were killed.

In the post-war period Mykolaiv became one of the shipbuilding centres of the USSR, with three shipyards: Black Sea, 61 Kommunara, and Okean.

The asteroid 8141 Nikolaev (1982 SO4) was discovered in 1982 by Nikolai Chernykh at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory and was named in honor of the city.

In March 2012, Mykolaiv gained international notoriety for lawlessness and police corruption following the rape and murder of Oksana Makar. Her three attackers were apprehended, but two were released because of family connections to local government officials. After a media outcry and public protests, all three attackers were charged with her murder.

During the Euromaidan protests of 2013–2014, Mykolayiv was the scene of anti-Yanukovich protests. After the victory of Euromaidan, the situation calmed down somewhat until 7 April 2014, when some pro-Russians tried to take over the local administration building. Pro-Ukrainians stopped them from taking over the administration building and destroyed the pro-Russian camp not far from it, after which the situation in the city became calm.

Until 18 July 2020, Mykolaiv was incorporated as a city of oblast significance. It also served as the administrative centre of Mykolaiv and Vitovka Raions even though it did not belong to any of these raions. In July 2020, as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Mykolaiv Oblast to four, the city of Mykolaiv was merged into Mykolaiv Raion.

In February and March 2022, during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian military forces attacked Mykolaiv and placed it under siege. Ukrainian forces barred Russian forces from the city, though Russian artillery continued to shell it.

Geography: Administrative status Mykolaiv is the administrative centre of Mykolaiv Oblast (region), as well as that of Mykolaiv Raion. It hosts the administration of Mykolaiv urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine.

Geography Mykolaiv is located in a primarily flat terrain area, the fertile, grain-producing steppe region of southern Ukraine. The nearest mountains to Mykolaiv are 300 km (186 mi) south, at the southern end of the Crimean Peninsula. The lack of any mountain barriers north of Mykolaiv means that cold Arctic winds can blow south, unimpeded by any terrain elevation, to Mykolaiv in winter.

Mykolaiv is on a peninsula along the estuary of the Southern Bug river where it meets the Inhul River, 65 km (40 mi) from the Black Sea. Both the Inhul River and the Southern Bug River follow very winding courses just before they join at the north-east corner of Mykolaiv. This has created several long and narrow peninsulas just north of Mykolaiv, and the main part of Mykolaiv is itself on a peninsula at a 180-degree bend in the Southern Bug River.

The area of the city is 260 km² (100 sq mi).

Mykolaiv is in the second time zone (Eastern European Time).

Ecology Mykolaiv has environmental issues, which is common in many cities in Ukraine, such as pollution of water, the air, and groundwater; drinking water quality, noise, waste management, and conservation of biological diversity in the city. One of Mykolaiv's most urgent problems is the disposal of solid household waste.

The city has 18 preserved sites, totaling about 12 km² (5 sq mi): • The Mykolaiv Zoo • The monuments of landscape art: Park Peremohy, Park People's Garden, 68 Paratroopers Park, Square, The Sivašskij, The Boulevard Bunker, Linea (Line) Park, Young Heroes Park; Youth Park in the Ingul district • The Botanical Natural Monument Memory Square • The Dubki Reserved Nature boundary • The Balabanovka Forest Reserve • The Reservoir Hydrological Reserve • The Turkish Fountain Hydrological Natural Monument • The Dubka (oak) 4 Botanical Nature Monument.

Administrative districts Mykolaiv is divided into four districts: • Tsentralnyi District is located in the north-west of the city. It includes the historic centre of Mykolaiv, Rocket tract, Temvod, Salt, Northern, Ternovka (in Ternovca also acts village council), Matveevka, Varvarovka. • Zavodskyi District is located in the west of the city. In this area, many industrial enterprises are concentrated. It also includes neighborhoods Leski and Namyv, as well as towns of Velyka Koreniha and Mala Koreniha. • Inhulskyi District (former Leninskyi District) is located in the east of Mykolaiv. Among other things, it includes the new Horticulture, YUTZ, New Watering, Old Watering. The district has a zoo, bus and railway stations. • Korabelnyi District is located in the south of the city. It includes a broad beam, Bogoyavlenske (former Zhovtneve), Balabanovka, Kulbakino.

Economy Mykolaiv is a major shipbuilding centre of Ukraine since the time of both the Russian Empire (1721–1917) and the now defunct Soviet Union (1922–1991) and an important river port. The city has three major shipyards one of which is capable of building large navy ships. Other important industries are mechanical engineering, power engineering, metallurgy and food industry.

Mykolaiv was closed to foreign visitors until the late 1980s due to the large number of secret Soviet Navy projects that took place in the city (as well as due to its military air base, turbine factory and military port). The majority of the Soviet Navy's surface ships, including its only aircraft carrier, the aircraft carrier Kuznetsov, were built in Mykolaiv.

In May 2011, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych visited Mykolaiv and said that Ukraine was serious about reviving and further developing its shipbuilding industry in the Mykolaiv region.

One of the largest industrial businesses in the city is the Mykolaiv Aluminia Factory (formerly part of Rusal and currently owned by Glencore), which produces aluminium oxide (alumina), raw material for the production of aluminum.

In addition to heavy industry, the city has a developed food processing industry, including a juice maker, Sandora (part of PepsiCo), a dairy products maker, Laktalis-Mykolaiv, and a brewery, Yantar. Nibulon (Ukrainian: Нібулон), one of Ukraine's biggest agriculture companies specialized in the production and exportation of grain such as wheat, barley and corn is headquartered in Mykolaiv. The company has its own maritime fleet and shipyard, the Nibulon Shipyard, and also developed its own river fleet to transport grain to export terminals.

In January 2017, the Mykolaiv Development Agency released a promo video of the city's investment potential.

The Mykolaiv Armored Factory (owned by Ukroboronprom) has been a large repair facility for Ukraine's military since the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian War. Engineers at the plant designed an armored ambulance based on the BTR-70 to be used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Military Mykolaiv, being an important strategic city in southern Ukraine has a significant Ukrainian military presence, including the shipyards that build Ukraine's surface navy ships, the Mykolaiv Ukrainian Navy base, the "MARP" aircraft repair factory (Mykolaiv), and the Kulbakino army base (in the Mykolaiv Oblast, outside of the city of Mykolaiv).

Previously for many years after World War II the city had been home to the 92nd Guards Motor Rifle Division, the former 92nd Guards Rifle Division. The 79th Airmobile Brigade is based in the city.

Transport Mykolaiv is one of Ukraine's most important transportation junctions. It is a major commercial river and sea port, and a major highway and rail junction. Mykolaiv also has a dual-function passenger and freight airport, but passenger service at the airport is not significant, compared to Ukraine's major airports. In addition to the airport and sea and river port, Mykolaiv has two train stations, and an intercity bus station.

Transport: Air Mykolaiv Airport (IATA code NLV) is one of the largest and most technically well equipped airports in the South of Ukraine, which serves the city. The airport, located north-west of Mykolaiv, is mainly used for air freight and only has limited passenger service. Russian airline UTAir Aviation offers flights from Mykolaiv to Moscow (Vnukovo – VKO airport). In addition, there are one-hour passenger flights from Odesa (the nearest major airport) to Mykolaiv. Almost all airline passenger service in the South West of Ukraine (where Mykolaiv is located) is through Odesa International Airport: to reach Mykolaiv by airplane, tourists generally reach Odesa by plane, and then take a bus, taxi or train, for approximately 2 hours, to Mykolaiv. Odesa, the largest city in South West Ukraine, is 132 km (82 mi) from Mykolaiv.

Kulbakyno airport, also known as Mykolaiv, is a Class I military air base located just to the south-east of the city centre, in Kulbakyno. It primarily supports wings of Sukhoi Su-24, Sukhoi Su-25, Sukhoi Su-27, and Mikoyan MiG-29.

Transport: Bus Mykolaiv is an 8.5-hour bus ride from Kyiv's main bus station. Ukrainian private national bus companies Gyunsel and Avtoluks operate overnight buses from Kyiv to Mykolaiv seven nights per week. The bus station in Mykolaiv is located at Prospekt (Avenue) Bohoyavlenskyi 21.

Transport: Road The main north–south highway that passes through Mykolaiv is H (or M)-14.

The main East-West Highway that passes through Mykolaiv is E-58 M-14 (West and then South to Odesa), and South East to Kherson, a major port on the Dneper River, just before it flows into the Black Sea. The E-58 M-14 then continues East to the major industrial city and port in South Eastern Ukraine, Mariupol'.

The main highways to and from Mykolaiv are from Kherson (65 km (40 mi)), Odesa (120 km (75 mi)), Uman (320 km (199 mi)), Chişinău (Kishniev), Moldova (325 km (202 mi)), the Crimean Peninsula (350 km (217 mi), Kyiv (500 km (311 mi), Kharkiv (520 km (323 mi), Lviv (350 km (217 mi) (Western Ukraine). Ukraine's roads, including those leading from Mykolaiv, tend to be poorly maintained and can be very dangerous.

Roads through Mykolaiv include: • the east–west Euro-Asian transport corridor: Odesa–Mykolaiv–Kherson–Dzhankoy–Kerch. • the corridor Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation: Reni–Izmail–Odesa–Mykolaiv–Kherson–Melitopol–Berdyansk–Mariupol–Novoazovsk.

the road M14 (Odesa–Novoazovsk), having an exit to the main highway M18 (Yalta–Simferopol–Kharkiv).

Roads to/from Mykolaiv include: • R-06 (Ulianovka–Mykolaiv) with the highway M05 (Odesa–Kyiv), which, in turn, is linked with the highway M12 in the city district of Uman, having an exit on the route Lublin–Warsaw–Gdańsk (Poland). The length of the route Gdańsk–Mykolaiv is 1,530 km (950 miles). • N11 (Dnipro–Kryvyi Rih–Mykolaiv) • N14 (Аleksandrovka–Kropyvnytskyi–Mykolaiv)

Bridges Mykolaiv, being located at the confluence of two major rivers, has two main bridges. The Varvarivskyi Bridge over Southern Bug is a swing bridge with Europe's largest span (134 m). It is also the southernmost bridge over the Southern Bug. The bridge connects the North coast of Mykolaiv to its Tsentralnyi Raion, located on the West Bank of the river. The Odeske Highway crosses the bridge and then continues south-west to Odesa.

Another major bridge is the Inhul Bridge crossing the Inhul River. The bridge leads from the north coast of Mykolaiv, and goes north-northeast to the peninsula on the north side of the Inhul, just north of Mykolaiv. On the north Side of the Inhul River, the Heroyiv Stalingrada Highway crosses the bridge, streaming into Pushkinska Street on the other side.

Transport: Rail Overnight train travel in sleeper-berth passenger trains is a very common way to travel long distances in Ukraine, cheaper, more comfortable and faster than buses – and more environment-friendly, for that matter. There are nightly trains from Kyiv's main passenger train station to Mykolaiv.

In addition to Kyiv, trains from Mykolaiv regularly run to the two closest major cities to Mykolaiv: Odesa (south west of Mykolaiv); and Kherson (south of Mykolaiv). Direct trains to Moscow (26 hours), Kyiv (8-10), Lviv (18), Odesa (5), the Crimea (8 hours) depart every day. Train departures timetable. All trains have coach cars.

Mykolaiv's passenger train station is called Mykolaiv – Passenger. It at the intersection of Myru Avenue and Novozavodska Street 5 (in Ukraine street address numbers are placed after the street name). From the city square outside the railway station, buses depart to all other parts of Mykolaiv.

Mykolaiv's freight train station is called Mykolaiv-Gruzovoi (Freight). It is located at Pryvokzalna ploshcha (Square).

Water-borne travel Though a major Ukrainian commercial sea port, Mykolaiv has no regular passenger water-borne service. Water transport is offered by three sea ports and one river port, and also by several terminals. The port is linked with the sea by Dnieper-Bug Estuary canal. The canal begins at the island Berezan and extends 44 km (27 miles) until it reaches the port of Mykolaiv. The canal consistes of 13 tracks, six of which reach Dnieper Estuary, and the rest along the river Southern Bug. The width of the canal is 100 meters (330 feet). Its depth is 10.5 meters (34 feet).

Large ocean-going ships can reach Mykolaiv year round, via the Southern Bug River. The Southern Bug River, which flows into the Black Sea 65 km (40 mi) south of Mykolaiv, is 1.5 km (0.9 mi) wide in Mykolaiv. Mykolaiv's passenger river port is at Varvarovskii Spusk (Descent) 5.

The ports are: • Mykolaiv Commercial Sea Port • Specialized Seaport Olivia • Dnieper-Bug Sea Commercial Port • Mykolaiv River Port • Sea Specialized Port Nika-Tera

Local transportation The main forms of city transport are fixed-route marshrutkas, buses, trolley buses, and trams.

*Streetcars (trams) * The length of Mykolaiv's streetcar (tram) lines is 73 km (45 miles). From 1897 until 1925 Mykolaiv's streetcars were pulled by horses. Streetcars began to be powered by electricity in 1915, and this has continued through the present. At their inception, the tracks were 1000 millimeters (3'), but during the period from 1952 to 1972 they were switched to standard gauge.

Тrolley Buses The length of Mykolaiv's trolley bus lines is 59 km (37 miles). Mykolaiv's trolley buses have operated since 29 October 1967.

Education There are several universities in Mykolaiv. The main universities are: Admiral Makarov National University of Shipbuilding (leading shipbuilding university in Ukraine), Petro Mohyla Black Sea State University, Sukhomlinsky National University of Mykolaiv, and Mykolaiv State Agrarian University.

Sukhomlinsky National University of Mykolaiv is the oldest university in Mykolaiv. The idea of the university foundation arose in the 1860s, but it was realized only on July 18, 1913, when the Mykolaiv Teacher's Institute was founded. Nowadays there are 7,000 students studying at the university, 300 teachers working at 36 departments. Annually, the university graduates 1,000 specialists and 60-70 undergraduates.

There are 10 higher education institutions in Mykolaiv of level III or IV accreditation. 65 general education schools, lycees, gymnasium schools, 3 evening schools, and 12 private learning institutions are in the city.

In a survey in June–July 2017, adult respondents reported the following educational levels: • 5% primary or incomplete secondary education. • 26% general secondary education. • 31% vocational secondary education. • 38% university education (including incomplete university education).

Religion Mykolaiv is the headquarters of the Mykolaiv Episcopate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, which has 18 churches (temples) in the city.

Mykolaiv is also the headquarters of the Mykolaiv Episcopate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which has succeeded the Kyiv Patriarchate.

A survey in June–July 2017 reported the following results for Mykolaiv: • 19% Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate. • 16% Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. • 16% atheist. • 4% belong to other religions. • 44% believe in God, but do not belong to any religion. • 2% found it difficult to answer.

Culture There are three performing arts theaters in Mykolaiv: the Academic Ukrainian Theater of Drama and Musical Comedy, the Mykolaiv State Puppet Theater, and the Mykolaiv Academic Art Russian Drama Theater. In addition, the Mykolaiv Oblast Philharmonic performs in the city.

Mykolaiv has the following museums: Mykolayiv Regional Museum of Local History, The Museum of Shipbuilding and Fleet, the Museum of the World War II Partisan Movement, the V. V. Vereshchagin Art Museum.

Three movie theaters operate in Mykolaiv: Rodina (Motherland), Pioneer, Multiplex. Movies shown include the latest Hollywood films dubbed into Ukrainian and modern Russian films.

Media Publications include Vecherniy Nikolayev (Evening Mykolaiv), Nikolaevsckie Novosti (Mykolaiv News), and Yuzhnaya Pravda (Southern Truth). Many publications have an Internet version, but exist in an independent Internet publication.

Television programs that are broadcast in Mykolaiv include movies, news, dramas (some of which originated in other countries, such as Mexico and the US, and are dubbed), cartoons, and professional sporting events such as Ukrainian football (soccer). Mykolaiv has the following TV channels: 1+1; 2+2; 5 Kanal; ICTV; Inter; Real Estate TV; Tonis: K1: Kanal Ukraina; Kultura (Ukraina); CTB; TV: TET; and TRK.

Sport Mykolaiv is represented within the Ukrainian Bandy and Rink-bandy Federation.

MFC Mykolaiv (Municipal Football Club "Mykolaiv", Ukrainian: Муніципальний футбольний клуб "Миколаїв") is a Ukrainian football club. The club has been relegated three times from the Ukrainian Premier League. MFС Mykolaiv's best achievement in the Ukrainian Premier League was 13th place (in 1994–95). MFC Mykolaiv reached first place in Druha Liha group A in 2010–11 season and was promoted to Persha Liha. Mykolaiv's main football stadium is at the west end of Tsentralnyi Prospekt, near the west end of the peninsula that Mykolaiv is on.

Mykolaiv's professional basketball team is MBC Mykolaiv. The team has won or finished second or third in several international tournaments since 1988, and won the Ukrainian Championship in 1992. MBC Mykolaiv is part of the Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague, which is the top professional basketball league in Ukraine.

The Mykolaiv students won two gold and bronze medals of the Cup of Ukraine on academic rowing.