Zaporizhzhia, until 1921 known as Aleksandrovsk or Oleksandrivsk, is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper River. It is the administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zaporizhzhia has a population of 710,052 (2022 estimate).
Zaporizhzhia is known for the historic island of Khortytsia, multiple power stations and for being an important industrial centre. Steel, aluminium, aircraft engines, automobiles, transformers for substations, and other heavy industrial goods are produced in the region.
Russian forces have been engaged in ongoing attacks on Zaporizhzhia since the beginning of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. On 27 February, fighting was reported in the southern outskirts, and Russian forces began shelling the city later that evening. On 3 March, Russian forces approached the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, raising concerns about a potential nuclear meltdown. On 30 September, hours before Russia formally annexed Southern and Eastern Ukraine, the Russian Armed Forces launched S-300 missiles at a civilian convoy in Zaporizhzhia, killing at least 30 people. On 9 October, Russian forces launched rockets at residential buildings, killing at least 17 people (Bombing of Zaporizhzhia (2022–present)).
Zaporizhzhia has an orchestra, museums, theatres, and libraries. These include the Magara Academic Drama Theatre, the Municipal Theatre Lab “VIE”, the Theatre for Young-Age spectators, the Theatre of Horse Riding “Zaporizhzhian Cossacks“, the Zaporizhzhia Regional Museum, the National Museum of the History of the Zaporizhzhian Cossacks, the Zaporizhzhia Regional Art Museum, the Motor Sich Aviation Museum, and the Zaporizhzhia Region Universal Scientific Library. There are a number of small amateur groups of folk music bands, art galleries in Zaporizhzhia. The city regularly holds festivals, Cossack martial arts competitions, and art exhibitions. Zaporizhzhia has an open-air exhibition-and-sale of Zaporizhzhia city association of artists “Kolorit” near the ‘Fountain of Life’ at the Mayakovskoho square. A daily exhibition of artists’ organizations of the city is a unique place in Zaporizhzhia, where people can meet craftsmen and artists, watch carving, embroidery, beading classes, and receive advice from professional artists and designers.
The historical and cultural museum “Zaporizka Sich” is placed on the northern rocky part of Khotritsa Island. The museum is a reconstruction of the stronghold of the Zaporizhzhian Cossacks, and contains features of the military camp life and their lifestyle.
Each of the smaller islands between the dam and the island Khortytsia has its own legend. On one of them, Durnya Scala (“Rock of the Fool”), TzarPeter the Greatflogged the Cossacks for their betrayal of the Russians during the Great Northern War between Russia and Sweden. Another small island, Stolb (“Pillar”), has a geological feature, which looks like a large bowl in granite slabs, the Cossack’s Bowl. It is said that in summer days, water can be boiled in this “bowl”, and the Cossacks used it for cooking galushki (boiled dough in a spicy broth).
