Dnipro

Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, 391 km (243 mi) southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is the administrative centre of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. It hosts the administration of Dnipro urban hromada. Dnipro has a population of 968,502 (2022 estimate). Archeological evidence suggests the site of the present city was settled by Cossack communities from at least 1524. Yekaterinoslav ("glory of Catherine") was established by decree of the Russian Empress Catherine the Great in 1787 as the administrative center of Novorossiya. From the end of the 19th century, the town attracted foreign capital and an international, multi-ethnic workforce exploiting Kryvbas iron ore and Donbas coal. Up until the German occupation in World War II, more than a third of the city population was Jewish. Renamed Dnipropetrovsk in 1926 after the Ukrainian Communist Party leader Grigory Petrovsky, it became a focus for the Stalinist commitment to the rapid development in the Soviet Union of heavy industry. After World War II, this included nuclear, arms, and space industries whose strategic importance led to Dnipropetrovsk's designation as a closed city. In December 1991, the city's voters overwhelmingly approved Ukraine's declaration of independence. Following the Euromaidan events of 2014, they shifted their allegiance from pro-Russian parties to those favouring closer ties with the European Union. As a result of the ensuing "decommunization", the city was renamed Dnipro in 2016. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Dnipro rapidly developed as a logistical hub for humanitarian aid and a reception point for people fleeing the various battle fronts.