Konotop

Konotop is a city in northwestern Ukraine located in Sumy Oblast. Konotop serves as the administrative center of Konotop Raion within the oblast. Its population before the Russian invasion of Ukraine was approximately 83,543 (2022 estimate), making it the second-largest city in Sumy Oblast. Konotop is believed to have been settled in 1634, with the granting of the settlement to a Polish nobleman. A fortress was then built on the site of the settlement, which led to the city being the site of numerous battles in the late 1600s, such as the Battle of Konotop and the Battle of Konotop (1668), after it was seized by the Cossack Hetmanate. The Cossacks then ruled the city for decades until 1764, when the Hetmanate was incorporated into the Little Russia Governorate of the Russian Empire, and later the Chernigov Governorate. The city would then rapidly grow, shifting from agricultural work to relying on railroad work, as multiple important railway lines started running through the city in the late 1800s. After the October Revolution, it was claimed by the Ukrainian SSR after a change of hands in 1919, and was annexed into the Soviet Union in 1922. The city was then devastated by World War II, where it was the site of a prisoner of war camp for captured Soviets, with an estimated 30,000 people dying in the city in total during this time. After gradually recovering, the "Chervonyi Metalist" electromechanical plant took on a greater role in the city's economy, and after the collapse of the Soviet Union the city became part of a newly independent Ukraine. In 2022, as part of the northern front of the Russian invasion, the city briefly came under siege in February 2022, although by April all Russians left the entire raion. Since then, the city has...