Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi

A fortress Korsun was founded in 1032 by the Kievan Rus' prince Yaroslav the Wise and served the protection of Kyiv from nomads from the southern steppe regions. The name of the city comes from the Greek city of Chersones (translated as Korsun) on the Crimean Peninsula. In 1240, Korsun was destroyed by Batu Khan. In 1584, a military base was established in the city.

In the early modern times the place belonged to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, during which another fortress was built and the city received the Magdeburg rights. In 1630, Cossack rebels led by Taras Fedorovych attacked the town and destroyed its Polish garrison. The town was razed by Polish forces during the 1637 Cossack rebellion led by Pavlo Pavliuk. In 1648, the Battle of Korsuń during the Khmelnytsky Uprising, took place here. In 1768, during the Koliyivschyna Rebellion, the Polish garrison was destroyed by the forces of Maksym Zalizniak.

In 1793, Korsun was included into the Russian Empire. In 1903, one of the largest paint factories in the whole Russian Empire was built in Korsun. In the period of the Second World War (1941–1945), the Soviet Red Army defeated the German forces in the area surrounding Korsun (for further information, see Korsun Pocket). On February 14, 1944, Korsun was cleared of German forces.

In post-war years, the farm and agricultural economy of Korsun was soon rebuilt. Until 1944, the city was known simply as Korsun, however, it was later renamed in honor of Taras Shevchenko, a famous Ukrainian poet and artist.

According to Russian media, Euromaidan supporters brutalized a bus convoy of anti-Maidan activists on the night of February 20–21, 2014 in Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi, Cherkasy Oblast, burned several buses, and killed seven passengers. On April 3, 2014, Russian forces occupying Crimea said seven people had died and 30 gone missing. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the local police force all questioned the accuracy of this account.[3] However, Russian leader Putin said this story was the reason for the military operation in Crimea,[4] and the alleged killings of anti-Maidan activists near Korsun were later reflected in the partisan Russian documentary Crimea. The Way Home.

Until 18 July 2020, Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi served as an administrative center of Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi Raion. The raion was abolished in July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Cherkasy Oblast to four. The area of Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi Raion was split between Cherkasy and Zvenyhorodka Raions, with Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi being transferred to Cherkasy Raion.[5][6]

Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi contains a railroad station Korsun, on the railroad line Kyiv-Zvitkovo. Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi also contains many industrial factories, namely some mechanical factories, a construction material factory, an asphalt factory, a winemaking factory, sewing factory, and others.

• Korsun Pocket – 1944 battle on the Eastern Front of World War II.
• Battle of Korsun – 1648 battle during the Khmelnytsky Uprising.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi.

• korsun.ic.ck.ua Archived 2021-01-25 at the Wayback Machine - Website of the historical-cultural preserve in the city
• heraldry.com.ua - Coat of arms of Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi (Ukrainian)
• sunsite.berkeley.edu - Soviet topographic map 1:100,000