# Konotop

Konotop (Ukrainian: Конотоп, IPA: ) is a city in Sumy Oblast, northeastern Ukraine. Konotop serves as the administrative center of Konotop Raion within the oblast. Konotop is located about 129 kilometres (80 mi) from Sumy, the administrative center of the oblast. It is host to Konotop Air Base. The population is 83,543 (2022 estimate).

## Name

The word konotop denotes a place where horses drowned, that is, any swampy, impassable place. The word itself comes from "horses stomp", which was transformed into a noun with the help of the word-forming method of baseline. Konotop is a common Slavic toponym; settlements with this name exist not only in Ukraine, but also in Poland, Belarus and Russia. In several dialects of Ukrainian, the konotop also refers to the herbaceous plant, common knotweed.
Some historians believe that Konotop as a settlement existed even before the Mongol-Tatar invasion. According to legend, during the passage of the Tatar cavalry in the area, many horses and riders died in impassable swamps, leading to the area being called konotop — a swampy place where horses drowned.

## Geography

The city is located in northeastern Ukraine within the Dnieper Lowland on the border of Polesia and the forest-steppe and on both banks of the Yezuch River [uk], which flows into the Seim River 12km north of the city. The Lypka River also flows through the city and the Kukolka River [uk] flows nearby. There are several large dams on the rivers. The area of the city is 43.78 km².
Konotop belongs to the North Poltava highland region of the Left Bank-Dnieper forest-steppe province within Ukraine's forest-steppe zone. Geostructurally, Konotop is located on the northeastern slope of the Dnieper-Donetsk depression. The surface is a lowland loess plain which is flat, gently undulating, and dissected by passage valleys, ravines, and gullies. It is composed mainly of the Dnieper moraine, water-glacial sandy-loamy formations. Forest-steppe pine landscapes and upland landscapes prevail in combination with meadow-steppe lowlands. Paleogene rocks are represented by sands, sandstones and marls. The cadastral score of the local soil is, on average, 64 points.
Konotop administratively borders Sadove Village [uk] in the northwest, with the village of Raky in the northeast, with the villages of Pidlypne and Pryvokzalne in the south, with the village of Popivka in the west.

### Climate

Climate data for Konotop (1991–2020, extremes 1948–present) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 10.4 (50.7) | 14.0 (57.2) | 22.5 (72.5) | 29.9 (85.8) | 33.1 (91.6) | 35.8 (96.4) | 35.9 (96.6) | 39.0 (102.2) | 35.0 (95.0) | 27.2 (81.0) | 18.0 (64.4) | 12.6 (54.7) | 39.0 (102.2) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −2.1 (28.2) | −0.9 (30.4) | 5.0 (41.0) | 14.3 (57.7) | 21.0 (69.8) | 24.4 (75.9) | 26.4 (79.5) | 25.7 (78.3) | 19.4 (66.9) | 12.0 (53.6) | 4.0 (39.2) | −0.8 (30.6) | 12.4 (54.3) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −4.5 (23.9) | −3.8 (25.2) | 1.1 (34.0) | 9.1 (48.4) | 15.3 (59.5) | 19.0 (66.2) | 20.7 (69.3) | 19.6 (67.3) | 13.9 (57.0) | 7.5 (45.5) | 1.5 (34.7) | −2.9 (26.8) | 8.0 (46.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −6.9 (19.6) | −6.6 (20.1) | −2.4 (27.7) | 4.3 (39.7) | 9.7 (49.5) | 13.7 (56.7) | 15.4 (59.7) | 13.9 (57.0) | 9.0 (48.2) | 3.8 (38.8) | −0.8 (30.6) | −5.1 (22.8) | 4.0 (39.2) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −32.9 (−27.2) | −32.2 (−26.0) | −26.1 (−15.0) | −12.2 (10.0) | −3.7 (25.3) | 2.8 (37.0) | 6.1 (43.0) | 3.8 (38.8) | −4.1 (24.6) | −9.2 (15.4) | −22.8 (−9.0) | −28.9 (−20.0) | −32.9 (−27.2) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 46 (1.8) | 37 (1.5) | 37 (1.5) | 37 (1.5) | 59 (2.3) | 58 (2.3) | 71 (2.8) | 48 (1.9) | 47 (1.9) | 44 (1.7) | 42 (1.7) | 45 (1.8) | 571 (22.5) |
| Average extreme snow depth cm (inches) | 10 (3.9) | 13 (5.1) | 8 (3.1) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 2 (0.8) | 6 (2.4) | 13 (5.1) |
| Average rainy days | 8 | 8 | 8 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 11 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 139 |
| Average snowy days | 19 | 17 | 11 | 2 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 2 | 10 | 18 | 79 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 84.4 | 82.0 | 77.0 | 67.2 | 64.1 | 69.2 | 70.8 | 70.6 | 76.9 | 80.6 | 86.3 | 86.3 | 76.3 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 42.5 | 69.1 | 139.9 | 190.6 | 283.2 | 272.6 | 288.8 | 267.1 | 170.0 | 110.1 | 40.6 | 30.5 | 1,905 |
| Source 1: Pogoda.ru.net ||||||||||||||
| Source 2: World Meteorological Organization (humidity and sun 1981–2010) ||||||||||||||

## History

In the beginning of the 17th century, Cossacks were first based in the area. The settlement was first mentioned in 1634 in various documents as Novoselytsia. In 1642 a Polish fortress was built in the area, named after the river Konotopka. It is likely that the river disappeared before another one, Yezuch, was formed. The fortification became a key point in the struggle against Muscovy.
Another hypothesis is that the name of the city originated from the name of the ancient Warmian knyaz (князь) Christopher of Kononowitz of the noble Polish-Belarusian-Lithuanian family Kononowicz-Piłsudski which exists to this day and uses the Polish coat of arms of Radwan. The name "Konotop" would then mean “the place of Kono(nowitz)” from adjoining the suffix topos (cf. Ancient Greek τόπος) meaning place or location.
In 1659 the Battle of Konotop took place near the city, in which Cossacks led by Ivan Vyhovsky (allied with Poles and Crimean Tatars) defeated Muscovite forces. In 1782 Konotop was granted municipal rights.
During World War II, Konotop was occupied by the German Army from 3 September 1941 to 6 September 1943. Details of this are recounted in the book The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer. The Germans operated a Nazi prison and the Stalag 310 prisoner-of-war camp in the city.

### 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

On 25 February 2022, during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the city was reported to be under siege by Russian forces on their way to Kyiv. Ukraine later stated that it had lost control of the city. The mayor Artem Seminikhin stated on 2 March that Russian troops who had entered the city had warned him that they would destroy the city if the residents resisted them. An agreement was reached under which Russian forces accepted not to change the city's government or deploy troops, in return for which the residents would not attack them. On 3 April, Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Kachura stated on Twitter that all Russian forces had left Konotop Raion. On 4 April 2022 Sumy Oblast's Governor Dmytro Zhyvytskyi stated that Russian troops no longer occupied any towns or villages in Sumy Oblast and had mostly withdrawn, while Ukrainian troops were working to push out the remaining units.

## Demographics
### Ethnicty

As of the 2001 Ukrainian census, Konotop had a population of 93,365 inhabitants. The ethnic and linguistic population was reported as follows:
Ethnic groups in Konotop
percent
Ukrainians
90.05%
Russians
8.31%
Belarusians
0.38%
Ashkenazi Jews
0.24%
Gypsies
0.20%
others
0.82% :
Native languages in Konotop
percent
Ukrainian
85.9%
Russian
13.5%
Belarusian
0.1%
others
0.2% :

## Economy

The main industrial enterprises of the city include the Konotop Casting and Mechanical Plant, the Motordetal Plant, the Konotop Fittings Plant, the Konotop Car Repair Plant, the Aviakon Aircraft Repair Plant, a mechanical plant, a garment factory, a meat processing plant (Konotopmyaso OJSC), a dairy plant, and a bakery plant. Konotop is an important mechanical engineering and food production center.

## Transport

The city is an important transportation center. Various railroad connections from Konotop include: Moscow–Kyiv, Simferopol–Minsk, Bakhmach–Kyiv, Bryansk–Sumy/Belgorod. Furthermore, Konotop is one of the smallest cities in the country with its own tram system.

## Notable people

* Bernard Meninsky, artist

## Gallery

* St. Nikolas wooden church
* Ascension Church
* Mansion of General Mikhail Dragomirov
* Horse statue in the downtown
* Old town
* Konotop Railway Hospital
* School in Konotop
* Old school in Konotop
* Konotop tram
* Railway station