Simplify the following text for a Grade 9 native English-speaking person.
Original: In 1954 Cherkasy became the administrative center of Cherkasy Oblast ( province ) , the youngest oblast of Ukraine .
Simplified: Cherkasy ( , transliterated : Ä erkasy , is a city in central Ukraine . It is the capital of the Cherkasy Oblast ( province ) , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Cherkasky Raion ( district ) within the oblast .