Editing Chernobyl (section)

==History==
[[File:Свято-Іллінська церква в Чорнобилі.jpg|thumb|Orthodox Church of St. Elijah]]
[[File:Tabula VIII Europae.jpg|thumb|A 1525 European Sarmatia map after Ptolemy's ''Geography''. Azagarium is marked on the west bank of the Boristhenes river (Dnieper), below the "Sarmatia Europe" inscription, east (right) of the lake captioned "Amodora palus". "Paludes Meotides" ([[Maeotian Swamp]]) is the [[Sea of Azov]], "Ponti Euxini pars" marks the [[Black Sea]], and the [[Carpathians]] are drawn in the bottom left (southwest) corner as "Carpatus mons".]]

The Polish [[Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland]] of 1880–1902 states that the time the city was founded is not known.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://dir.icm.edu.pl/pl/Slownik_geograficzny/Tom_I/750 |chapter=Czarnobyl |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313095112/http://dir.icm.edu.pl/pl/Slownik_geograficzny/Tom_I/750 |archive-date=13 March 2021 |title=Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland (1880–1902) |volume=I |page=750 |access-date=2 September 2020}}</ref>

===Identity of Ptolemy's "Azagarium"===
Some older geographical dictionaries and descriptions of modern [[Eastern Europe]] mention "Czernobol" (Chernobyl) with reference to [[Ptolemy's world map]] (2nd century AD). Czernobol is identified as {{ill|Azagarium|uk|Азагаріум}} "oppidium Sarmatiae" (Lat., "a city in Sarmatia"), by the 1605 ''Lexicon geographicum'' of [[Filippo Ferrari]]<ref>{{cite book |last= Ferrari |first=Filippo |author-link= Filippo Ferrari |chapter= Chernobol |title= Lexicon geographicum |year= 1670 |volume= 2 |edition= 1670 (reprint of 1605 first edition) |location= Paris |quote= ''Czernobol'', Azagarium, ''oppidium Sarmatiae''. (''lit.'' "''Czernobol'', Azagarium, ''city in Sarmatia''.") |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=-pREAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA396 |access-date= 2 September 2020 |archive-date= 5 March 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220305100032/https://books.google.com/books?id=-pREAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA396 |url-status= live }}</ref> and the 1677 ''[[Lexicon Universale]]'' of Johann Jakob Hofmann.<ref>{{cite book |last= Hofmann |first=Johann Jakob Hofmann |title= Chernobol – Lexicon universale historico-geographico-chronologico-poetico-philologicum |year= 1677 |quote= ''Czernobol'', oppidium Sarmatiae, ''Azagarium''. (''lit.'' "''Czernobol'', city in Sarmatia, ''Azagarium''.") |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=zSxfck1ntLYC&pg=RA1-PA36 |access-date= 2 September 2020 }}</ref> According to the ''Dictionary of Ancient Geography'' of [[Alexander Macbean]] (London, 1773), Azagarium is "a town of [[Sarmatia Europaea]], on the [[Borysthenes]]" ([[Dnieper]]), 36° East longitude and 50°40' latitude. The city is "now supposed to be ''Czernobol'', a town of Poland, in Red Russia [<nowiki/>[[Red Ruthenia]]], in the Palatinate of Kiow [<nowiki/>[[Kiev Voivodeship]]], not far from the Borysthenes."<ref>{{cite book |last=Macbean |first=Alexander |author-link=Alexander Macbean |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EqwBAAAAYAAJ&q=Czernobol&pg=RA7-PA18 |chapter=Azagarium |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028002500/https://books.google.ca/books?id=EqwBAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA7-PA18&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Czernobol&f=false |archive-date=28 October 2020 |title=A Dictionary of Ancient Geography |location=London |year=1773 |access-date=24 October 2020}}</ref>

Whether Azagarium is indeed Czernobol is debatable. The question of Azagarium's correct location was raised in 1842 by [[Habsburg monarchy|Habsburg]]-[[Slovaks|Slovak]] historian, [[Pavel Jozef Šafárik]], who published a book titled "Slavic Ancient History" ("Sławiańskie starożytności"), where he claimed Azagarium to be the hill of Zaguryna, which he found on an old Russian map "Bolzoj czertez" (Big drawing){{dubious|Azagarium|reason=What is this "Big drawing"? The name of the map, or what?|date=September 2020}} near the city of [[Pereiaslav]], now in [[central Ukraine]].<ref name=Slavic>{{cite book |last=Šafárik |first=Pavel Jozef |author-link=Pavel Jozef Šafárik |title= Sławiańskie starożytności |page= 660 |publisher= Wydanie i druk W. Stefańskiego |location= Poznan |volume= 1 |year= 1842 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=m6x5wrdxackC&pg=PA660 |access-date=2 September 2020}}</ref>

In 2019, Ukrainian architect Boris Yerofalov-Pylypchak published a book, ''Roman Kyiv or Castrum Azagarium at Kyiv-[[Podil]]''.<ref name=Yerofalov>{{cite book |last= Yerofalov-Pylypchak |first= Boris |title= Римский Киев: или Castrum Azagarium на Киево-Подоле (Roman Kyiv or Castrum Azagarium at Kyiv-Podil) |publisher= A+C |year= 2019 |isbn= 9786177765010 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=YWg2ywEACAAJ |access-date=2 September 2020}}</ref>

=== Kievan Rus' and post-medieval era (880–1793) ===
The archaeological excavations that were conducted in 2005–2008 found a cultural layer from the 10–12th centuries AD, which predates the first documentary mention of Chernobyl.<ref>Pereverziev, S.V. ''[http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/handle/123456789/83442 Exploring of Chernobyl hillfort. Problems and perspectives of medieval archaeology in exclusion zone] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200708162014/http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/handle/123456789/83442 |date=8 July 2020 }}''. Archaeology and old history of Ukraine. Collection of scientific works. Kyiv, 2010</ref>

Around the 12th century Chernobyl was part of the land of [[Kievan Rus′]]. The first known mention of the settlement as Chernobyl is from an 1193 charter, which describes it as a hunting lodge of [[Knyaz]] [[Rurik Rostislavich]].<ref name="ND">{{cite book |last=Davies |first=Norman |author-link=Norman Davies |title=[[Europe: A History]] |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1996 |isbn=0-19-820171-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.Chernobyl.in.ua/en/Chernobyl.htm |title=Chernobyl ancient history and maps}}{{Dead link|date=November 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}.</ref> In 1362<ref name=hcvu>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Tronko |first=Petro |author-link=Petro Tronko |url=http://imsu-kyiv.com/msta-sela-kivsko-oblast/chornobylskyj-rajon/chornobyl.html |title=Chornobyl |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200222184456/http://imsu-kyiv.com/msta-sela-kivsko-oblast/chornobylskyj-rajon/chornobyl.html |archive-date=22 February 2020 |encyclopedia=[[The History of Cities and Villages of the Ukrainian SSR]]}}</ref> it was a crown village of the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]]. Around that time the town had own castle which was ruined at least on two occasions in 1473 and 1482.<ref name=hcvu/> The Chernobyl castle was rebuilt in the first quarter of the 16th century being located nearby the settlement in a hard to reach area.<ref name=hcvu/> With revival of the castle, Chernobyl became a county seat.<ref name=hcvu/> In 1552 it accounted for 196 buildings with 1,372 residents, out of which over 1,160 were considered city dwellers.<ref name=hcvu/> In the city were developing various crafts professions such as blacksmith, cooper among others.<ref name=hcvu/> Near Chernobyl has been excavated [[bog iron]], out of which was produced iron.<ref name=hcvu/> The village was granted to [[Filon Kmita]], a captain of the royal [[cavalry]], as a [[fiefdom]] in 1566. Following the [[Union of Lublin]], the province where Chernobyl is located was transferred to the [[Crown of the Kingdom of Poland]] in 1569.<ref name=hcvu/> Under the Polish Crown, Chernobyl became a seat of eldership ([[starostwo]]).<ref name=hcvu/> During that period Chernobyl was inhabited by [[Ukrainians|Ukrainian]] [[peasant]]s, some [[Polish people|Polish]] people and a relatively large number of Jews.<ref>{{Cite web|title= The Situation of Ethnic Minorities|url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a80718.html|website=Refworld|language=en|access-date=27 May 2020|archive-date=8 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308155009/https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a80718.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Jews were brought to Chernobyl by [[Filon Kmita]], during the Polish campaign of colonization. The first mentioning of Jewish community in Chernobyl is in the 17th century.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://eleven.co.il/diaspora/communities/14672/ |title=Chernobyl |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200813112054/https://eleven.co.il/diaspora/communities/14672/ |archive-date=13 August 2020 |encyclopedia=Electronic Jewish Encyclopedia}}</ref> In 1600 the first Roman Catholic church was built in the town.<ref name=hcvu/> Local population was persecuted for holding Eastern Orthodox rite services.<ref name=hcvu/> The traditionally [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Eastern Orthodox]] Ukrainian peasantry around the town were forcibly converted, by Poland, to the [[Ruthenian Uniate Church]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Serhii|first=Plokhy|title=Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy|publisher=Penguin Books Limited|year=2018|isbn=9780241349038}}</ref> In 1626, during the [[Counter-Reformation]], a [[Dominican order|Dominican]] church and [[monastery]] were founded by Lukasz Sapieha. A group of [[Old Catholics]] opposed the decrees of the [[Council of Trent]].{{clarify|date=June 2017}} The Chernobyl residents actively supported the [[Khmelnytsky Uprising]] (1648–1657).<ref name=hcvu/>

With the signing of the [[Truce of Andrusovo]] in 1667, Chernobyl was secured after{{dubious|What is the meaning of "was secured after the Sapieha family" in proper English?|date=September 2020}} the [[Sapieha family]].<ref name=hcvu/> Sometime in the 18th century, the place was passed on to the [[Chodkiewicz]] family.<ref name=hcvu/> In the mid-18th century the area around Chernobyl was engulfed in a number of peasant riots, which caused [[Nikolai Vasilyeich Repnin|Prince Riepnin]] to write from [[Warsaw]] to Major General [[Mikhail Krechetnikov|Krechetnikov]], requesting [[hussar]]s to be sent from [[Kharkiv]] to deal with the uprising near Chernobyl in 1768.<ref name=hcvu/> The 8th Lithuanian Infantry Regiment was stationed in the town in 1791.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gembarzewski|first=Bronisław|title=Rodowody pułków polskich i oddziałów równorzędnych od r. 1717 do r. 1831|year=1925|language=pl|publisher=Towarzystwo Wiedzy Wojskowej|location=Warszawa|page=35}}</ref> By the end of the 18th century, the town accounted for 2,865 residents and had 642 buildings.<ref name=hcvu/>

===Imperial Russian era (1793–1917)===
Following the [[Second Partition of Poland]], in 1793 Chernobyl was annexed by the [[Russian Empire]]<ref name="ND2">[[Davies, Norman]] (1995) [http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~sarmatia/195/index.html "Chernobyl"], ''[[The Sarmatian Review]], vol. 15'', No. 1, Polish Institute of Houston at [[Rice University]], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070304203059/http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~sarmatia/195/index.html |date=4 March 2007 }}.</ref> and became part of [[Radomyshl]] county (''[[uezd]]'') as a [[supernumerary town]] ("zashtatny gorod").<ref name=hcvu/> Many of the [[Ruthenian Uniate Church|Uniate Church]] converts returned to [[Eastern Orthodox]]y.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Roudometof|first1=Victor|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mQRtAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA153|title=Eastern Orthodoxy in a Global Age: Tradition Faces the 21st Century|last2=Agadjanian|first2=Alexander|last3=Pankhurst|first3=Jerry|date= 2005|publisher=Rowman Altamira|isbn=978-0-7591-1477-7|language=en|access-date=3 September 2020|archive-date=15 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201015153031/https://books.google.com/books?id=mQRtAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA153|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1832, following the failed Polish November Uprising, the Dominican monastery was sequestrated. The church of the Old Catholics was disbanded in 1852.<ref name="ND" />

Until the end of the 19th century, Chernobyl was a privately owned city that belonged to the [[Chodkiewicz]] family. In 1896 they sold the city to the state, but until 1910 they owned a castle and a house in the city.

==== Hasidic Jewish dynasty of Chernobyl ====
In the second half of the 18th century, Chernobyl became a major centre of [[Hasidic Judaism]]. The [[Chernobyl (Hasidic dynasty)|Chernobyl Hasidic dynasty]] had been founded by Rabbi [[Menachem Nachum Twersky]]. The Jewish population suffered greatly from [[pogrom]]s in October 1905 and in March–April 1919; many Jews were killed or robbed at the instigation of the Russian nationalist [[Black Hundreds]]. When the Twersky Dynasty left Chernobyl in 1920, it ceased to exist as a center of Hasidism.

Chernobyl had a population of 10,800 in 1898, including 7,200 [[Jews]]. In the beginning of March 1918<ref name=hcvu/> Chernobyl was occupied in [[World War I]] by German forces in accordance with the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]]<ref name="ND" />

===Soviet era (1920–1991)===
[[Ukrainian People's Republic|Ukrainians]] and [[Bolsheviks]] fought over the city in the ensuing [[Ukraine after the Russian Revolution|Civil War]]. In the [[Polish–Soviet War]] of 1919–20, Chernobyl [[Battle of Czarnobyl (1920)|was taken first by the Polish Army]] and then by the cavalry of the [[Red Army]]. From 1921 onwards, it was officially incorporated into the [[Ukrainian SSR]].<ref name="ND"/>

====Holodomor====
Between 1929 and 1933, Chernobyl suffered from killings during [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]]'s [[Collectivization in the Soviet Union|collectivization]] campaign. It was also affected by the [[Holodomor|famine]] that resulted from Stalin's policies.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/stalin.htm|title=Genocide in the 20th Century: Stalin's Forced Famine 1932–33|website=www.historyplace.com|access-date=16 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224182059/http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/stalin.htm|archive-date=24 December 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> The Polish and German community of Chernobyl was deported to [[Kazakhstan]] in 1936, during the [[Frontier Clearances]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=A Biography of No Place: From Ethnic Borderland to Soviet heartland|last=Brown|first=Kate|date=2004|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=0674011686|location=Cambridge, Mass.|oclc=52727650}}</ref>

====World War II and the Holocaust====
During [[World War II]], Chernobyl was occupied by the [[Wehrmacht|German Army]] from 25 August 1941 to 17 November 1943. When the Germans arrived, only 400 Jews remained in Chernobyl;<ref>{{Cite book |last= Plokhy |first= Serhii |authorlink= Serhii Plokhy |year= 2018 |title= Chernobyl: The History of a Nuclear Catastrophe |location= New York|publisher= [[Basic Books]] |isbn= 978-1-541-61709-4 |pages=28–29}}</ref> they were murdered during the [[Holocaust]].<ref name="ND" />

====Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant====
In 1972, the Duga-1 radio receiver, part of the larger [[Duga radar|Duga]] [[over-the-horizon radar]] array, began construction {{convert|11|km|mi|abbr=on}} west-northwest of Chernobyl. It was the origin of the Russian Woodpecker and was designed as part of an [[anti-ballistic missile]] [[early-warning radar]] network.<ref>{{Cite web|first=Pavlo |last=Fedykovych|title=Duga radar: Enormous abandoned antenna hidden in forests near Chernobyl|url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/duga-radar-chernobyl-ukraine/index.html|access-date=17 April 2021|website=CNN|date=March 2019 |language=en|archive-date=27 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200627082623/https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/duga-radar-chernobyl-ukraine/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 15 August 1972, the [[Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant]] (officially the Vladimir Ilyich Lenin Nuclear Power Plant) began construction about {{convert|15|km|mi|abbr=on}}<ref>{{cite web |first=Marc |last=Lallanilla. |url=https://www.livescience.com/39961-chernobyl.html |title=Chernobyl: Facts About the Nuclear Disaster |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419013251/https://www.livescience.com/39961-chernobyl.html |archive-date=19 April 2019 |website=Live Science |access-date=20 June 2019 |date=25 September 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite report |url=https://www.oecd-nea.org/rp/chernobyl/c01.html |title=Chernobyl: Assessment of Radiological and Health Impact (2002 Update of 'Chernobyl: 10 Years On) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021215100/https://www.oecd-nea.org/rp/chernobyl/c01.html |archive-date=21 October 2020 |author=Nuclear Energy Agency |year=2002 |isbn=92-64-18487-2}}</ref> northwest of Chernobyl. The plant was built alongside [[Pripyat]], an "[[atomograd]]" city founded on 4 February 1970 that was intended to serve the nuclear power plant. The decision to build the power plant was adopted by the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] and the [[Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union]] on recommendations of the [[DerzhPlan|State Planning Committee]] that the Ukrainian SSR be its location. It was the first nuclear power plant to be built in Ukraine.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chernobyl Accident 1986 |publisher=World Nuclear Association |url=https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/safety-of-plants/chernobyl-accident.aspx |access-date=2022-09-16 |website=world-nuclear.org}}</ref>

====26 April 1986: Chernobyl disaster====
After the [[Chernobyl disaster|nuclear disaster]] at the [[Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant]]; the worst nuclear disaster in history, the city of Chernobyl was evacuated on 5 May 1986.  Along with the residents of the nearby city of [[Pripyat]], built as a home for the plant's workers, the population was relocated to the newly built city of [[Slavutych]]. While Pripyat remains completely abandoned with no remaining inhabitants, Chernobyl has since hosted a small population.

===Independent Ukrainian era (1991–present)===
{{More citations needed section|date=February 2022}}
With the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] in 1991, Chernobyl remained part of [[Ukraine]] within the [[Chernobyl Exclusion Zone]] which Ukraine inherited from the [[Soviet Union]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Davies |first=Thom |last2=Polese |first2=Abel |date=2015-01-01 |title=Informality and survival in Ukraine's nuclear landscape: Living with the risks of Chernobyl |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1879366514000232 |journal=Journal of Eurasian Studies |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=34–45 |doi=10.1016/j.euras.2014.09.002 |issn=1879-3665}}</ref>

==== 2022 Russian occupation of Chernobyl ====
{{Main|Capture of Chernobyl}}

During the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]], Russian forces [[Capture of Chernobyl|captured the city]] on 24 February.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Russia captures Chernobyl power plant after battle with Ukrainian forces|url=https://www.thejournal.ie/russia-captures-chernobyl-5692876-Feb2022/|date=24 February 2022|access-date=24 February 2022|work=[[TheJournal.ie]]|agency=[[Agence France-Presse|AFP]]|archive-date=24 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220224202250/https://www.thejournal.ie/russia-captures-chernobyl-5692876-Feb2022/|url-status=live}}</ref> Following the capture of Chernobyl, the Russian army used the city as a staging point for attacks on Kyiv.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Kramer |first1=Andrew E. |last2=Prickett |first2=Ivor |date=2022-04-08 |title=Russian Blunders in Chernobyl: 'They Came and Did Whatever They Wanted' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/08/world/europe/ukraine-chernobyl.html |access-date=2024-08-06 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Ukrainian officials reported that the radiation levels in the city had started to rise due to recent military activity causing radioactive dust to ascend into the air.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Polityuk|first1=Pavel|last2=Crellin|first2=Forrest|title=Ukraine reports higher Chernobyl radiation after Russians capture plant|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-nuclear-agency-reports-higher-chernobyl-radiation-levels-due-heavy-2022-02-25|access-date=26 February 2022|work=Reuters|date=25 February 2022|language=en|archive-date=26 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226005304/https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-nuclear-agency-reports-higher-chernobyl-radiation-levels-due-heavy-2022-02-25/|url-status=live}}</ref> Hundreds of Russian soldiers were suffering from [[radiation poisoning]] after digging trenches in a contaminated area, and one died.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/04/01/russian-soldier-dies-radiation-poisoning-chernobyl/|work=The Telegraph|date=1 April 2022|accessdate=1 April 2022|first=James |last=Kilner|title=Russian soldier dies from radiation poisoning at Chernobyl}}</ref> On 31 March it was reported that Russian forces had left the exclusion zone.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/3444941-russian-invaders-leaving-chornobyl-npp-energoatom.html|title=Russian invaders leaving Chornobyl NPP – Energoatom|date=31 March 2022 }}</ref> Ukrainian authorities reasserted control over the area on 2 April.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/europe/live-news/ukraine-russia-putin-news-04-2-22#h_8ced7c0e79f27958c6ce12f4895d5228|title = Ukrainian flag raised over Chernobyl, nuclear operator says|date = 2 April 2022}}</ref>