Mykolaiv is located in southern Ukraine just below the point where the Ingul River meets the Southern Bug River, and it has access to the Black Sea. The city is on a knee bend of the river, so that the Southern Bug (pronounced bah in Ukrainian) River loops around it on three sides. It is a city of wide, tree-lined streets and, before the war started, just over 470,000 inhabitants. The most familiar photo of the city recently may be the one of the nine-story administrative building, with a huge hole in the middle resulting from a missile strike.
For now, let’s look at Mykolaiv before the shooting started. Access to the Black Sea via the Southern Bug river is important to Mykolaiv because it serves as an important port and its major industry is shipbuilding. Mykolaiv also is the administrative center of Mykolaiv Oblast.
The photo above shows Peremogy (Victory) Park with its sports stadium and a wide view across the city. The remaining photos show some of the other sights you could see in Mykolaiv before the missiles started falling on it: a residential street, a tram (trolley car), a street fair, and one of the many bridges leading out of the city.
I’ve also added some links, in case you want to learn more about Mykolaiv. There actually is a short video of the missile striking the administrative building in the article about the missile attack. The modern city is relatively young, and is, in fact, a planned community; but people have lived in the location from ancient times. For example, a sunken Greek ship was discovered in the area dating to the fifth century B.C., one of the oldest ever found. Oh, and there’s also a link back to the “Cities Before” page, so that you can explore another city.
Links
Return to the “Cities Before” page link: Click Here. Cities Before index page, with button to go to the map.
Mykolaiv article in Wikipedia link: Click Here. Extensive article about Mykolaiv including history from the 5th century B.C.
Missile strike article in Wikipedia link: Click Here. Article about the missile strike that put a huge hole through the administrative building for Mykolaiv Oblast, killing over 30 people. There is a short video of the missile coming in and striking the building.
Photo Credits
51970918115_47f3cb26da_o.jpg by manhhai (CC BY 2.0) 3-30-22 A Ukrainian government administration building in Mykolaiv after being hit by a missile on Tuesday. Credit…Nacho Doce/Reuters via Flickr.com.
5329789043_73a101eedd_o.jpg by h2kyaks (CC BY-NC 2.0) 12-20-10 Lyagina St., Nikolaev* SSPX2161 (1) Via Flickr.com *Nickolaev was the former russian** name for Mykolaiv.
7980538859_b476a28687_o.jpg by Peter Collins (CC BY-SA 2.0) 6-13-05 2012_0613_05_Mykolaiv Mykolaiv, Ukraine via Flickr.com.
Варварівський_міст,_в’їзд_з_Миколаєва.jpg by Mezinov Alexey Viktorovich (CC BY-SA 3.0) 7-11-11 Варварівський міст, виїзд з Миколаєва Миколаївська весна у Вікіпедії (English: Varvarivsky bridge, departure from Mykolaiv) via Wikimedia Commons.
K-1_Nikolayev.JPG by Ivangricenko (CC BY-SA 3.0) 8-2-09 Tram in Mykolaiv via Wikimedia Commons.
Park_Peremogy_by_Darkngs.jpg by Darkngs (CC By-SA 4.0 Intn.) 4-13-18 Victory Park, Mykolaiv via Wikimedia Commons.
乌克兰国立造船大学.jpg (English: Ukrainian State University of Shipbuilding) by Aseras (CC BY-SA 3.0) 4-25-12 Mykolaiv. Admiral Makarov National University of Shipbuilding. Via Wikimedia Commons.
**I no longer capitalize putin, russian, russia or other words associated with the russian federation (rf). After the nazi-style atrocities, and especially after many days of dropping cruise missiles and Iranian combat drones onto cities, none of those deserves the honor of a capital letter. I’m in good company: the official Ukraine government sites have made the same gesture, and no longer capitalize russia, russian, moscow or kremlin.