Okhtyrka

Okhtyrka (Ukrainian: Охтирка, IPA: [oxˈtɪrkɐ] ^ⓘ; Russian: Ахтырка, romanized: Akhtyrka) is a city in Sumy Oblast, Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Okhtyrka Raion within the oblast. Okhtyrka was once home to Hussars and Cossacks. It was also in the past a regional seat of the Sloboda Ukraine Imperial Region and of the Ukrainian SSR. Since the discovery of oil and gas in 1961, Okhtyrka has come to be known as the "Oil Capital of Ukraine." It is home to the Okhtyrka air base and other historical and religious sites. The villages of Velyke Ozero (274 inhabitants), Zaluzhany (28 inhabitants), Prystan (7 inhabitants), and Koziatyn (6 inhabitants) belong to the Okhtyrka city administration which is designated a separate subdivision of the Sumy Oblast. Some religious buildings in Okhtyrka were almost destroyed in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.