Kharkiv: Difference between revisions

| subdivision_type = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]

| leader_party = [[Kernes Bloc —– Successful Kharkiv]]<ref name="Kharkiv7308397Terekhov">{{Cite web |title=Блок Кернеса висунув Терехова кандидатом у мери |trans-title=Kernes' bloc nominated Terekhov as a candidate for mayor |url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2021/09/25/7308397/ |access-date=2023-07-01 |website=[[Ukrainska Pravda]] |language=uk |archive-date=11 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211111205542/https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2021/09/25/7308397/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

| population_as_of = 2022April 1, 2024 estimate

| population_total = 1421125956774 {{decrease}}

| blank1_info = <small>[[Albuquerque, New Mexico|Albuquerque]], [[Bologna]], [[Cincinnati, Ohio|Cincinnati]], [[Kaunas]], [[Lille]], [[Nuremberg]], [[Poznań]], [[Tianjin]], [[Jinan]], [[Kutaisi]], [[Varna, Bulgaria|Varna]], [[Rishon LeZion]], [[Brno]], [[Daugavpils]]</small>

'''Kharkiv''' ({{langIPAc-en|'|k|a:r|k|I|v}} {{respell|KAR|kiv}}; {{langx|uk|link=no|[[wikt:Харків|Харків]]}}, {{IPA-|uk|ˈxɑrkiu̯|IPA|Uk-Харків.ogg}}), also known as '''Kharkov''' ({{langIPAc-en|UK|'|k|a:r|k|Q|v}} {{respell|KAR|kov}}, {{IPAc-en|US|'|k|a:r|k|O:|f}} {{respell|KAR|kawf}}; {{langx|ru|link=no|Харькoв}}, {{IPA-|ru|ˈxarʲkəf|IPA|Ru-Kharkov.ogg}}), is the second-largest [[List of cities in Ukraine|city]] in [[Ukraine]].<ref name="Kharkiv: #2 + situation October 2014">[http://www.euronews.com/2014/10/23/kharkiv-never-had-eastern-western-conflicts/ Kharkiv "never had eastern-western conflicts"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220320011859/https://www.euronews.com/2014/10/23/kharkiv-never-had-eastern-western-conflicts |date=20 March 2022 }}, ''[[Euronews]]'' (23 October 2014)</ref> Located in the northeast of the country, it is the largest city of the historic region of [[Sloboda Ukraine]]. Kharkiv is the [[administrative centre]] of [[Kharkiv Oblast]] and of the surrounding [[Kharkiv Raion]]. It hashad a population, before the Russian invasion, of {{Ua-pop-est2022|1,421,125|.}}

Kharkiv was founded in 1654 as a fortress, and grew to become a major centre of industry, trade, and [[Ukrainian culture]] in Sloboda Ukraine in the multiethnic [[Russian Empire]]. At the beginning of the 20th century, the city had a predominantly [[Ukrainians|Ukrainian]] and [[Russians|Russian]] population, but as industrial expansion drew in further labor from the distressed countryside, and as the [[Soviet Union]] moderated previous restrictions on Ukrainian cultural expression, [[Ukrainians]] became the largest ethnic group in the city by the eve of [[World War II]]. From December 1919 to January 1934, Kharkiv was the capital of the [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic]].

In March and April 2014, security forces and counter-demonstrators defeated efforts by [[Russian people's militias in Ukraine|Russian-backed separatists]] to seize control of the city and regional administration. Kharkiv was a major target for Russian forces in the [[eastern Ukraine campaign]] during the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]] before they were pushed back to the [[Russia-UkraineRussia–Ukraine border]]. The city remains under intermittent [[Kharkiv strikes (2022–present)|Russian fire]], with reports that almost a quarter of the city was destroyed by April 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Balmforth |first=Tom |title=Ukraine's air defence shortages leave Kharkiv more exposed to Russian bombs |website=[[Reuters]] |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/kharkivs-civilians-under-fire-ukraine-faces-catastrophic-air-defence-shortage-2024-04-12/ }} (12 April 2024)</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Security |first1=Ellie Cook |last2=Reporter |first2=Defense |date=2024-04-11 April 2024 |title=Zelensky issues dire Kharkiv warning |url=https://www.newsweek.com/volodymyr-zelensky-kharkiv-warning-russia-ground-operation-offensive-ukraine-1889311 |access-date=2024-04-11 |website=[[Newsweek]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ukraine war briefing: Kharkiv residents suffer as Russia intensifies attacks {{!}} Ukraine {{!}} The Guardian |url=https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2024/may/01/ukraine-war-briefing-kharkiv-residents-suffer-as-russia-intensifies-attacks |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=amp.theguardian.com}}</ref>

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<ref>{{cite book |last1= Eiddon |first1=Iorwerth |last2= Edwards |first2=Stephen |last3= Heather |first3=Peter |year= 1998 |title=The Late Empire |volume=13 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |series=The Cambridge Ancient History |chapter=Goths & Huns |isbn=0-521-30200-5 |page=488}}</ref> In the 8th to 10th centuries the [[Khazar]] fortress of ''Verkhneye Saltovo'' stood about {{convert|25|miles}} east of the modern city, near [[Staryi Saltiv]].<ref>Kevin Alan Brook, ''The Jews of Khazaria'' (2006), [https://books.google.com/books?id=hEuIveNl9kcC&pg=PA34 p. 34] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405180157/https://books.google.com/books?id=hEuIveNl9kcC&pg=PA34 |date=5 April 2023 }}.</ref> During the 12th century, the area was part of the territory of the [[Cumans]], and then from the mid 13th century of the [[Mongol Empire|Mongol]]/[[Tatars|Tartar]] [[Golden Horde]].

By the early 17th century, the area was a contested frontier region with renegade populations that had begun to organise in [[Cossacks|Cossack]] formations and communities defined by a common determination to resist both [[Tatars|Tatar]] slavery, and Polish-Lithuanian and Russian [[serfdom]]. Mid-century, the [[Khmelnytsky Uprisinguprising]] against the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth]] saw the brief establishment of an independent [[Cossack Hetmanate]].<ref name="Solchanyk2001">{{cite book |author=Roman Solchanyk |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LNvTSDQXFXgC&pg=PA6 |title=Ukraine and Russia: The Post-Soviet Transition |date=January 2001 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-7425-1018-0 |page=6 |access-date=31 March 2015 |archive-date=2 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002071000/https://books.google.com/books?id=LNvTSDQXFXgC&pg=PA6#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1654, in the midst of this period of turmoil for [[Right-bank Ukraine]], groups of people came onto the banks of [[Lopan River|Lopan]] and [[Kharkiv River|Kharkiv]] rivers where they resurrected and fortified an abandoned settlement.<ref name="living_kharkiv">{{Cite web |script-title=uk:Живий Харків. Нічна екскурсія містом-господарем |trans-title=Living Kharkiv. Nightly excursion through the host-city |url=https://www.istpravda.com.ua/articles/2012/06/8/88316/ |access-date=2023-07-01 |website=[[Ukrainska Pravda]] |archive-date=7 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507102527/https://www.istpravda.com.ua/articles/2012/06/8/88316/ |url-status=live }}</ref> There is a folk etymology that connects the name of both the settlement and the river to a legendary [[Zakhary Chepiha|Cossack founder named ''Kharko'']]<ref>[[Ivan Katchanovski]] et al. (eds.), ''Historical Dictionary of Ukraine'' (2013), [https://books.google.com/books?id=-h6r57lDC4QC&pg=PA253 p. 253] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405180150/https://books.google.com/books?id=-h6r57lDC4QC&pg=PA253|date=5 April 2023}}</ref> (a diminutive form of the Greek name [[Chariton (name)|Chariton]], {{lang-langx|uk|Харитон|translit=Kharyton}},<ref name="KUW231114" /> or [[Zechariah (given name)|Zechariah]], {{lang-langx|uk|Захарій|translit=Zakharii}}).<ref name="wikisource">{{cite web|url=https://uk.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%96%D0%BD%D0%BA%D0%B0:%D0%9A%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%BB%D1%8F%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B2%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9._%D0%95%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B0_%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%81%D1%96%D0%B9%D1%81%D0%BA%D1%96%D0%B9_%D1%8F%D0%B7%D1%8B%D0%BA%D1%8A_%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%86%D1%97%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%8F._1798.pdf/175|publisher=uk.wikisource.org|title=Сторінка:Котляревський. Енеида на малороссійскій языкъ перелицїованная. 1798.pdf/175 — Вікіджерела|access-date=18 June 2017|archive-date=19 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019082952/https://uk.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%96%D0%BD%D0%BA%D0%B0:%D0%9A%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%BB%D1%8F%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B2%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9._%D0%95%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B0_%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%81%D1%96%D0%B9%D1%81%D0%BA%D1%96%D0%B9_%D1%8F%D0%B7%D1%8B%D0%BA%D1%8A_%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%86%D1%97%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%8F._1798.pdf/175|url-status=live}}</ref> But the river's name is attested earlier than the foundation of the fortress.<ref>Slavs in Canada, vol. 2, Inter-university Committee on Canadian Slavs (1968), p. 255.</ref>

The settlement reluctantly accepted the protection and authority of a Russian [[voivode]] from [[Chuhuiv]] {{convert|40|km|mi}} to the east. The first appointed voivode from [[Moscow]] was Voyin Selifontov in 1656, who began to build a local [[Ostrog (fortress)|ostrog]] (fort). In 1658, a new voivode, Ivan Ofrosimov, commanded the locals to kiss the cross in a demonstration of loyalty to [[Alexis of Russia|Tsar Alexis]]. Led by their [[otaman]] Ivan Kryvoshlyk, they refused. However, with the election of a new otaman, Tymish Lavrynov, relations appear to have been repaired, the Tsar in Moscow granting the community's request (signed by the [[Dean (Christianity)|deans]] of the new [[Assumption Cathedral, Kharkiv|Assumption Cathedral]] and parish churches of Annunciation and Trinity) to establish a local market.<ref name="living_kharkiv" />

After the [[February Revolution]] of 1917, the USDLP was the main party in the first Ukrainian government, the [[General Secretariat of Ukraine]]. The [[Tsentralna Rada]] (central council) of Ukrainian parties in ''Kyiv'' authorised the Secretariat to negoitatenegotiate national autonomy with the [[Russian Provisional Government]]. In the succeeding months, as wartime conditions deteriorated, the USDLP lost support in Kharkiv and elsewhere to the [[Ukrainian Socialist Revolutionary Party]] (SR) which organised both in peasant communities and in disaffected military units.<ref name=":6" />

In the [[1917 Russian Constituent Assembly election|Russian Constituent Assembly election]] held in November 1917, the [[Bolsheviks]] who had seized power in [[Saint Petersburg|Petrograd]] and [[Moscow]] received just 10.5 percent of the vote in the [[Kherson Governorate|Governorate]], compared to 73 percent for a bloc of Russian and Ukrainian Socialist Revolutionaries. Commanding worker, rather than peasant, votes, within the city itself the Bolsheviks won a plurality.<ref name="Radkey1989-115">{{cite book |author=Oliver Henry Radkey |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gXINAQAAMAAJ |title=Russia goes to the polls: the election to the all-Russian Constituent Assembly, 1917 |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=1989 |isbn=978-0-8014-2360-4 |pages=115, 117 |access-date=11 August 2022 |archive-date=2 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002071000/https://books.google.com/books?id=gXINAQAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

When in [[Saint Petersburg|Petrograd]] Lenin's [[Council of People's Commissars]] disbanded the [[Russian Constituent Assembly|Constituent Assembly]] after its first sitting, the [[Tsentralna Rada]] in [[Kyiv]] proclaimed the independence of the [[Ukrainian People's Republic]] (UPR).<ref name="KUW231114" /> [[Bolsheviks]] withdrew from Tsentralna Rada and formed their own Rada (national council) in Kharkiv.<ref name="hdU Katchanovski">[https://books.google.com/books?id=-h6r57lDC4QC&dq=kharkiv+antonov+1917&pg=PA713 Historical Dictionary of Ukraine (Historical Dictionaries of Europe)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405224823/https://books.google.com/books?id=-h6r57lDC4QC&dq=kharkiv+antonov+1917&pg=PA713|date=5 April 2023}} by [[Ivan Katchanovski]], Scarecrow Press (Publication date: 11 July 2013), {{ISBN|0810878453}} (page 713)</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=CuLpivm5lDsC&dq=bolsheviks+moved+to+Kharkiv&pg=PA7 Literary Politics in Soviet Ukraine, 1917–1934] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405180152/https://books.google.com/books?id=CuLpivm5lDsC&dq=bolsheviks+moved+to+Kharkiv&pg=PA7 |date=5 April 2023 }}. Durham and London: Duke University Press. {{ISBN|0-8223-1099-6}} (page 7)</ref> By February 1918 their forces had [[Russian Civil War|captured much of Ukraine]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=2YqjfHLyyj8C&dq=bolsheviks+moved+to+Kharkiv+soviet+Ukraine&pg=PA1195 World War I: A Student Encyclopedia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411071742/https://books.google.com/books?id=2YqjfHLyyj8C&dq=bolsheviks+moved+to+Kharkiv+soviet+Ukraine&pg=PA1195 |date=11 April 2023 }}. [[ABC-CLIO]]. p. 1195. {{ISBN|978-1-85109-879-8}}</ref>

After the German withdrawal, the [[Red Army]] returned but, in June 1919, withdrew again before the advancing forces of [[Anton Denikin]]'s [[White movement]] [[Volunteer Army|Volunteer]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=H1jsgYCoRioC&dq=Denikin+Kharkiv&pg=PA97 The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411071747/https://books.google.com/books?id=H1jsgYCoRioC&dq=Denikin+Kharkiv&pg=PA97 |date=11 April 2023 }}, [[Harvard University Press]], 858 pages, {{ISBN|0-674-07608-7}}, page 97</ref> By December 1919 Soviet authority was restored.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=hV1h0_iMrE4C&dq=Denikin+December+1919+Kharkiv&pg=PA101 The A to Z of the Russo-Japanese War] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405180153/https://books.google.com/books?id=hV1h0_iMrE4C&dq=Denikin+December+1919+Kharkiv&pg=PA101|date=5 April 2023}}. [[Scarecrow Press Inc]]. {{ISBN|978-0-8108-6841-0}} (page 101)</ref> The Bolsheviks established Kharkiv as [[Capital (political)|the capital]] of the [[Ukrainian SSR|Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic]] and, in 1922, this was formally incorporated as a constituent republic of the [[Soviet Union]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.istpravda.com.ua/articles/2012/01/25/69897/ |title=Донбас і Україна (з історії революційної боротьби 1917–18 рр.) (Donbas and Ukraine. (From articles and declarations of Mykola Skrypnyk)) |publisher=Istpravda.com.ua |access-date=21 July 2012 |archive-date=27 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120827145101/http://www.istpravda.com.ua/articles/2012/01/25/69897/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Since the turn of the century, the influx of new workers from the countryside changed the ethnic composition of Kharkiv. According to census returns, by 1939 the Russian share of the population had fallen from almost two -thirds to one third, while the Ukrainian share rose from a quarter to almost half. The Jewish population rose from under 6 percent of the total, to over 15 percent<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> (sustaining a [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] secondary school, a popular Jewish university and extensive publication in [[Yiddish]] and Hebrew).<ref name=":9"/>[[File:GolodomorKharkiv.jpg|thumb|Starved peasants on the street during the [[Holodomor]] in Kharkiv, 1933.]]

In the 1920s, the [[Ukrainian SSR]] promoted the use of the [[Ukrainian language]], mandating it for all schools. In practice the share of [[secondary schools]] teaching in the [[Ukrainian language]] remained lower than the ethnic [[Ukrainians|Ukrainian]] share of the [[Kharkiv Oblast]]'s population.<ref>[http://balticworlds.com/games-from-the-past/ Games from the Past: The continuity and change of the identity dynamic in Donbas from a historical perspective ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140827095731/http://balticworlds.com/games-from-the-past/ |date=27 August 2014 }}, [[Södertörn University]] (19 May 2014)</ref> The [[Ukrainization]] policy was reversed, with the prosecution in Kharkiv in 1930 of the [[Union for the Freedom of Ukraine process|Union for the Freedom of Ukraine]]. Hundreds of Ukrainian intellectuals were arrested and deported.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Nn3xDTiL0PQC&q=%22official+language%22&pg=PA1 Language Policy in the Soviet Union] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230922165542/https://books.google.com/books?id=Nn3xDTiL0PQC&q=%22official+language%22&pg=PA1 |date=22 September 2023 }} by [[Lenore Grenoble]], [[Springer Science+Business Media]], 2003, {{ISBN|978-1-4020-1298-3}} (page 84)</ref>

In 1932 and 1933, the combination of grain seizures and the forced collectivisation of peasant holdings created famine conditions, the [[Holodomor]], driving people off the land and into Kharkiv, and other cities, in search of food.<ref name="Leonavičius |first1=Vylius Ozolinčiūtė 2019">{{cite journal |last1=Leonavičius |first1=Vylius |last2=Ozolinčiūtė |first2=Eglė |date=1 December 2019 |title=The Transformation of the Soviet Agriculture |journal=Sociologija: Mintis Ir Veiksmas |volume=44 |issue=1 |pages=93–131 |doi=10.15388/SocMintVei.2019.1.10 |doi-access=free |s2cid=213399789}}</ref><ref name="Ellman2007">{{cite journal |last1=Ellman |first1=Michael |author-link=Michael Ellman |date=June 2007 |title=Stalin and the Soviet Famine of 1932–33 Revisited |journal=[[Europe-Asia Studies]] |publisher=[[Routledge]] |volume=59 |issue=4 |pages=663–693 |doi=10.1080/09668130701291899 |s2cid=53655536}}</ref> Eye-witness accounts by westerners—among them those of [[Communist Party USA|American Communist]] [[Fred Beal]] employed in the [[Kharkiv Tractor Plant|Kharkiv Tractor Factory]]<ref name=":2">{{cite book |last=Beal |first=Fred Erwin |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b332369&view=1up&seq=11&skin=2021 |title=Proletarian journey: New England, Gastonia, Moscow. |date=1937 |publisher=Hillman-Curl |location=New York |pages=283–284, 289–291 |access-date=11 August 2022 |archive-date=10 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220810014224/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b332369&view=1up&seq=11&skin=2021 |url-status=live }}</ref> —were cited in the international press but, until the era of ''[[Glasnost]]'' were consistently [[Holodomor denial|denounced in the Soviet Union as fabrications]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Levy |first1=Clifford J. |date=16 March 2009 |title=A New View of a Famine That Killed Millions |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/16/world/europe/16kiev.html |access-date=11 August 2022 |archive-date=4 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804005058/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/16/world/europe/16kiev.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="reflections">{{Cite Q|Q108386870|pages=96}}</ref><ref>Boriak, Hennadii (Fall 2001). "The publication of sources on the history of the 1932-19331932–1933 famine-genocide: history, current state, and prospects". ''Harvard Ukrainian Studies'' '''25''' (3-43–4): 167–186.</ref>

During April and May 1940 about 3,900 Polish prisoners of [[Starobilsk]] camp were executed in the Kharkiv [[NKVD]] building, later secretly buried on the grounds of an NKVD pansionat in [[Piatykhatky, Kharkiv Oblast|Piatykhatky]] forest (part of the [[Katyn massacre]]) on the outskirts of Kharkiv.<ref name="Fischer">[[Benjamin Fischer (historian)|Fischer, Benjamin B.]], "[https://web.archive.org/web/20000816221054/http://www.cia.gov/csi/studies/winter99-00/art6.html The Katyn Controversy: Stalin's Killing Field]", ''[[Studies in Intelligence]]'', Winter 1999–2000, last accessed on 10&nbsp;December 2005</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-08-15 August 2016 |title=Records Relating to the Katyn Forest Massacre at the National Archives |url=https://www.archives.gov/research/foreign-policy/katyn-massacre |access-date=2022-08-12 |website=National Archives |language=en |archive-date=8 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170408082201/https://www.archives.gov/research/foreign-policy/katyn-massacre |url-status=live }}</ref> The site also contains the numerous bodies of Ukrainian cultural workers who were arrested and shot in the [[Great Purge|1937–38 Stalinist purges]].

On the eve of the occupation, Kharkiv's prewar population of 700,000 had been doubled by the influx of refugees.<ref name="Evening Kharkiv">{{Cite web |title=Харьков в годы Великой Отечественной войны &#124; Вечерний Харьков |url=https://vecherniy.kharkov.ua/news/14899/ |website=Evening Kharkiv |access-date=12 August 2022 |archive-date=12 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220812154336/https://vecherniy.kharkov.ua/news/14899/ |url-status=live }}</ref> What remained of the pre-war Jewish population of 130,000, were slated by the Germans for "special treatment": between December 1941 and January 1942, they massacred and buried an estimated 15,000 Jews in a ravine outside of town named [[Drobytsky Yar]].<ref>{{Citation |last1=Karpyuk |first1=Gennady |date=23–29 December 2006 |url=http://www.dt.ua/3000/3150/55411/ |volume=49 |issue=628 |trans-title=A tragedy that not everyone wanted to know about |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081209085420/http://www.dt.ua/3000/3150/55411/ |access-date=16 December 2011 |archive-date=9 December 2008 |script-work=uk:Дзеркало Тижня |script-title=uk:Трагедія, про яку дехто не дуже хотів знати}}</ref> Over their 22 months occupation they executed a further 30,000 residents, among them suspected Soviet partisans and, after a brief period of toleration, Ukrainian nationalists. 80,000 people died of hunger, cold and disease. 60,000 were forcibly transported to Germany as slave workers ([[Ostarbeiter]]).<ref name="KvUah5e">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ktyM07I9HXwC&dq=Kharkiv+German+November+1918&pg=PT338 |title=Ukraine: A History |edition=4th |first=Orest |last=Subtelny |authorlinkauthor-link=Orest Subtelny |publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-1442609914 |page=338 |access-date=13 March 2023 |archive-date=11 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411071745/https://books.google.com/books?id=ktyM07I9HXwC&dq=Kharkiv+German+November+1918&pg=PT338 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":5"/> Among these was [[Borys Romanchenko|Boris Romanchenko]]. The 96-year -old survivor of forced labor at the [[Buchenwald concentration camp|Buchenwald]], [[Peenemünde]], [[Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp|Dora]] and [[Bergen-Belsen concentration camp|Bergen Belsen]] [[Nazi concentration camps|concentration camps]] was killed when Russian fire hit his apartment bloc on 18 March 2022.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kelly |first=Lidia |date=2022-03-22 March 2022 |title=WWII Holocaust survivor killed in Ukraine's Kharkiv |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/wwii-holocaust-survivor-killed-ukraines-kharkiv-2022-03-22/ |access-date=2022-08-13 |archive-date=12 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512204700/https://www.reuters.com/world/wwii-holocaust-survivor-killed-ukraines-kharkiv-2022-03-22/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=96-year-old Holocaust survivor said killed in Russian shelling of his Kharkiv home |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/96-year-old-holocaust-survivor-said-killed-in-russian-shelling-of-his-kharkiv-home/ |access-date=2022-08-13 |date=21 March 2022 |website=[[Times of Israel]] |language=en-US |archive-date=13 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220813165954/https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/96-year-old-holocaust-survivor-said-killed-in-russian-shelling-of-his-kharkiv-home/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

By the time of Kharkiv's liberation in August 1943, the surviving population had been reduced to under 200,000.<ref name="Evening Kharkiv"/> Seventy percent of the city had been destroyed.<ref name=":7" /> According to a New York Time's piece, "The city was more battered than perhaps any other in the Soviet Union save Stalingrad."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Verini |first=James |date=2022-05-19 May 2022 |title=Surviving the Siege of Kharkiv |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/05/19/magazine/kharkiv-siege.html |access-date=2023-08-14 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=5 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230705011709/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/05/19/magazine/kharkiv-siege.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the [[Brezhnev era|Brezhnev-era]], Kharkiv was promoted as a "model Soviet city". Propaganda made much of its “youthfulness”"youthfulness", a designation broadly used to suggest the relative absence in the city of "material and spiritual relics" from the pre-revolutionary era, and its commitment to the new frontiers of Soviet industry and science. The city's machine-and-weapons building prowess was attributed to a forward-looking collaboration between its large-scale industrial enterprises and new research institutes and laboratories.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Studenna-Skrukwa |first=Marta |date=2020 |title=Model Soviet City of the Brezhnev Era: The Image of Kharkiv in Selected Propaganda Texts |url=http://cejsh.icm.edu.pl/cejsh/element/bwmeta1.element.ojs-doi-10_12775_HiP_2020_015 |journal=Historia i Polityka |volume=32 |language=EN |issue=39 |page=67 |doi=10.12775/HiP.2020.015 |s2cid=229566527 |issn=1899-5160 |doi-access=free |access-date=12 August 2022 |archive-date=12 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220812134517/http://cejsh.icm.edu.pl/cejsh/element/bwmeta1.element.ojs-doi-10_12775_HiP_2020_015 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The last [[First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine|Communist Party chief of Ukraine]], [[Vladimir Ivashko]], appointed in 1989, trained as a mining engineer and served as a party functionary in Kharkiv.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Remnick |first=David |date=29 September 1989-09-29 |title=SHCHERBITSKY DISMISSED AS COMMUNIST PARTY BOSS IN UKRAINE |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1989/09/29/shcherbitsky-dismissed-as-communist-party-boss-in-ukraine/f903ba8a-bece-4493-894e-9a3b28e87d81/ |access-date=2022-08-14 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=28 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828011513/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1989/09/29/shcherbitsky-dismissed-as-communist-party-boss-in-ukraine/f903ba8a-bece-4493-894e-9a3b28e87d81/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He led the Communists to victory in Kharkiv and across the country in the [[1990 Ukrainian parliamentary election|parliamentary election]] held in the Ukrainian SSR in March 1990.<ref name="kalinichenko">{{cite web |script-title=uk:КАЛІНІЧЕНКО В.В., РИБАЛКА І.К. ІСТОРІЯ УКРАЇНИ. ЧАСТИНА ІІІ: 1917-20031917–2003 рр. |url=http://www-history.univer.kharkov.ua/e-library/kalinichenko_textbook/Kalinichenko_10.2.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512070738/http://www-history.univer.kharkov.ua/e-library/kalinichenko_textbook/Kalinichenko_10.2.htm |archive-date=2008-05-12 |language=uk}}</ref> The election was relatively free, but occurred well before organised political parties had time to form, and did not arrest the decline in the CPSU's legitimacy.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McFaul |first=Michael |url=http://archive.org/details/postcommunistpol0000mcfa |title=Post-communist politics : democratic prospects in Russia and Eastern Europe |date=1993 |publisher=Washington, D.C. : Center for Strategic and International Studies |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-89206-208-9 |pages=17–19}}</ref> This was accelerated by the intra-party coup attempt against President [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] and his reforms on 18 August 18, 1991, during which Ivashko temporarily replaced Gorbachev as [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|CPSU General Secretary.]]<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Perrie |first1=Maureen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KAPxOl_mh4YC |title=The Cambridge History of Russia: Volume 3, The Twentieth Century |last2=Lieven |first2=D. C. B. |last3=Suny |first3=Ronald Grigor |date=2 November 2006-11-02 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-81144-6 |pages=344–349 |language=en |chapter=The Gorbachev Era}}</ref>

[[National University of Kharkiv|The National University of Kharkiv]] was at the forefront of democratic agitation. In October 1991, a call from Kyiv for an all-Ukrainian university strike to protest Gorbachev's [[Union of Sovereign States#Development|new]] [[New Union Treaty|Union Treaty]] and to call for new multi-party elections was met with a rally at the entrance to the university attended not only by students and university teachers, but also by a range of public and cultural figures.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Революція на граніті: Як харківські студенти змінили історію держави 30 років тому – новини Харкова |url=https://kh.depo.ua/ukr/kh/revolyutsiya-na-graniti-yak-kharkivski-studenti-zminili-istoriyu-derzhavi-30-rokiv-tomu-202010231230205 |access-date=2022-08-14 |website=www.depo.ua |language=uk |archive-date=14 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814231233/https://kh.depo.ua/ukr/kh/revolyutsiya-na-graniti-yak-kharkivski-studenti-zminili-istoriyu-derzhavi-30-rokiv-tomu-202010231230205 |url-status=live }}</ref> The protests—the so-called [[Revolution on Granite]]<ref name="lesson-revolution-granite">[http://m.day.kyiv.ua/en/article/day-after-day/lesson-revolution-granite The lesson of the Revolution on Granite] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415162522/http://m.day.kyiv.ua/en/article/day-after-day/lesson-revolution-granite |date=15 April 2021 }}, ''[[Den (newspaper)|Den]]'' (4 October 2016)</ref>—ended on October 17 October with a resolution of the [[Verkhovna Rada]] of the Ukrainian SSR promising further democratic reform. In the event, the only demand fulfilled was the removal of the Communist Prime Minister.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Zhyshko |first=Serhii |date=2016 |title=The lesson of the Revolution on Granite |url=https://m.day.kyiv.ua/en/article/day-after-day/lesson-revolution-granite |access-date=2022-08-14 |website=«Антидот» і «детокс» від «Дня» |archive-date=14 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814231233/https://m.day.kyiv.ua/en/article/day-after-day/lesson-revolution-granite |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the 1 December 1991 [[1991 Ukrainian independence referendum|Referendum on the Act of Declaration of Independence]], on a turnout of 76 percent 86 percent of the [[Kharkiv Oblast]] approved separate Ukrainian statehood.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-09-28 September 2015 |title=Ukrainian Independence Referendum |url=https://soviethistory.msu.edu/1991-2/the-end-of-the-soviet-union/the-end-of-the-soviet-union-texts/ukrainian-independence-declaration/ |access-date=2022-08-12 |website=Seventeen Moments in Soviet History |language=en-US |archive-date=14 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220414065531/https://soviethistory.msu.edu/1991-2/the-end-of-the-soviet-union/the-end-of-the-soviet-union-texts/ukrainian-independence-declaration/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

During the [[1990s post-Soviet aliyah]], many Jews from Kharkiv emigrated to [[Israel]] or to Western countries.<ref>{{cite web |title=Virtual Jewish World: Kharkov, Ukraine |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/kharkov-ukraine-virtual-jewish-history-tour |access-date=2022-03-15 |publisher=[[Jewish Virtual Library]] |archive-date=5 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405180150/https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/kharkov-ukraine-virtual-jewish-history-tour |url-status=live }}</ref> The city's Jewish population, 62,800 in 1970,<ref name=":9" /> dropped to 50,000 by the end of the century.<ref>{{cite web |title=Khar'kiv |url=https://yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/kharkiv |access-date=2022-03-15 |publisher=[[YIVO]] |archive-date=12 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230512011725/https://yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Kharkiv |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|collapse of the Soviet Union]] disrupted, but did not sever, the ties that bound Kharkiv heavy's heavy industries to the integrated Soviet market and supply chains, and did not diminish dependency on Russian oil, minerals, and gas.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Sutela |first1=Pekka |title=The Underachiever: Ukraine's Economy Since 1991 |url=https://carnegieendowment.org/2012/03/09/underachiever-ukraine-s-economy-since-1991-pub-47451 |access-date=2022-08-14 |website=Carnegie Endowment for International Peace |language=en |archive-date=29 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729100406/https://carnegieendowment.org/2012/03/09/underachiever-ukraine-s-economy-since-1991-pub-47451 |url-status=live }}</ref> In Kharkiv and elsewhere in eastern Ukraine, the limited prospects for securing new economic partners in the West, and concern for the rights of Russian-speakers in the new national state, combined to promote the interests of political parties and candidates emphasising understanding and cooperation with the [[Russian Federation]]. In the new century, these were represented by the [[Party of Regions]] and by the presidential ambitions of [[Viktor Yanukovych|Victor Yanukovych]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=29 September 2010-09-29 |title=The Party of Regions monopolises power in Ukraine |url=https://www.osw.waw.pl/en/publikacje/osw-commentary/2010-09-29/party-regions-monopolises-power-ukraine |access-date=2022-08-14 |website=OSW Centre for Eastern Studies |language=en |archive-date=14 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814133452/https://www.osw.waw.pl/en/publikacje/osw-commentary/2010-09-29/party-regions-monopolises-power-ukraine |url-status=live }}</ref> which in Kharkiv triumphed in the city council elections of 2006, in the parliamentary elections of 2007 and in the presidential elections of 2010.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Platonova |first=Daria |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=01E_EAAAQBAJ&pg=PP27 |title=The Donbas Conflict in Ukraine: Elites, Protest, and Partition |publisher=Routledge |year=2021 |isbn=978-1-000-45326-3 |pages=27 |language=en |access-date=22 August 2022 |archive-date=2 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002071002/https://books.google.com/books?id=01E_EAAAQBAJ&pg=PP27#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the wake of Yanukovych's ouster in February, there were attempts in Kharkiv to follow the example of separatists in neighbouring [[Donbas]].<ref name="Ukraine crisis timeline BBC">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-26248275|title=Ukraine crisis: Timeline|work=BBC News|date=13 November 2014|access-date=22 March 2015|archive-date=3 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140603193226/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-26248275|url-status=live}}</ref> On 2 March 2014, a Russian "tourist" from Moscow replaced the [[Ukrainian flag]] with a [[Russian flag]] on the Kharkiv Regional State Administration Building.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/04/world/europe/russias-hand-can-be-seen-in-the-protests.html | title = From Russia, 'Tourists' Stir the Protests | first = Andrew | last = Roth | work = The New York Times | date = 4 March 2014 | access-date = 27 February 2017 | archive-date = 4 March 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140304074020/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/04/world/europe/russias-hand-can-be-seen-in-the-protests.html | url-status = live }}<br>{{cite news | url = https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-26435333 | title = Russian site recruits 'volunteers' for Ukraine | work = BBC News | date = 4 March 2014 | access-date = 21 June 2018 | archive-date = 22 July 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180722074502/https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-26435333 | url-status = live }}</ref> On 6 April 2014 pro-Russian protestors occupied the building and unilaterally declared independence from Ukraine as the "[[Kharkiv People's Republic]]".<ref name="separatistarrests25324984">[https://www.rferl.org/a/kharkiv-operation-ukraine-terrorism-separatist-arrests/25324984.html Ukraine Authorities Clear Kharkiv Building, Arrest Scores Of 'Separatists'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211111211046/https://www.rferl.org/a/kharkiv-operation-ukraine-terrorism-separatist-arrests/25324984.html |date=11 November 2021 }}, [[Radio Free Europe]] (8 April 2014)<br>[https://carnegieeurope.eu/2018/09/12/how-eastern-ukraine-is-adapting-and-surviving-case-of-kharkiv-pub-77216 How Eastern Ukraine Is Adapting and Surviving: The Case of Kharkiv] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308154832/https://www.rferl.org/a/kharkiv-operation-ukraine-terrorism-separatist-arrests/25324984.html |date=8 March 2022 }}, [[Carnegie Europe]] (12 September 2018)</ref><ref name="Focus Information Agency">{{cite web | url=http://www.focus-fen.net/news/2014/04/07/332351/pro-russia-activists-declare-establishment-of-kharkiv-peoples-republic.html | title=Pro-Russia activists declare establishment of 'Kharkiv people's republic' | work=Focus Information Agency | date=7 April 2014 | access-date=13 April 2014 | archive-date=9 April 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140409121553/http://www.focus-fen.net/news/2014/04/07/332351/pro-russia-activists-declare-establishment-of-kharkiv-peoples-republic.html | url-status=dead }}</ref> Doubts arose about their local origin as they had initially targeted the city's [[Kharkiv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre|Opera and Ballet Theatre]] before recognising their mistake.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Times |firstdate=The8 MoscowApril |date=2014-04-08 |title=Protesters Storm Kharkiv Theater Thinking It Was City Hall |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2014/04/08/protesters-storm-kharkiv-theater-thinking-it-was-city-hall-a33739 |access-date=2022-08-15 |website=The Moscow Times |language=en |archive-date=15 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220815112502/https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2014/04/08/protesters-storm-kharkiv-theater-thinking-it-was-city-hall-a33739 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Kharkiv's mayor, [[Hennadiy Kernes|Hennadiy "Gepa" Kernes]], elected in 2010 as the nominee of the [[Party of Regions]], was placed under house arrest. Claiming to have been "prisoner of Yanukovych's system",<ref name="prisoner of Yanukovych">[http://mymedia.org.ua/en/articles/revolution/kharkiv_s_kernes_justifies_his_180-degree_political_turn_by_saying_he_was_prisoner_of_yanukovych_sys.html "Kharkiv's Kernes justifies his 180-degree political turn by saying he was 'prisoner' of Yanukovych system"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211206195542/https://mymedia.org.ua/en/articles/revolution/kharkiv_s_kernes_justifies_his_180-degree_political_turn_by_saying_he_was_prisoner_of_yanukovych_sys.html|date=6 December 2021}}, [[MY-MEDIA]], 6 March 2014; accessed 28 August 2014.</ref> he now declared his loyalty to acting President [[Oleksandr Turchynov]].<ref name="separatistarrests25324984" /> In a televised address on April 7 April, Turchynov had announced that "a second wave of the Russian Federation's special operation against Ukraine [has] started" with the "goal of destabilising the situation in the country, toppling Ukrainian authorities, disrupting the elections, and tearing our country apart".<ref>{{Cite news |title=Authorities Clear Occupied Kharkiv Building |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/kharkiv-operation-ukraine-terrorism-separatist-arrests/25324984.html |access-date=2022-08-15 |newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |date=8 April 2014 |language=en |archive-date=11 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211111211046/https://www.rferl.org/a/kharkiv-operation-ukraine-terrorism-separatist-arrests/25324984.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Kernes persuaded the police to storm the regional administration building and push out the separatists. He was allowed to return to his mayoral duties.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |last=Loiko |first=Sergei |date=2014-04-28 April 2014 |title=Ukraine mayor in critical condition after he was shot in the back |url=https://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-ukraine-mayor-shot-20140428-story.html |access-date=2022-08-15 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US |archive-date=15 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220815112502/https://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-ukraine-mayor-shot-20140428-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Police action against the separatists was reinforced by a special forces unit from [[Vinnytsia]] directed by Ukrainian Interior Minister [[Arsen Avakov]] and [[Stepan Poltorak]] the acting commander of the [[Internal Troops of Ukraine|Ukrainian Internal Forces]].<ref name="separatistarrests25324984" /><ref name="KRR2">{{cite news | url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/kharkiv-settles-down-while-pro-russian-separatists-still-hold-buildings-in-luhansk-donetsk-342517.html | title=Kharkiv settles down, while pro-Russian separatists still hold buildings in Luhansk, Donetsk | work=Kyiv Post | date=8 April 2014 | access-date=13 April 2014 | archive-date=13 January 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160113023301/http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/kharkiv-settles-down-while-pro-russian-separatists-still-hold-buildings-in-luhansk-donetsk-342517.html | url-status=live }}</ref> On 13 April, some pro-Russian protesters again made it inside the Kharkiv regional state administration building, but were quickly evicted.<ref name="KRR2" /><ref name="kharkivinfiltrate">{{cite news |date=13 April 2014 |title=Kharkiv city government building infiltrated by pro-Russian protesters |work=Kyiv Post |url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/pro-russian-militants-attack-pro-ukrainian-demonstrators-in-kharkiv-including-at-least-three-severely-343292.html |access-date=13 April 2014 |archive-date=13 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160113023301/http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/pro-russian-militants-attack-pro-ukrainian-demonstrators-in-kharkiv-including-at-least-three-severely-343292.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Unian.net">{{cite web |url=http://www.unian.net/politics/907771-posle-napadeniya-antimaydanovtsev-na-miting-evromaydana-v-harkove-postradalo-50-chelovek.html |title=После нападения антимайдановцев на митинг Евромайдана в Харькове пострадало 50 человек : Новости УНИАН |publisher=Unian.net |date=14 April 2014 |access-date=28 April 2014 |archive-date=19 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140519144043/http://www.unian.net/politics/907771-posle-napadeniya-antimaydanovtsev-na-miting-evromaydana-v-harkove-postradalo-50-chelovek.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Violent clashes resulted in the severe beating of at least 50 pro-Ukrainian protesters in attacks by pro-Russian protesters.<ref name="kharkivinfiltrate" /><ref name="Unian.net" /> On 28 April, [[Hennadiy Kernes|Kernes]] was shot by a sniper,<ref>{{cite news |date=28 April 2014 |title=Ukraine crisis: US and EU to intensify Russia sanctions |work=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27183591 |access-date=28 April 2014 |archive-date=1 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220301222721/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27183591 |url-status=live }}[http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-ukraine-mayor-shot-20140428,0,1011902.story?track=rss#axzz30JGhcEHC Ukraine mayor in critical condition after he was shot in the back] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140505011013/http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-ukraine-mayor-shot-20140428,0,1011902.story?track=rss#axzz30JGhcEHC |date=5 May 2014 }}, ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' (28 April 2014)</ref> a victim, commentators suggested, of his former pro-Russian allies.<ref name=":8" />

From early November until mid-December, Kharkiv was struck by seven non-lethal bomb blasts. Targets of these attacks included a rock pub known for raising money for Ukrainian forces, a hospital for Ukrainian forces, a military recruiting centre, and a [[National Guard of Ukraine|National Guard]] base.<ref>[http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-ukraine-russia-kharkiv-bombs-20141210-story.html Seven recent blasts in Ukraine city stir fear of new Russian menace] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220320012623/https://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-ukraine-russia-kharkiv-bombs-20141210-story.html |date=20 March 2022 }}, [[Los Angeles Times]] (11 December 2014)<br>[https://news.yahoo.com/mysterious-spate-bombings-hit-ukraine-military-hub-114452090.html# Mysterious spate of bombings hit Ukraine military hub] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315155646/http://news.yahoo.com/mysterious-spate-bombings-hit-ukraine-military-hub-114452090.html |date=15 March 2016 }}, [[Agence France-Presse]] (10 December 2014)</ref> According to [[Security Service of Ukraine|SBU]] investigator Vasyliy Vovk, [[Foreign Intelligence Service (Russia)|Russian covert forces]] were behind the attacks, and had intended to destabilise the otherwise calm city of Kharkiv.<ref>[http://www.unian.info/society/1020077-sbu-russian-special-services-target-kharkiv-odesa-situation-difficult-to-control.html SBU: Russian special services target Kharkiv, Odesa, situation difficult to control] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214215037/http://www.unian.info/society/1020077-sbu-russian-special-services-target-kharkiv-odesa-situation-difficult-to-control.html |date=14 December 2014 }}, [[Ukrainian Independent Information Agency]] (10 December 2014)</ref> On 8 January 2015 five men wearing [[Balaclava (clothing)|balaclava]]s broke into an office of Station Kharkiv, a volunteer group aiding refugees from [[Donbas]].<ref name="biSK8115">{{cite web |date=9 January 2015 |script-title=uk:Міліція з ясовує, хто напав на волонтерську "Станцію Харків" |trans-title=Police finds out who attacked the volunteer-run "Station Kharkiv" |url=http://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-iac/1801796-militsiya_zyasovue__hto_napav_na_volontersku_stantsiyu_harkiv_2008697.html |access-date=22 March 2015 |publisher=ukrinform.ua |language=uk |archive-date=7 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151007213937/http://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-iac/1801796-militsiya_zyasovue__hto_napav_na_volontersku_stantsiyu_harkiv_2008697.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web |date=25 October 2014 |script-title=ru:"Станция Харьков" — первый пункт помощи переселенцам из зоны АТО |trans-title="Station Kharkiv" -– the first point of assistance for displaced persons from the Donbas zone |url=http://24tv.ua/ru/stantsiya_harkov__perviy_punkt_pomoshhi_pereselentsam_iz_zoni_ato_n500974 |access-date=22 March 2015 |publisher=24tv.ua |language=ru |archive-date=14 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160114041233/http://24tv.ua/ru/stantsiya_harkov__perviy_punkt_pomoshhi_pereselentsam_iz_zoni_ato_n500974 |url-status=live }}</ref> On 22 February an [[improvised explosive device]] killed four people and wounded nine during a march commemorating the [[List of people killed during the 2014 Ukrainian revolution|Euromaidan victims]].<ref name="separatistarrests25324984" /> The authorities launched an 'anti-terrorist operation'.<ref>[http://www.unian.info/politics/1047081-anti-terrorist-operation-launched-in-kharkiv-due-to-fatal-blast-on-sunday-turchynov.html UNIAN] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150224202600/http://www.unian.info/politics/1047081-anti-terrorist-operation-launched-in-kharkiv-due-to-fatal-blast-on-sunday-turchynov.html |date=24 February 2015 }} ''Anti-terrorist operation launched in Kharkiv due to fatal blast on Sunday – Turchynov'', 22 February 2015. <br>[http://en.censor.net.ua/news/325751/antiterrorist_operation_started_in_kharkiv_four_participants_on_the_explosion_detained En.Censor.Net] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150225022520/http://en.censor.net.ua/news/325751/antiterrorist_operation_started_in_kharkiv_four_participants_on_the_explosion_detained |date=25 February 2015 }}, ''Anti-terrorist operation started in Kharkiv: four participants on the explosion detained'', 22 February 2015.<br>[http://novorossia.today/turchinov-announced-start-of-the-ato-in-kharkov-the-highest-level-of-terrorist-threat-had-been-introduced-in-the-city/ Novorossia.Today] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150225030318/http://novorossia.today/turchinov-announced-start-of-the-ato-in-kharkov-the-highest-level-of-terrorist-threat-had-been-introduced-in-the-city/ |date=25 February 2015 }}, Turchinov announced start of the ATO in Kharkov. The highest level of terrorist threat had been introduced in the city, 23 February 2015.</ref> Further bombings targeted army fuel tanks, an unoccupied passenger train and a [[Ukrainian flag]] in the city centre.<ref>[https://www.npr.org/2015/04/06/397774803/despite-tenuous-truce-in-eastern-ukraine-bomb-attacks-increase-in-kharkiv Bomb Attacks Increase In Ukraine's Second-Largest City, Kharkiv] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019082853/http://www.npr.org/2015/04/06/397774803/despite-tenuous-truce-in-eastern-ukraine-bomb-attacks-increase-in-kharkiv |date=19 October 2017 }}, [[NPR]] (6 April 2015)<br>[http://uatoday.tv/politics/kharkiv-explosion-targets-ukrainian-flag-419957.html Kharkiv explosion targeting Ukrainian flag classified as 'terrorist act'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150414190720/http://uatoday.tv/politics/kharkiv-explosion-targets-ukrainian-flag-419957.html |date=14 April 2015 }}, [[Ukraine Today]] (7 April 2015)<br>[http://www.rferl.org/content/explosion-in-ukraine-kharkiv-targets-national-flag-memorial/26942551.html Explosion In Ukraine's Kharkiv Targets National Flag Memorial] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407094223/http://www.rferl.org/content/explosion-in-ukraine-kharkiv-targets-national-flag-memorial/26942551.html |date=7 April 2015 }}, [[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]] (7 April 2015)</ref>

Until 18 July 2020, Kharkiv was incorporated as a [[city of regional significance (Ukraine)|city of oblast significance]] and served as the administrative center of Kharkiv Raion though it did not belong to the raion. In July 2020, as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Kharkiv Oblast to seven, the city of Kharkiv was merged into Kharkiv Raion.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Про утворення та ліквідацію районів. Постанова Верховної Ради України № 807-ІХ.|url=http://www.golos.com.ua/article/333466|access-date=2020-10-03|date=2020-07-18 July 2020|website=Голос України|language=uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Нові райони: карти + склад |url=https://www.minregion.gov.ua/press/news/novi-rajony-karty-sklad/ |publisher=Міністерство розвитку громад та територій України |language=Ukrainian}}</ref>

According to a 28 February 2022, report from Agroportal 24h, the [[Kharkiv Tractor Plant|Kharkiv Tractor Plant (KhTZ)]], in the south east of the city, was destroyed and “engulfed"engulfed in fire”fire" by “massive"massive shelling”shelling" from Russian forces.<ref name=":4">{{cite web |title=Ukrainian Tractor Factory Destroyed in Bombing |url=https://www.agequipmentintelligence.com/articles/5369-ukrainian-tractor-factory-destroyed-in-bombing |access-date=14 March 2022 |website=www.agequipmentintelligence.com |language=en |archive-date=16 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220316120452/https://www.agequipmentintelligence.com/articles/5369-ukrainian-tractor-factory-destroyed-in-bombing |url-status=live }}</ref> Video purported to record explosions and fire at the plant on 25 and 27 February 2022.<ref>{{cite web |title=Реальная Война Новости Украина |url=https://t.me/voynareal/10377 |access-date=14 March 2022 |website=Telegram |archive-date=14 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220314111604/https://t.me/voynareal/10377 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=video of the fire reportedly at the Kharkiv Tractor Plant |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY5kGPtCGTo |language=en |access-date=14 March 2022 |archive-date=14 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220314111609/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY5kGPtCGTo&feature=youtu.be |url-status=live }}</ref> UNESCO has confirmed that in the first three weeks of bombardment the city experienced the loss or damage of at least 27 major historical buildings.<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 May 2022-05-05 |title=Kharkiv catalogues war's toll on its architectural gems |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/05/kharkiv-catalogues-war-toll-on-architectural-gems-historic-buildings-ukraine |access-date=2022-08-15 |website=theThe Guardian |language=en |archive-date=24 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220724091916/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/05/kharkiv-catalogues-war-toll-on-architectural-gems-historic-buildings-ukraine |url-status=live }}</ref>

In May 2022, Ukrainian forces began a counter-offensive to drive Russian forces away from the city and towards the international border. By 12 May, the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence reported that Russia had withdrawn units from the Kharkiv area.<ref name="fox">{{cite news |last=Norman |first=Greg |date=12 May 2022 |title=Russia withdrawing troops after 'heavy losses', proving 'inability to capture key Ukrainian cities,' UK says |newspaper=Fox News |url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/russia-withdrawing-troops-kharkiv-ukraine-war-uk-says |access-date=14 May 2022 |archive-date=15 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220515230813/https://www.foxnews.com/world/russia-withdrawing-troops-kharkiv-ukraine-war-uk-says |url-status=live }}</ref> Russian artillery and rockets remain within range of the city, and it [[Bombing of Kharkiv (2022–present)|continues to suffer shelling]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Enemy shell falls near apartment building in Kharkiv region |url=https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/3550225-enemy-shell-falls-near-apartment-building-in-kharkiv-region.html |access-date=2022-08-14 |website=www.ukrinform.net |date=14 August 2022 |language=en |archive-date=14 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814192811/https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/3550225-enemy-shell-falls-near-apartment-building-in-kharkiv-region.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and missile strikes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Russians fire missiles at Kharkiv Region's Zmiiv community, three civilians injured |url=https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/3550022-russians-fire-missiles-at-kharkiv-regions-zmiiv-community-three-civilians-injured.html |access-date=2022-08-14 |website=www.ukrinform.net |date=14 August 2022 |language=en |archive-date=14 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814080545/https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/3550022-russians-fire-missiles-at-kharkiv-regions-zmiiv-community-three-civilians-injured.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=31 December 2023 |title=Ukraine war: Russia hits back after Kyiv attack on border city |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67851431 |access-date=31 December 2023 |work=[[BBC News]]}}<br>{{Cite web |date=29 December 2023-12-29 |title=Russia launches largest air attack on Ukraine since start of full-scale war |url=https://kyivindependent.com/russian-strikes-injure-at-least-7-in-kyiv-casualties-reported-in-lviv-dnipro-kharkiv/ |access-date=2023-12-30 |website=The Kyiv Independent |language=en}}</ref>

Kharkiv has a large number of green city parks with a long history of more than 100 years with very old oak trees and many flowers.{{Citation needed|date=November 2016}} [[Central Park (Kharkiv)|Central Park]] is Kharkiv's largest public garden. The park has nine areas: children, extreme sports, family entertainment, a medieval area, entertainment center, French park, cable car, sports grounds, retro park. This park was previously named after [[Maxim Gorky]] until June 2023 when it was renamed Central Park for Culture and Recreation.<ref>{{cite web|title=In Kharkiv, the Central Park named after Gorky and several streets|url=https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-regions/3722289-u-harkovi-perejmenuvali-centralnij-park-im-gorkogo-ta-kilka-vulic.html|date=13 June 2023|access-date=26 January 2024|langlanguage=Ukrainian|website=[[Ukrinform]]}}</ref>

|width=80%auto

|location=Kharkiv, Ukraine (1991−20201991–2020, extremes 1841–present)

| Mar record high C = 2123.87

| url = http://www.pogodaiklimat.ru/climate/34300.htm

| title = Weather and Climate -– The Climate of Kharkiv

|source 2 = [[NCEI]] (humidity 1981–2010, sun 1991-20201991–2020)<ref name=WMOCLINO>{{cite web

| access-date = 18 July 2021}}</ref> <ref name=NOAA>

{| class="toccolours" style="float:right; font-size:80%; margin-left:10px;"

The territory of Kharkiv is divided into 9 administrative [[raion]]s ([[districts]]), until February 2016 they were named for people, places, events, and organizations associated with early years of the Soviet Union but many were renamed in February 2016 to comply with [[Decommunization in Ukraine|decommunization laws]].<ref name=nmcrinK>{{Cite web |script-title=uk:У Харкові “декомунізували” ще 48 вулиць і 5 районів |trans-title=Another 48 streets and 5 districts "decommunized" in Kharkiv |url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2016/02/3/7097721/ |access-date=2023-07-01 |website=[[Ukrainska Pravda]] |language=uk |archive-date=1 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701072227/https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2016/02/3/7097721/ |url-status=live }}<br>{{Cite web |date=2023-06-30 June 2023 |script-title=ru:Переименование районов |trans-title=Three districts renamed in Kharkiv |url=https://www.sq.com.ua/rus/news/vlast/03.02.2016/v_harkove_pereimenovali_tri_rajona |access-date=2023-07-01 |website=Status Quo |language=ru |archive-date=1 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701072229/https://www.sq.com.ua/rus/news/vlast/03.02.2016/v_harkove_pereimenovali_tri_rajona |url-status=live }}<br>{{in lang|uk}} [http://ua.korrespondent.net/city/kharkov/3624201-u-kharkovi-vyrishyly-ne-pereimenovuvaty-zhovtnevyi-i-frunzenskyi-raiony It was decided not to rename the Zhovtnevyi and the Frunzenskyi districts in Kharkiv] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160204022044/http://ua.korrespondent.net/city/kharkov/3624201-u-kharkovi-vyrishyly-ne-pereimenovuvaty-zhovtnevyi-i-frunzenskyi-raiony |date=4 February 2016 }}, [[Korrespondent.net]] (3 February 2015)</ref> Also, owing to this law, over 200 streets have been renamed in Kharkiv since 20 November 2015.<ref>{{in lang|ru}} [http://www.sq.com.ua/rus/news/vlast/20.11.2015/gorsovet_pereimenoval_170_ulic/ List of 170 renamed streets] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160124034924/http://www.sq.com.ua/rus/news/vlast/20.11.2015/gorsovet_pereimenoval_170_ulic |date=24 January 2016 }}, SQ (20 November 2015)<br>{{in lang|uk}} [http://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/harkovskiy-gorsovet-pereimenoval-173-ulitsy-1448020126.html Kharkiv city council renamed 173 streets, 4 parks and a metro station] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160127033358/http://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/harkovskiy-gorsovet-pereimenoval-173-ulitsy-1448020126.html |date=27 January 2016 }}, [[RBC Ukraine]] (20 November 2015)<br>{{in lang|ru}} [http://www.sq.com.ua/rus/news/obschestvo/03.02.2016/v_harkove_pereimenovali_esche_50_ulic_spisok/ 50 streets renamed in Kharkiv: list] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160204060806/http://www.sq.com.ua/rus/news/obschestvo/03.02.2016/v_harkove_pereimenovali_esche_50_ulic_spisok/ |date=4 February 2016 }}, SQ (3 February 2015)</ref>

# [[Kholodnohirskyi District|Kholodnohirskyi]] ({{lang-langx|uk|Холодногірський район}}, ''Cold Mountain''; namesake: the historic name of the neighbourhood<ref>{{in lang|ru}} [http://www.sq.com.ua/rus/news/obschestvo/23.02.2016/rajony_harkova_istoriya_s_geografiej/ Districts Of Kharkiv. History with geography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170318002709/http://www.sq.com.ua/rus/news/obschestvo/23.02.2016/rajony_harkova_istoriya_s_geografiej |date=18 March 2017 }}, SQ (23 February 2015)</ref>) (formerly Leninskyi; namesake: [[Vladimir Lenin]])

# [[Shevchenkivskyi District, Kharkiv|Shevchenkivskyi]] ({{lang-langx|uk|Шевченківський район}}); namesake: [[Taras Shevchenko]] (formerly Dzerzhynskyi; namesake [[Felix Dzerzhinsky]])

# [[Kyivskyi District, Kharkiv|Kyivskyi]] ({{lang-langx|uk|Київський район}}); namesake: [[Kyiv]] (formerly Kahanovychskyi; namesake: [[Lazar Kaganovich]])

# [[Saltivskyi District|Saltivskyi]] ({{lang-langx|uk|Салтівський район}}); namesake: [[Saltivka]] residential area (formerly Moskovskyi; namesake: [[Moscow]])

# [[Nemyshlianskyi District|Nemyshlianskyi]] ({{lang-langx|uk|Немишлянський район}}) (formerly Frunzenskyi: namesake: [[Mikhail Frunze]]<ref name="3684227-u-kharkovi"/>);

# [[Industrialnyi District, Kharkiv|Industrialnyi]] ({{lang-langx|uk|Індустріальний район}}) (formerly Ordzhonikidzevskyi; namesake: [[Sergo Ordzhonikidze]])

# [[Slobidskyi District|Slobidskyi]] ({{lang-langx|uk|Слобідський район}}) (formerly [[Communist International|Komintern]]іvskyi<ref name="3684227-u-kharkovi"/>); namesake: [[Sloboda Ukraine]]

# [[Osnovianskyi District|Osnovianskyi]] ({{lang-langx|uk|Основ'янський район}}) (formerly Chervonozavodskyi<ref name="3684227-u-kharkovi"/>); namesake: Osnova, a city neighborhood

# [[Novobavarskyi District|Novobavarskyi]] ({{lang-langx|uk|Новобаварський район}}) (formerly Zhovtnevyi<ref name="3684227-u-kharkovi"/>); namesake: Nova Bavaria, a city neighborhood

! Ethnic group|| 1897<ref name=":1">[http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/rus_lan_97_uezd.php?reg=1604 Первая всеобщая перепись населения Российской Империи 1897 г. Распределение населения по родному языку и уездам 50 губерний Европейской России] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220225015405/http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/rus_lan_97_uezd.php?reg=1604 |date=25 February 2022 }} Демоскоп</ref>||1926||1939||1959<ref name=":3">Історія міста Харкова ХХ століття, Харків 2004, р. 456</ref>||1989<ref name="Our Kharkiv"/>||2001<ref name="vharkov">{{cite web|url=http://vharkov.ru/description/about.html|publisher=vharkov.ru|title=Общая информация о Харькове на vharkov|access-date=18 June 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140829124130/http://vharkov.ru/description/about.html|archive-date=29 August 2014}}</ref><ref name="ukrcensus">{{cite web|url=http://2001.ukrcensus.gov.ua/results/general/estimated/kharkiv/|publisher=2001.ukrcensus.gov.ua|title=Всеукраїнський перепис населення 2001 – Результати – Основні підсумки – Загальна кількість населення – Харківська область|access-date=18 June 2017|archive-date=19 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019082857/http://2001.ukrcensus.gov.ua/results/general/estimated/kharkiv/|url-status=live}}</ref>{{dubious|date=September 2018}}

| [[Jews]]|| 5.7%||19.5%||15.6%||8.7%||3.0%||0.7%

Distribution of the population of the city of Kharkiv by [[First language #Defining "native language"|native language]] according to the [[2001 Ukrainian census|2001 census]]:<ref>{{cite web | langlanguage=uk | url=https://socialdata.org.ua/projects/mova-2001/ | title=Рідні мови в об'єднаних територіальних громадах України}}</ref>

| align="right"| 1 ,449 ,871 || align="right"| 100.00%

According to a survey conducted by the [[International Republican Institute]] in April-MayApril–May 2023, 16&nbsp;% of the city's population spoke Ukrainian at home, and 78&nbsp;% spoke Russian.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ratinggroup.ua/files/ratinggroup/reg_files/municipal_survey_may_2023_ua_-_final.pdf|title=Municipal Survey 2023|website=ratinggroup.ua|access-date=9 August 2023|archive-date=19 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230719164824/https://ratinggroup.ua/files/ratinggroup/reg_files/municipal_survey_may_2023_ua_-_final.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

There are two [[mosques]] including the [[Kharkiv Cathedral Mosque]] and one Islamic center in Kharkiv.{{Citation needed span|text=|date=April 2022}}

The 2016–2020 economic development strategy: "Kharkiv Success Strategy", is created in Kharkiv.<ref name="kharkiv8">{{cite web|url=http://www.strategy.kharkov.ua/|publisher=strategy.kharkov.ua|title=Розробка стратегії розвитку міста Харкова на 2016-20202016–2020 роки "Харків – стратегія успіху"|access-date=18 June 2017|archive-date=18 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160618082605/http://www.strategy.kharkov.ua/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="kharkiv9">{{cite web|url=https://old.karazin.ua/ua/general/univer_today/announce?news_id=5793|publisher=old.karazin.ua|script-title=uk:Круглий стіл «Розробка Стратегії розвитку міста Харкова до 2020 року: наука і освіта»|access-date=2023-07-01|archive-date=1 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701075810/https://old.karazin.ua/ua/general/univer_today/announce?news_id=5793|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="kharkiv10">{{Cite web |last=LLC |first=Hulu |script-title=uk:В університеті Каразіна обговорять перспективи розвитку освіти |url=http://www.city.kharkiv.ua/uk/news/v-universiteti-karazina-obgovoryat-perspektivi-rozvitku-osviti-32374.html |access-date=2023-07-01 |website=www.city.kharkiv.ua |language=uk |archive-date=1 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701075812/https://city.kharkiv.ua/uk/news/v-universiteti-karazina-obgovoryat-perspektivi-rozvitku-osviti-32374.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Kharkiv has a diversified service economy, with employment spread across a wide range of professional services, including financial services, manufacturing, tourism, and high technology.

In 2015, the International Economic Forum: Innovations. Investments. Kharkiv Innitiatives! was attended by the diplomatic corps representatives from 17 world countries, working in Ukraine together with top-management of trans-national corporations and investment funds; plus Ukrainian People's Deputies; plus Ukrainian Central government officials, who determine the national economic development strategy; plus local government managers, who perform practical steps in implementing that strategy; plus managers of technical assistance to Ukraine; plus business and NGO's representatives; plus media people.<ref name="led.org.ua"/><ref name="usa.mfa.gov.ua">{{cite web|url=http://usa.mfa.gov.ua/en/press-center/announcements/4500-vii-international-economic-forum-innovations-investments-kharkiv-initiatives|publisher=usa.mfa.gov.ua|title=VII International economic forum "INNOVATIONS. INVESTMENTS. KHARKIV INITIATIVES!" -– Announcements -– Embassy of Ukraine in the United States of America|access-date=18 June 2017|archive-date=13 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160813024331/http://usa.mfa.gov.ua/en/press-center/announcements/4500-vii-international-economic-forum-innovations-investments-kharkiv-initiatives|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="kmu.gov.ua">{{Cite web |url=http://www.kmu.gov.ua/control/publish/article?art_id=247530844 |title=Урядовий портал :: International Economic Forum "Innovations. Investments. Kharkiv Initiatives" due on September 5 |access-date=27 June 2016 |archive-date=16 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816052826/http://www.kmu.gov.ua/control/publish/article?art_id=247530844 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="ukraine.usembassy.gov">{{cite web|url=http://ukraine.usembassy.gov/statements/amb-kharkiv-econ-forum-09042015.html|publisher=ukraine.usembassy.gov|title=statements/amb-kharkiv-econ-forum-09042015|access-date=18 June 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107042251/https://ukraine.usembassy.gov/statements/amb-kharkiv-econ-forum-09042015.html|archive-date=7 January 2017}}</ref><ref name="usembassykyiv.wordpress.com">{{cite web|url=https://usembassykyiv.wordpress.com/tag/kharkiv/|publisher=usembassykyiv.wordpress.com|title=Kharkiv – U.S. Embassy Kyiv Blog|access-date=18 June 2017|archive-date=21 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121105227/http://usembassykyiv.wordpress.com/tag/kharkiv/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:3F9A5699 (37149528342).jpg|thumb|[[Kvant-2]] module -– its control system was designed at [[Khartron]] in Kharkiv.]]

Also, the number of active IT companies in the region to be 445, five of them employing more than 601 people. Besides, there are 22 large companies with the workers' number ranging from 201 to 600. More than half of IT-companies located in the Kharkiv region fall into "extra small" category with less than 20 persons engaged. The list is compiled with 43 medium (81-20081–200 employers) and 105 small companies (21-8021–80).{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

Due to the comparably narrow market for IT services in Ukraine, the majority of Kharkiv companies are export-oriented with more than 95% of total sales generated overseas in 2017. Overall, the estimated revenue of Kharkiv IT companies will more than double from $800 &nbsp;million in 2018 to $1.85 &nbsp;billion by 2025. The major markets are North America (65%) and Europe (25%).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pwc.com/ua/en.html|title=Kharkiv|access-date=13 June 2019|publisher=Kharkiv|archive-date=9 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190609211937/https://www.pwc.com/ua/en.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

* {{Ill|Barabashovo Market|lt=Barabashovo market|uk|https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%91%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B1%D0%B0%D1%88%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BEБарабашово}}, the largest market in Ukraine{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} and one of the largest markets in Europe<ref name="Barabashovo2024jun18">{{cite news |title='This country gave me a lot': the Vietnamese people staying in Ukraine|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/18/this-country-gave-me-a-lot-the-vietnamese-people-staying-in-ukraine|access-date=18 June 2024|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=18 June 2024}}</ref>

* {{Ill|Tsentralnyi Market|lt=Tsentralnyi market|uk|https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%91%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%96%D1%89%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%B1%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%B0%D1%80Благовіщенський базар}} (Blahovishchenskyi market)

Kharkiv has 212 ([[secondary education]]) schools, including 10 [[lyceum]]s and 20&nbsp;[[Gymnasium (school)|gymnasiums]].{{citation needed|date=October 2016}} In May 2024 the first of a scatter of underground schools in Kharkiv was opened in [[Industrialnyi District, Kharkiv|Industrialnyi District]], so children could continue their education amidst the [[Kharkiv strikes (2022–present)|missile strikes in Kharkiv]] by the [[Russian Armed Forces]] during the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]].<ref name="KharkivMAStrikes7455435">{{cite news |title=Trial lessons held in underground school in Kharkiv – photo|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2024/05/12/7455435/|access-date=13 May 2024|work=[[Ukrainska Pravda]] |date=12 May 2024|language=English}}</ref>

The Kharkiv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre named after N. V. Lysenko is the biggest theatre in Kharkiv.<ref name="hatob">{{cite web|url=http://www.hatob.com.ua/ukr/|publisher=hatob.com.ua|script-title=uk:Головна -– ХАТОБ, ХНАТОБ|access-date=18 June 2017|archive-date=16 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160716084951/http://hatob.com.ua/ukr/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="hatob2">{{cite web|url=http://www.hatob.com.ua/eng|publisher=hatob.com.ua|title=Home|access-date=18 June 2017|archive-date=19 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519044728/http://hatob.com.ua/eng|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Kharkiv Academic Drama Theatre was recently renovated, and it is quite popular among locals.<ref name="rusdrama">{{cite web|url=http://rusdrama.kh.ua/|publisher=rusdrama.kh.ua|title=rusdrama.kh.ua/|access-date=18 June 2017|archive-date=27 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160627181840/http://rusdrama.kh.ua/|url-status=live}}</ref> Until October 2023 this theater was named after Russian poet [[Alexander Pushkin]]; the [[Derussification in Ukraine|derussification of Ukraine campaign]] of that area led to its renaming that also meant the removal of (the word) "[[List of Russian-language playwrights|Russian]]" from the name.<ref name="PushkinskaKharkivTheater">{{cite web|title=Kharkiv got rid of the Pushkin Theater|url=https://www.sq.com.ua/ukr/novini/24.12.2022/xarkiv-pozbavivsya-teatru-puskina|date=23 October 2023|access-date=26 January 2024|langlanguage=Ukrainian|website=Status Quo}}</ref>

Today, Kharkiv is often referred to as the "capital city" of Ukrainian [[science fiction]] and [[fantasy]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uefa.com/news/newsid=934426.html|title=Kharkiv city guide|date=25 January 2010|work=uefa.com|access-date=22 March 2015|archive-date=2 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002071042/https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/history/news/0254-0d7c95ba4d13-654f63b539a3-1000--kharkiv-city-guide/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukrainetravel.co/kharkiv|title=Ukraine Travel Guide: Kharkiv, Ukraine|work=ukrainetravel.co|access-date=22 March 2015|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402100753/http://www.ukrainetravel.co/kharkiv|url-status=live}}</ref> It is home to a number of popular writers, such as [[H. L. Oldie]], [[Alexander Zorich]], [[Andrey Dashkov]], [[Yuri Nikitin (author)|Yuri Nikitin]] and [[Andrey Valentinov]]; most of them [[Russian language in Ukraine|write in Russian]] and are popular in both Russia and Ukraine. The annual [[science fiction convention]] "Star Bridge" (Звёздный мост) has been held in Kharkiv since 1999.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://old.karazin.ua/en/general/univer_today/news?news_id=63|title=Kharkiv International Festival of Science Fiction "Star Bridge -– 2011"|work=V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University|date=September 2011|access-date=2023-07-01|archive-date=1 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701075808/https://old.karazin.ua/en/general/univer_today/news?news_id=63|url-status=live}}</ref>

Kharkiv sponsors the prestigious [[Hnat Khotkevych]] International Music Competition of Performers of Ukrainian Folk Instruments, which takes place every three years. Since 1997 four tri-annual competitions have taken place. The 2010 competition was cancelled by the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture two days before its opening.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://comments.ua/life/183366-Minkulturi-zapretil-Harkovu.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228232703/http://comments.ua/life/183366-Minkulturi-zapretil-Harkovu.html|archive-date=28 December 2013 |title=Минкультуры запретил Харькову проводить конкурс им. Гната Хоткевича -– Комментарии |publisher=Proua.com |date=16 April 2010 |access-date=15 July 2012}}</ref>

The music festival: "Kharkiv -– City of Kind Hopes" is conducted in Kharkiv.<ref name="filarmonia4">{{cite web|url=http://filarmonia.kh.ua/festival-harkiv-misto-dobrih-nadij-informatsiya-dlya-uchastnikov/|publisher=filarmonia.kh.ua|title=Фестиваль "Харків -– місто добрих надій". Информация для участников {{pipe}} Харьковская филармония|date=28 October 2015|access-date=18 June 2017|archive-date=27 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170527073822/http://filarmonia.kh.ua/festival-harkiv-misto-dobrih-nadij-informatsiya-dlya-uchastnikov/|url-status=live}}</ref>

From 1907 to 2008, at least 86 feature films were shot in the city's territory and its region. The most famous is ''[[Fragment of an Empire]]'' (1929). Arriving in Leningrad, the main character, in addition to the usual pre-revolutionary buildings, sees the [[Derzhprom]] -– a symbol of a new era.

The Kharkiv Lilacs international film festival is very popular among movie stars, makers and producers in Ukraine, Eastern Europe, Western Europe and North America.<ref name="sirenfest.net.ua">{{cite web|url=http://sirenfest.net.ua/en/|publisher=sirenfest.net.ua|title=Харьковская сирень -– Главная|access-date=18 June 2017|archive-date=27 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140927013951/http://sirenfest.net.ua/en/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="times.kh.ua">{{cite web|url=http://times.kh.ua/news/fresh/kharkovskaya_siren_2016_novye_ladoni_znamenitykh_akterov_na_allee_zvezd_foto/158954/|publisher=times.kh.ua|title=times.kh.ua/news/fresh/kharkovskaya_siren_2016_novye_ladoni_znamenitykh_akterov_na_allee_zvezd_foto/158954/|access-date=18 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161024232504/http://times.kh.ua/news/fresh/kharkovskaya_siren_2016_novye_ladoni_znamenitykh_akterov_na_allee_zvezd_foto/158954/|archive-date=24 October 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

* The [[M. F. Sumtsov Kharkiv Historical Museum]]<ref name="museum">{{cite web|url=http://museum.kh.ua/eng.html|publisher=museum.kh.ua|title=Information in English -– Харківський історичний музей імені М.Ф.Сумцова|access-date=18 June 2017|archive-date=1 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801125455/http://museum.kh.ua/eng.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

* The [[Kharkiv Art Museum]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://artmuseum.kh.ua/en/|title=Kharkiv Art Museum|website=artmuseum.kh.ua|accessdateaccess-date=12 March 2023|archive-date=11 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311075637/https://artmuseum.kh.ua/en/|url-status=live}}</ref>

* The V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University History Museum was established in Kharkiv in 1972.<ref name="kharkiv15">{{cite web|url=http://www-museum.univer.kharkov.ua/|publisher=History Museum of Kharkiv National University|script-title=uk:Музей історії Харківського національного університету -– Головна|trans-title=History Museum of Kharkiv National University -– Main|access-date=18 June 2017|archive-date=28 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128185327/http://www-museum.univer.kharkov.ua/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="kharkiv16">{{Cite web |title=University History Museum |url=https://karazin.ua/en/kultura/muzei-istoriyi-universitetu/ |access-date=2023-06-29 |website=karazin.ua |archive-date=29 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629091728/https://karazin.ua/en/kultura/muzei-istoriyi-universitetu/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="kyiv3">{{Cite web |script-title=uk:Музей історії Харківського національного університету імені В.Н. Каразіна |url=https://zvo.knu.ua/ua/museums/category/7/78-muzey-istorii-harkivskogo-nacionalnogo-universitetu-imeni-vn-karazina |access-date=2023-06-29 |website=zvo.knu.ua |archive-date=29 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629091726/https://zvo.knu.ua/ua/museums/category/7/78-muzey-istorii-harkivskogo-nacionalnogo-universitetu-imeni-vn-karazina |url-status=live }}</ref>

* The "National University of Pharmacy" Museum was founded in Kharkiv on 15 September 2010.<ref name="nuph">{{cite web|url=https://nuph.edu.ua/muzejj-istoriji-farmaciji-ukrajini/|publisher=nuph.edu.ua|title=Музей истории Национального фармацевтического университета -– Національний фармацевтичний університет (НФаУ)|access-date=18 June 2017|archive-date=28 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170428051243/http://nuph.edu.ua/ru/muzejj-istorii-farmacii-ukrainy/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="nuph2">{{cite web|url=https://nuph.edu.ua/ekspoziciya-muzeyu-istorii-nfau/|publisher=nuph.edu.ua|title=Экспозиционные залы музея -– Національний фармацевтичний університет (НФаУ)|access-date=18 June 2017|archive-date=19 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019085802/http://nuph.edu.ua/ru/e-kspozitsionny-e-zaly-muzeya/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="kyiv7">{{Cite web |script-title=uk:Музей історії фармації України |trans-title=Museum of the History of Pharmacy of Ukraine |url=https://zvo.knu.ua/ua/museums/category/7/51-muzey-istorii-farmacii-ukraini |access-date=2023-07-01 |website=zvo.knu.ua |archive-date=1 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701072231/https://zvo.knu.ua/ua/museums/category/7/51-muzey-istorii-farmacii-ukraini |url-status=live }}</ref>

* The Kharkiv Maritime Museum -– a museum dedicated to the history of shipbuilding and navigation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://morskojmuzej.kh.ua/|title=The Kharkiv Maritime Museum|access-date=13 November 2017|archive-date=18 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120618135607/http://morskojmuzej.kh.ua/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

* [[Annunciation Cathedral, Kharkiv|Annunciation Cathedral]], built in 1887-19011887–1901 in Neo-Byzantine style

* [[Kharkiv Choral Synagogue|Choral Synagogue]], built in 1909-19131909–1913

* Central Market Hall, built 1912-19141912–1914

* [[Derzhprom]] building, built in 1925-19281925–1928 in [[Constructivist architecture|constructivist]] style

* Railway Pochtamt (post office), built 1927-291927–29 in [[Constructivist architecture|constructivist]] style

* Palace of Culture of Railway Workers, built 1928-311928–31 in [[Constructivist architecture|constructivist]] style

* [[Kharkiv State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre named after Mykola Lysenko|Kharkiv Opera]], built in 1970-19901970–1990 in [[Brutalist architecture|brutalist]] style

After the [[2014 Russian annexation of Crimea]] the monument to [[Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny]] in [[Sevastopol]] was removed and handed over to Kharkiv.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-06-24 June 2023 |script-title=uk:В Харькове появится памятник Сагайдачному |trans-title=A monument to Sahaidachny in Kharkiv |url=https://www.sq.com.ua/rus/news/obschestvo/23.08.2014/v_harkove_poyavitsya_pamyatnik_sagajdachnomu |access-date=2023-06-29 |website=Status Quo |language=ru-UA |archive-date=2 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602024948/https://www.sq.com.ua/rus/news/obschestvo/23.08.2014/v_harkove_poyavitsya_pamyatnik_sagajdachnomu |url-status=live }}</ref>

Kharkiv contains numerous parks and gardens such as the Central Park, Shevchenko park, Hydro park, Strelka park, [http://tourcenter.kh.ua/en/infrastrukture/sarzhyn-yar Sarzhyn Yar] and Feldman ecopark. The Central Park is a common place for recreation activities among visitors and local people.{{citation needed|date=March 2019}} The Shevchenko park is situated in close proximity to the V.N. Karazin National University. It is also a common place for recreation activities among the students, professors, locals and foreigners.

The Ecopark is situated at circle highway around Kharkiv. It attracts kids, parents, students, professors, locals and foreigners to undertake recreation activities. Sarzhyn Yar is a natural ravine three minutes walk from "Botanichniy Sad" station. It is an old girder that now -– is a modern park zone more than 12&nbsp;km in length. There is also a mineral water source with cupel and a sporting court.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Spring|url=http://www.kharkovinfo.com/the-spring.html|last=FlexKit|website=www.kharkovinfo.com|language=en|access-date=2 May 2020|archive-date=10 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200510125520/http://www.kharkovinfo.com/the-spring.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The majority spoken language in Kharkiv (especially until 2022) wasis Russian, despite the ukrainization policies enforced during the times of the [[Soviet Union]]. Even after Ukraine gained its independence, Russian was still used predominantly by ethnic Russians and Ukrainians alike, although after the onset of the 2022 [[RussiaRussian invasion of Ukraine]], many of the city’scity's residents are attemptingattempted to transition to Ukrainian.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Higgins |first1=Charlotte |last2=Mazhulin |first2=Artem |date=2023-04-24 April 2023 |title=Russian-speaking Ukrainians want to shed 'language of the oppressor' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/24/russian-speaking-ukrainians-want-to-shed-language-of-the-oppressor |access-date=2024-04-13 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Ukrainians are breaking their ties with the Russian language |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/07/28/ukrainians-are-breaking-their-ties-with-russian-language/}}</ref>

* ''Guberniya'' <ref name="guberniya">{{cite web|url=http://www.guberniya.net/|publisher=guberniya.net|title=Губерния -– деловой представительский журнал|access-date=18 June 2017|archive-date=22 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170622165343/http://guberniya.net/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Kharkiv is served by [[Kharkiv International Airport]]. Charter flights are also available. The former largest carrier of the Kharkiv Airport —– Aeromost-Kharkiv —– is not serving any regular destinations {{As of|2007|lc=y}}. The [[Kharkiv North Airport]] is a factory airfield and was a major production facility for [[Antonov|Antonov aircraft company]].

The Kharkiv International Marathon is considered as a prime international sportive event, attracting many thousands of professional sportsmen, young people, students, professors, locals and tourists to travel to Kharkiv and to participate in the international event.<ref name="kharkivmarathon">{{cite web|url=http://kharkivmarathon.com/en/|publisher=kharkivmarathon.com|title=Main {{pipe}} 5th Kharkiv International Marathon|access-date=18 June 2017|archive-date=22 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161122142340/http://kharkivmarathon.com/en/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="marathonrunnersdiary">{{cite web|url=http://www.marathonrunnersdiary.com/races/europe-marathons/kharkiv-international-marathon.php|publisher=marathonrunnersdiary.com|title=Kharkiv International Marathon 2017 -– Race Details -– Marathon Runners Diary|access-date=18 June 2017|archive-date=28 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170628005150/http://www.marathonrunnersdiary.com/races/europe-marathons/kharkiv-international-marathon.php|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="sportevent">{{cite web|url=http://sportevent.com.ua/events/kharkivmarathon2016/|publisher=sportevent.com.ua|title=Ukraine Sport Events -– Спортивные мероприятия Украины|access-date=18 June 2017|archive-date=19 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019083206/https://sportevent.com.ua/events/kharkivmarathon2016/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="kharkiv21">{{cite web|url=http://blogs.kpi.kharkov.ua/v2/rmv/2016/04/09/kharkiv-international-marathon-2016/|publisher=blogs.kpi.kharkov.ua|title=Kharkiv International Marathon 2016 « СОВЕТ МОЛОДЫХ УЧЁНЫХ|access-date=18 June 2017|archive-date=19 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019082905/http://blogs.kpi.kharkov.ua/v2/rmv/2016/04/09/kharkiv-international-marathon-2016/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The most popular sport is [[footballassociation (soccer)football|football]]. The city has several football clubs playing in the Ukrainian national competitions. The most successful is ''[[FC Dynamo Kharkiv]]'' that won eight national titles back in the 1920s–1930s.

Horseriding as a sport is also popular among locals.<ref name="zabytki">{{cite web|url=http://zabytki.in.ua/ru/430/kharkovskii-ippodrom|publisher=zabytki.in.ua|title=zabytki.in.ua/ru/430/kharkovskii-ippodrom|access-date=18 June 2017|archive-date=12 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312171957/http://zabytki.in.ua/ru/430/kharkovskii-ippodrom|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ippodrom">{{cite web|url=http://ippodrom.pp.ua/publ/kharkovskij_ippodrom/28-1-0-2|publisher=ippodrom.pp.ua|title=Харьковский ипподром|access-date=18 June 2017|archive-date=9 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160709055305/http://ippodrom.pp.ua/publ/kharkovskij_ippodrom/28-1-0-2|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ippodrom2">{{cite web|url=http://ippodrom.pp.ua/|publisher=ippodrom.pp.ua|title=Конный спорт|access-date=18 June 2017|archive-date=16 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160616102405/http://ippodrom.pp.ua/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="konezavod">{{cite web|url=http://konezavod.com/|publisher=konezavod.com|title=Харьковский Конный Завод -– продажа лошадей в Украине|access-date=18 June 2017|archive-date=20 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620072959/http://konezavod.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> There are large stables and horse riding facilities at Feldman Ecopark in Kharkiv.<ref name="feldman-ecopark">{{cite web|url=http://feldman-ecopark.com/en.html#|publisher=feldman-ecopark.com|title=feldman-ecopark.com/en.html#|access-date=18 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161225191520/http://www.feldman-ecopark.com/en.html|archive-date=25 December 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

There is a growing interest in cycling among locals.<ref name="vesti-ukr">{{cite web|url=http://vesti-ukr.com/harkov/100881-v-harkove-ustanovili-velosipednyj-rekord|publisher=vesti-ukr.com|title=В Харькове установили велосипедный рекорд. Любители двухколесного транспорта выстроились в огромную фигуру велосипеда {{pipe}} Харьков {{pipe}} Вести|date=24 May 2015|access-date=18 June 2017|archive-date=19 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019082903/http://vesti-ukr.com/harkov/100881-v-harkove-ustanovili-velosipednyj-rekord|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="nezabarom">{{cite web|url=http://kharkov.nezabarom.ua/Muzei-Vystavki-Galerei/blogs/entry/3128/|publisher=kharkov.nezabarom.ua|title=Веложизнь в Харькове -– Харьков на Незабаром|access-date=18 June 2017|archive-date=19 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019082905/http://kharkov.nezabarom.ua/Muzei-Vystavki-Galerei/blogs/entry/3128/|url-status=live}}</ref> There is a large bicycles producer, [[Kharkiv Bicycle Plant]] within the city.<ref name="usi">{{cite web|url=http://usi.ua/velo/index.php?st=38|publisher=usi.ua|title=Харьковский Велосипедный Завод им.Петровского -– велосипеды, тележки, санки, товары для отдыха.|access-date=18 June 2017|archive-date=20 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620013231/http://usi.ua/velo/index.php?st=38|url-status=live}}</ref> Presently, the modern bicycle highway is under construction at the "Leso park" (Лісопарк) district in Kharkiv.

*[[AndreyDenys DenisovChernyshov]] (born 19521974) -– RussianUkrainian diplomatpolitician inand Chinaeconomist

*[[Mikhail Koshkin]] (1898–1940)– chief designer of Soviet tankthe [[T-34]] Soviet tank

*[[Les Kurbas]] (1887–1937) -– movie and theatre director and dramatist

*[[Eduard Limonov]] (1943–2020) – writer, poet and controversial politician; grew up in Kharkiv and studied at its [[H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University]]

*[[H. L. Oldie]] (Dmitry Gromov and Oleg Ladyzhensky) (both born 1963) – writers

*[[Lev Shubnikov]] (1901–1937) – Soviet experimental [[physicist]], worked in the Netherlands and USSR

*[[Henryk Siemiradzki]] (1843-19021843–1902) – studied at the [[Kharkiv University]]

*[[Sergei Sviatchenko]] (born 1952) – Danish-Ukrainian artist, photographer and architect.

*[[MarkIvan TaimanovSvit]] (1926–20161897–1989) – [[concert]] pianisthistorian, journalist and chess playerwriter

*[[Nikolai Tikhonov]] (1905–1997) -– a Soviet Russian-Ukrainian statesman during the Cold War.

*[[Andriy Tsaplienko]] (born 1968) -– journalist, presenter, filmmaker and writer.

*[[Yevgania Yosifovna Yakhina]] (1918 – 19831918–1983) – composer

*[[Vasyl Yermylov]] (1894–1968) -– Ukrainian and Soviet painter, avant-garde artist and designer.

*[[Serhiy Zhadan]] (born 1974) -– Ukrainian poet, novelist, essayist and translator.

*[[Gennady Orlov]] (born 1945) -– Russian sports journalist and former footballer

* [[Ivan Pravilov]] (1963–2012) -– ice hockey coach, sexually abused a teenage student, committed [[suicide by hanging]] in prison

*[[Kateryna Tabashnyk]] (born 1994) -– high jumper

*{{flagicon|USA}} [[Albuquerque, New Mexico|Albuquerque]], USA (2023)<ref>{{cite web|title= Albuquerque welcomes new Ukrainian 'sister' city|url= https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-welcomes-new-ukrainian-sister-city/|website= KRQE News 13 (www.krqe.com)|date= June 29, June 2023|access-date= 10 July 2023|archive-date= 10 July 2023|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230710023856/https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-welcomes-new-ukrainian-sister-city/|url-status= live}}</ref>

*{{flagicon|USA}} [[Cincinnati, Ohio|Cincinnati]], United States (1989)