Sumy (Ukrainian:Суми,IPA:[ˈsumɪ]ⓘ,Russian:Сумы) is a city in northeasternUkraine. It serves as the administrative center ofSumy Oblast. The city is situated on the banks of thePsel River and has a population of256,474 (2022 estimate),[2] making it the 23rd-largest in the country.
The city of Sumy was founded in the 1650s byCossacks within the historical region ofSloboda Ukraine.
History
Commemorative coin from 2005 of Sumy's 350-year history
Sumy was founded by the CossackHerasym Kondratyev fromStavyshche,Bila Tserkva Regiment on the banks of thePsel River, a tributary of theDnieper.[3] Whether it was founded in 1652 or 1655 remains a subject of discussion.[3] In 1656–58 at the site of the Sumyn early settlement, under the leadership of the Muscovitevoivode K. Arsenyev, a city fort was built, consisting of a fort and agrad (town).[3]
In the 1670s, Sumy was expanded with the addition of a fortifiedposad (craftsman town), after which it became the biggest fortress inSloboda Ukraine.[3] From 1658 onwards, Sumy was the center of the Sumy Cossack Regiment (military unit and local administrative division).[3] In the 1680s, unfortified suburbs began to develop around the city.[3]
At the end of the 17th century, Sumy played a role as a collection point for Muscovite troops during theCrimean campaigns of 1687 and 1689.[3] During theGreat Northern War, from December 1708 to January 1709, the city was thestavka (headquarters) of the Muscovite Chief of Commander headed by TsarPeter the Great.[3] Established under the leadership of Prince A. Shakhovskoy, the Commission on streamlining the Sloboda Cossack regiments was located in 1734–43 in Sumy.[3] From its establishment and until the liquidation of Cossackdom inSloboda Ukraine in 1765, the Cossack officer family of Kondratyevs exercised great influence over the city.[3]
Central Sumy in 1897
Following the liquidation of the Cossack community in 1765, the Sumy Cossack Regiment as an administrative division was turned into Sumy Province of the newly createdSloboda Ukraine Governorate and the city of Sumy became its center.[3] In 1780 Sumy was turned into a centre ofSumy uyezd.[3] In 1786-89 the city was reformed by removing its city walls.[3]
After a period of stagnation (1765–1860s), Sumy began to transform into a big industrial and trade center with Paul's Sugar-Refining Factory (est. 1869 by I.Kharytonenko) and the Sumy Engineering Workshops (est. 1896, producing equipment for sugar refineries).[3] With the construction of a railroadVorozhba –Merefa, the Sumy train station was built in the city in January 1877.[3] Various families of philanthropist industrialists, the most famous of which were the Kharytonenkos, contributed greatly to the development of Sumy.[3]
During theRevolution of 1905, Sumy was one of several areas which became famous throughout Russia for having established an independentpeasant republic - the Sumy Republic was established by a peasant union.[4]
World War II
Mass grave of soldiers fallen in World War II
During theGerman occupation of Ukraine duringWorld War II (1941–1944), Sumy sustained heavy damage and was occupied from 10 October 1941 to 2 September 1943. In February 1942, some 1,000 Jews were murdered in Sumy in two large-scale operations. In May-June that year, the Germans and their Hungarian allies killed an additional several dozen Jews, along with thirty Roma. Some 250 Hungarian Jews were also murdered in Sumy during the occupation period.[5] The Germans operated a Nazi prison,[6] aforced labour battalion forJews and Stalag 308prisoner-of-war camp in the city.[7][8]
In January 1944, the 1st Reserve Infantry Regiment of the 1st Corps of thePolish Armed Forces was stationed in Sumy, and soon the Main Formation Staff of theFirst Polish Army was established in Sumy.[9] In 1944, about 30,000 Polish soldiers were stationed and underwent military training in Sumy before rejoining the fight against Nazi Germany.[9]
After the war, the destroyed parts of the city were rebuilt.
Russian invasion
Storage building in Sumy after Russian shelling, 18 March 2022
On 4 April 2022Governor of Sumy OblastDmytro Zhyvytskyi stated that Russian troops no longer occupied any towns or villages inSumy Oblast and had mostly withdrawn, while Ukrainian troops were working to push out the remaining units.[11] On 8 April, Governor Zhyvytskyi stated that all Russian troops had left Sumy Oblast, while adding that the territory of the region was still unsafe due to rigged explosives and other ammunition left behind by Russian troops.[12]
On 13 April 2025, Russia launched amissile strike against Sumy that killed at least 36 people. On 3 June 2025, Russia shelled the city, and there were reports of many thousands of Russian troops massing in the area.[13]
Due to its relatively close location, the city's weather is similar to that ofKharkiv. Sumy's climate is a warm-summerhumid continental (Köppen:Dfb)[14] with cold and snowy winters, and hot summers. The seasonal average temperatures are not too cold in winter, not too hot in summer: −6.9 °C (19.6 °F) in January, and 20.3 °C (68.5 °F) in July. The average rainfall totals 513 mm (20 in) per year, with the most in June and July.
Trends suggest an increase in the fall in precipitation in the coming decades.[15]
Climate data for Sumy, Ukraine (1991–2020, extremes 1949-2011)
The city used to be divided into twourban districts, Zarichnyi and Kovpakovskyi, and 13microraions. Since 2006, the subdivision into urban districts is not in effect.[19]
The city municipality also includes several adjacent villages including Verkhnie Pishchane, Zhyteiske, Zahirske, Kyryiakivshchyna, Pishchane, and Trokhymenkove.
From the beginning of the twentieth century, Sumy was the center ofRoman Catholicism in northeastern Ukraine. The Blessed Virgin Mary Annunciation Church was established in the city in 1901 andconsecrated in 1911, but closed by governmental authorities two decades later; the churchhouse was thereafter used for non-religious purposes (e.g., it was used as a gym for Oleksandrivska Gymnasia) until its restoration as a Roman Catholicparish in May 1994, after the disintegration of theSoviet Union. It was reconsecrated in the spring of 1998.
According to the census held in 1660, the population of Sumy was 2740 people. In 1732 it was 7700 people, in 1773 — 9380 people, in 1850 — 10,256 people, in 1898 — 26,355 people.[22]
During Soviet times, the population grew significantly. In 1939 it reached 63.9 thousand people.[23] In 1959 it was 98,015 people,[24] 159 thousand people in 1970, 194 thousand people in 1975,[25] 291,264 people in 1989,[26] and 303.3 thousand people in 1991.[27]
According to theUkrainian Census of 2001, the population of Sumy was 292,139 people.[28] By January 1, 2013, it had decreased to 269,177 people.[29] On May 13, 2025, the population was 268,409 people.[30]
According to a survey conducted by theInternational Republican Institute in April-May 2023, 64 % of the city's population spoke Ukrainian at home, and 27 % spoke Russian.[32]
Economy and infrastructure
Enterprises
Building of Sumy Engineering Science and Production Association
Sumy Engineering Science and Production Association (formerly Frunze factory)
There are several railway stations in the city, two of which serve passenger trains. All stations are part of the UZ regional branchSouthern Railways.Sumy railway station also is the headquarters of one of four territorial subdivisions of the Southern Railways and conducts supervision over some other 45 stations in Sumy, Poltava, and Kharkiv oblasts.
There are two major routes that cross the city H07 (Kyiv–Yunakivka at Russian border) and H12 (Sumy–Poltava). There are also a few regional routes P44 (Sumy–Hlukhiv), P45 (Sumy–Bohodukhiv), and P61 (Sumy–Baturyn).
Main sights
Landmarks
Trinity Cathedral
The city centre is dominated by the large cathedral of the Saviour's Transfiguration. It is aneoclassical structure of the 18th century, extensively repaired and reconstructed in 1858 and in the 1880s when the 56-metre-high bell tower (180 ft) was added. The interior features frescoes byVladimir Makovsky andKlavdiy Lebedev.
The Resurrection Church (1702), the oldest structure in the town, has had restoration work.
A church of Saints Peter and Paul in the town's cemetery was built in 1851. Beside the church there are tombs of the Kharytonenkos and Sukhanovs with monuments by sculptorsA. Croisy andM. Antokolski.
The Cathedral of Holy Trinity was built in 1902–1914 on the same pattern as the Cathedral of St. Isaac in St. Petersburg. The author of the design was Sumy architect G. Sholts. The work on the decorative design was not completed because of the revolutionary events of 1917.
The Museum of Local Lore was opened in 1920. In the years of fascist occupation, the most important items of its collections were lost. Today it contains unique collections coveringarcheology and the natural history of the Sumy region. It is located in the building of the 19th century which originally was the seat of the district government. In 1905 it was given to the printing house and publishing house of the first Sumy newspapers. In different years the building was visited by A. Kuprin and V. Korolenko, the famous Russian writers.
The Chekhov Museum, located on Chekhov street is an architectural complex representing Lintvarev's country estate of the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1888 and 1889 the great writer and dramatistAnton Chekhov was dreaming of settling in Luka forever, but his dream did not come true. “Abbacia and the Adriatic Sea are wonderful, but Luka and Psiol are better,” he wrote in 1894 in a letter from Italy to his friends in Sumy. This is also a place where n Chekhov's brother,Nikolai Chekhov, died in 1889.
TheMuseum of Banking history in the Sumy oblast and the History of Ukrainian Money was founded in 2006 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of theUkrainian Academy of Banking based on a unique collection of Ukrainian bonds – thepaper money out of circulation, which were given to the academy by theNational Bank of Ukraine. The exposition of the bonds is arranged in the thematic-chronological order - from the first appearance of money to the present day. In addition to the numerous historical documents, photographs, metal money (coins, souvenir bars), and commemorative medals of the National Bank of Ukraine, there is an exhibition presenting technical appliances used in thebanking industry in the late 20th century.
Hanna Bezliudna (born 1972) is a Ukrainian media manager, producer and public figure.
Karl Burman (1882–1965), an Estonian architect and painter.
Mykola Hrunskyi (early 20th C.), a senior researcher specializing in studying of the Russian language at the Linguistic Institute of theNational Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
The Yuvileiny Stadium, formerly known as Spartak, was planned to be renovated just beforedissolution of the Soviet Union and in 1989 was demolished to be built anew. It was not until 1998 that the actual construction was resumed and finally finished in 2001.
Twin towns – sister cities
Coat of arms at twin townCelle (Germany), granite artwork below signpost.
^Megargee, Geoffrey P.; Overmans, Rüdiger; Vogt, Wolfgang (2022).The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV. Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. p. 293.ISBN978-0-253-06089-1.
^гл. ред. Б. А. Введенский (1956).Сумы // Большая Советская Энциклопедия. Государственное научное издательство «Большая Советская энциклопедия». pp. 2-е изд. том 41. М., стр.285–286.
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