Merefa
City in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine
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Merefa (Ukrainian: Мeрeфa) is a city in Kharkiv Raion, Kharkiv Oblast, in eastern Ukraine. Merefa hosts the administration of Merefa urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine.[1] Population: 21,202 (2022 estimate).[2]
Name
Etymologists have not reached a final conclusion, but it is believed that the name originated from the Old Slavic "mьrRs" (to fade), which is derived from the Ukrainian merekhtyty (to flicker; barely visible). Another version is a hydronymic from "merecha" (Ukrainian for forest thicket; dense shrubbery in a swampy lowland), which is based on the Proto-Slavic "merRja" (Ukrainian for swampy place).[3] Among the analogies is also merechytysia (to be seen), which is related to the root mereka ("delusion, ghost") derived from the Proto-Slavic morkъ (морок).[4]
History
It was a village in Kharkovsky Uyezd of Kharkov Governorate of the Russian Empire.
City since 1938.[5]
In January 1989 the population was 28,952 people.[6][5] In 1992-1996, the Avangard football club of Merefa played in the national championship of Ukraine (third and second league in 1996/97) as a team that won the Kharkiv Oblast Football Championship (4 times in a row) and won prizes in transitional tournaments.
In January 2013 the population was 22,280 people.[7]
On March 17, 2022, at about 3:30 am, Russian servicemen shelled the town of Merefa, Kharkiv district, destroying a secondary school and a house of culture. 15 people were killed. 25 people were injured, 10 of them in serious condition.[8]
Demographics
Distribution of the population by ethnicity according to the 2001 census:[9]
Transport
- a railway station[5]
Gallery
A school in Merefa
Railway station
Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos
Entrance to Avanhard Stadium
