The Results of 2021: Travel and Toil Overcome All

Why should we take stock? Lately, we have all felt how plans collapse and forecasts fail to come true for certain reasons beyond our control. So we need to revise our schedules, our programme, and our approach to planning, and move towards realising our ideas. In the passing year of 2021, not all of our escapades came off, but we did not sit still, and discoveries, riddles, and achievements lay in wait at every step. A hike is a step out of your comfort zone, a sudden downpour, waiting for a delayed suburban train in a 17-degree frost, and even an electric shock from an accidental touch of an electric-fence wire. Every outing is always a sense of novelty and the conquest of a new summit — a chalk cliff in Bilokuzmynivka

 

Bilokuzmynivka, Donetsk region. Chalk cliffs

Mezhova. The Museum of Local History

Since childhood we have heard that he who does not know his past is not worthy of his future. The future will come in any case, but what will it be like for each of us? We are told that we must love our land and know the history of our native region, but exactly how to arrive at that is not explained very clearly. It is better to see once than to hear a hundred times, and visiting a museum is the best way to get acquainted with the historical past of your homeland, to learn about folk traditions, cultural heritage, national rites, and the culinary features of your native region. Museums are created precisely so that we can better recognise ourselves, our kin, and our roots. The People's Museum of Local History of the Mezhova area is housed in the House of Culture in the settlement of Mezhova, Dnipropetrovsk region.

 

Mezhova. House of Culture

The Fursove Passenger Platform. The Story of Siding No. 5

The Fursove passenger railway platform of the Lyman division of the Donetsk Railway lies between the stations of Udachna (8.5 kilometres in an easterly direction) and Mezhova (10 kilometres in a westerly direction).

Donetsk Region. Cultural Heritage in Ruins. An SOS

In the Donetsk region, as throughout Ukraine, historic buildings that are famous landmarks of towns and villages are collapsing, falling into decay, and burning down. The destruction of the historical and cultural layer of this industrial region has been going on for decades, and since the early 1990s the number of neglected sites among the pre-revolutionary buildings has increased considerably. Some of the houses have owners, but they are not concerned about the state of their priceless property. Not all the historic buildings that make up the architectural face of this industrial land, or are simply important for preserving memory, are under municipal protection. But even those that have been granted the status of monuments enjoy no special privileges, and protected status has added nothing for these former masterpieces. Genuine pearls, whose history spans more than a hundred years, have potential and could be the adornment of towns and objects on tourist routes. If these works of architecture, these industrial monuments, were saved and, with the help of investors, turned into museums, offices, shops, and art galleries, they would bring both aesthetic pleasure and practical benefit.

Prelesne, Donetsk region. The abandoned Bantysh estate

Avdiivka. The Terminal Station and Trackside Settlement

The freight-and-passenger railway station of Avdiivka is located in the town of the same name in the Donetsk region and belongs to the Krasnyi Lyman division of the Donetsk Railway.

 

Avdiivka railway station. Donetsk region.

Sloviansk. The 'Pryozernyi' Ornithological Reserve

The "Pryozernyi" ornithological reserve is located in the north-eastern part of Sloviansk , near residential estates and busy motorways. The location of a natural ecosystem within the city limits entails problems such as spontaneous rubbish dumps on the territory, noise from enterprises, disturbance of living organisms, and pollution of the soil and water by domestic sewage.

Sloviansk. The "Pryozernyi" ornithological reserve

A Meteorological Station. How Is the Weather Forecast?

The weather has presented all of us with rather unpleasant surprises. Sudden downpours cause floods; in winter, moving about on the ice becomes dangerous; in May and June, late frosts destroy the fruit set on the fruit trees; and a summer holiday or a hike can be spoilt by thunderclouds. For members of many professions, it is important to know the weather's manifestations every day and every hour. Information about storms, snow and dust storms, fog, and precipitation is essential for pilots, sailors, and drivers. Information about frosts and rains is of interest to agricultural workers. It is interesting and useful for absolutely everyone to know the tricks of bad weather and the little gifts of that capricious lady, in order to plan their affairs, choose their clothes, and make the right decisions. One often hears: "The forecasters promise," but forecasters can only predict. A weather forecast is a production process consisting of several stages. At the start of compiling a forecast, meteorological technicians take measurements and observe the weather changes at a meteorological station.

 

Dmytrivka. The Museum of the Village's History

When you feel like looking at something never seen or heard of, the trumpet calls you out for a walk, a hike, a trip, an outing. Sometimes reality surpasses expectations, and sometimes it is the other way round. But on a journey you always learn much that is new and unexpected, you meet good people, gain priceless experience, and broaden your horizons. In September 2021, the village of Dmytrivka in the Mykolaivka amalgamated territorial community of the Dnipropetrovsk region celebrated the 245th anniversary of the first written mention of the village, together with its patronal feast.

 

Dmytrivka. Dnipropetrovsk region. Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God

The Ivanivka Village Council: Ivanivka, Vesele, Prohres

There are quite a few villages in Ukraine named in honour of the bearers of one of the most widespread names. Thanks to the enterprising and hard-working pioneers with the name Ivan, settlements and farmsteads named in memory of their founders appeared on the uninhabited lands in all the regions of our state. The village of Ivanivka in the Pokrovsk district of the Donetsk region is the centre of a village council to which small settlements are subordinated: Vesele, Vovche, Yevhenivka, Lysyche, Lozuvatske, Novotoretske, Prohres, Svyrydonivka, and Serhiivka.

Ivanivka and the Ivanivka village council. Pokrovsk district, Donetsk region.

The Samara River. Who Is Harming a Tributary of the Dnipro?

The Samara River, one of the largest tributaries of the mighty Dnipro, begins near the village of Mariivka in the Kramatorsk district of the Donetsk region. It covers a distance of 311 kilometres across three regions. From the Donetsk Ridge, this water artery of eastern Ukraine heads north-west to the Blyzniuky district of the Kharkiv region. Then it runs south-west and flows through the Dnipropetrovsk region, forming in its winding bed a multitude of lakes and oxbows.

 

The Samara River near the village of Dmytrivka, Dnipropetrovsk region