Research on the history of Ukrainian cities at different times was carried out in two directions – the researchers studied either general phenomena in the life of Ukrainian cities or the history of individual large economic and political centers. Very little attention has been paid to small towns. This is, to some extent, the case with the picturesque city at the confluence of two rivers – the Desna and the eponymous Oster.
Oster was founded at the end of the 10th century by Volodymyr Sviatoslavych to exercise administrative control over the surrounding area. The city has lived up to its historical purpose for thousands of years, remaining a district center until 1963.
In addition to favourable natural conditions, its proximity to Kyiv and water connections with the Dnipro River, the main transport artery, were essential for the city’s development. During the internecine wars in Rus, chronicles repeatedly mentioned the “City on the Vstr” as an important strategic point on the outskirts of Kyiv.
From the XV century, an eldership with its center in the city of Oster was gradually formed on this territory. Located on the trade route from Kyiv to Moscow, the city became the customs office of the Lithuanian-Polish state. The proximity to the Russian border influenced the peculiarities of the development of this region – slow colonisation and less exploitation of the population compared to other places in Ukraine. As M. Tkachenko noted, the life of the city was always uncertain. Oster lived on guard, waiting for attacks from the Tatars or Moscow.
After the liberation war of 1648-1654, a new era in the city’s history began. “It is necessary to have 300 men of arms in Oster because this city is between cities, that is, between Kyiv and Pereyaslavl and Chernihiv,” Hetman I. Bryukhovetskyi wrote in his Moscow articles. Since then, the city has become an economic base for strengthening tsarist power in Ukraine.
Relations between the townspeople and the garrison of the tsarist troops were always tense. In February-December 1668, dissatisfaction of the Cossacks and townspeople with the policy of the Ostroh voivode resulted in an open uprising led by Kyiv colonel V. Dvoretskyi, which was brutally suppressed by tsarist troops sent from Kyiv to help. “…The city of Ostroh stood on the way, and without Ostroh, it is difficult for Kyiv to be,” another document says.
In this period, compared to other times, the city experienced its greatest economic development. According to O. Kompan, Oster was second only to Pereiaslav in terms of the number of artisans. It became known as the largest milling center on the Left Bank Ukraine.
After the reunification, due to the restriction of Hetman’s power and the strengthening of economic relations between Ukraine and Russia, Oster lost its importance and eventually became a simple district center, like thousands of other Ukrainian cities.
The study of the history of feudal cities is of great importance in understanding the social development of the entire Ukrainian nation. Thus, Oster’s past is still waiting for its researchers.
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