Sumy in short answers

That is what locals call the ruins of an unfinished Soviet sports complex on the Psel by Kozhedub Park, opposite Studiaha beach. Work on a hockey arena meant to double as a summer stage stopped when the USSR collapsed, and the concrete columns reminded people of a bombed city. More on the Neighbourhoods page.

It is the central figure of the Eternal Glory memorial on Herasyma Kondratieva Street, opened in 1975: a bronze soldier with shield and sword on a granite pylon. Officially he is the "Unknown Soldier"; the nickname comes from the famous monument in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The Eternal Flame, a T-34-85 tank and a howitzer stand nearby.

Officially, since 1973 the city has been split into Kovpakivskyi and Zarichnyi districts, though their councils and administrations have been abolished. Day to day, people use other names: the centre (the "Horod"), Zasumka, Kholodna Hora, Khimmistechko, the microdistricts ("the Sands", the "Nine", the "Ten"), Basy, Luka, Pryshyb, Veretenivka, Romenka and Postroika.

Three: Sumy State University (since 1948; the Ukrainian Academy of Banking joined it in 2016), the Makarenko Pedagogical University (since 1924) and the National Agrarian University (since 1977). There is also a branch of Kharkiv University of Internal Affairs and more than a dozen colleges.

Most likely after the Suma river (today's Sumka) where the settlement was founded. A legend tells of three bags of gold found by Cossacks, and those are on the coat of arms. There is also a joking version about Cossacks' "sum", or longing, for their sweethearts.

The official date is 1655: Herasym Kondratiev's Cossacks petitioned on 24 June and got permission on 26 June. Some historians, such as Bahalii and Hrushevsky, give 1652.

Herasym Kondratiev, former otaman of Stavyshche near Kyiv and first colonel of the Sumy Sloboda Regiment (1658–1701).

Three black hunting bags with gold buttons on a silver field, two above and one below. It was approved on 21 September 1781 and restored on 15 February 1991.

On the first Saturday of September, as set by the city charter since 2012. It used to be on 26 June and then on 2 September.

The official 2022 estimate is 256,474. Because of the war there are no more precise recent figures.

In north-eastern Ukraine on the Psel river, about 30 km from the Russian border. It is the capital of Sumy Oblast.

Yes. By Presidential Decree No. 720/2025 of 30 September 2025, Sumy received the honorary title "Hero City of Ukraine" for the courage of its residents and defenders during the Russian aggression. Trostianets in Sumy Oblast received it the same day.

Officially, the three-bag coat of arms. Unofficially, the Altanka on Pokrovska Square, a carved wooden gazebo from the 1900s.

The Resurrection Cathedral, built in 1696–1702 with the Kondratievs' money and the city's first stone building.

Because of the Kharytonenko sugar empire. Their Pavlivka refinery, opened in 1869, is said to have produced 17% of the Russian Empire's sugar.

Yes. In the summers of 1888 and 1889 he stayed at the Lintvaryov estate in Luka, now part of the city. It has been a house museum since 1960, currently closed.

The city is living, but it is shelled regularly and the front is 18–20 km away. Trains currently terminate at Konotop. Before travelling, always check updates from the Sumy regional military administration and follow air-raid alerts.