Iuzhnyi Bug

a river in the southwestern Ukraine. The Iuzhnyi Bug measures 806 km in length and drains an area of 63,700 sq km. It rises in the marshes of the Podol’sk Hills and flows into the Dnieper Liman, on the Black Sea. In its upper course it has low banks and flows across swampy terrain. In its middle course it flows in a deep valley with rapids, which are particularly numerous between Pervomaisk and Aleksandrovka. The river then flows onto the Black Sea Lowland.

The Iuzhnyi Bug is fed mainly by snow. High water lasts from late February to early May, and low water occurs between June and February. The mean flow rate 132 km from the mouth is 82 cu m per sec, with a maximum of 5,320 cu m per sec and a minimum of 2.6 cu m per sec. The river is almost always frozen over from November until February, and the ice breaks up by mid-March. The water has a mineral content of as much as 0.9 gram per liter. The principal tributaries on the right are the Volk, Savranka, and Kodyma. On the left they are the Buzhok, Sob, Siniukha, and Mertvovod. Pike perch, pike, goby, the roach Rutilus rutilus heckeli, and other fish are caught commercially at the mouth. The water is used for irrigation. Hydroelectric power plants have been built along the river. The Iuzhnyi Bug is navigable above and below Vinnitsa and downstream from Voznesensk. The cities of Khmel’nitskii, Khmel’nik, Vinnitsa, Gaivoron, Pervomaisk, and Voznesensk are located on the river, and Nikolaev is situated at its mouth.