Oster

a city (since 1961) in the Kozelets Raion, Chernigov Oblast, the Ukrainian SSR.

The city, which has a landing, is situated at the confluence of the Oster and the Desna (a tributary of the Dnieper), 43 km from the Bobrik railroad station on the Kiev-Bakhmach line. Local industry is represented by a butter factory, a bakery, a sawmill, a cotton-cloth factory, a combine that processes agricultural produce, and a food-processing combine. Oster has a building technicum and a museum of local lore. The city is a tourist center.

Oster’s principal architectural monument is the Mikhailovskaia Church (Mikhailovskaia Bozhnitsa or Iur’eva Bozhnitsa), which dates from 1098. Only the eastern part is still standing. The church has a single apse and four columns arranged to form an elongated rectangle. The apse is decorated with frescoes, which were painted between 1098 and 1152.

an urban-type settlement in Roslavl’ Raion, Smolensk Oblast, RSFSR. It has a railroad station on the Smolensk-Roslavl’ line, 100 km southeast of Smolensk. Peat is extracted near the settlement.

(also Ostr), a river in Smolensk Oblast, RSFSR, and in Mogilev Oblast, Byelorussian SSR; a left tributary of the Sozh River (Dnieper River basin). It is 274 km long and drains an area of 3,490 sq km. The Oster originates in the Smolensk Upland. It is fed primarily by snow. The mean flow rate 36 km from the river’s mouth is 20.8 cu m per sec. The river freezes over between November and early January and thaws in late March or April. The city of Roslavl’ is situated on the Oster.

(also Vostr), a river in Chernigov Oblast, Ukrainian SSR; a left tributary of the Desna River (Dnieper basin). It is 199 km long and drains an area of 2,950 sq km. It flows through the Dnieper Lowland. The Oster is fed primarily by snow. The mean flow rate 27 km from the river’s mouth is about 3.2 cu m per sec. In the middle course, sluices have been built to channel water from the Oster into the Trubezh River. Further downstream there is a hydroelectric power plant. The cities of Nezhin and Oster are situated on the Oster.