Romny

a city under oblast jurisdiction, administrative center of Romny Raion, Sumy Oblast, Ukrainian SSR. Situated on the Sula River of the Dnieper River basin. Railroad station on the Bakhmach-Romodan line. Population, 51,000 (1977).

Romny’s plants produce machinery, in particular, equipment for the printing industry, automatic telephone equipment, tractor parts, and construction materials. There is also a brickyard. Food-processing enterprises include a meat-packing plant, bread-baking combine, grain-products combines, cannery, brewery, and creamery. Light industry includes factories producing footwear and tulle curtains. There is also a furniture combine. Romny has industrial and agricultural technicums and a museum of local lore.

Romny is mentioned in the chronicle for 1096 and was part of the Severskii Principality. In 1239 it was captured by the Mongol-Tatars. In 1362 it became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and in 1569 of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. After the Russo-Polish War of 1654–67, Romny became part of the Russian state. It became a city in 1781 and the district capital of the province of Poltava in 1802. It was one of the trading centers of the Left-bank Ukraine and the site of the Il’inka wholesale trade fair. Soviet power was proclaimed in January 1918; after White Guard troops were driven out, control was reestablished in December 1919. In January 1939, Romny became part of Sumy Oblast. From September 1941 to September 1943 it was occupied by fascist German troops. Mo-nastyrishche, a Slavic settlement from the eighth to tenth centuries (Romny-Borshevo culture), has been preserved in Romny.