With the recent escalation of the crisis between Russia and Ukraine, the name of the city of Lviv (LVIV) in western Ukraine, on the border with Poland, was frequently mentioned.

For its part, the United States announced that it had decided to move its embassy in Ukraine from the capital, Kiev, to the city of Lviv, following the "acceleration of the Russian military buildup" on the country's borders.

Before that, Washington withdrew all American employees from the OSCE mission in Donetsk, and moved them to temporary offices in Lviv. Australia and Canada also evacuated their embassies in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, and moved the employees to Lviv.

A few days ago, the Ukrainian authorities announced the dismantling of two robot farms in the city of Lviv, with a total capacity of 18,000 fake accounts, according to a report on the “Vice” website, and confirmed that technical experts from Russia were supervising those farms.

Prince Lev

King Danilo named the founder of the city of Lviv after his son, Prince Lev Danilovich.

It is called by several names, such as Lviv, Loyo or Lvov, and its capital is Oblast.

In antiquity, different names were used for the city: "Limburg, Limburg, Limburg, Lauhurd, Littbad, Litbon, Leona, Civitas, Leontaples, Lewisburg, Limburg, Limburg".

Population: 721,510 people (estimates for the year 2021), as 88% are Ukrainians, 9% are Russians, 1% are Poles, and the rest are minorities.

The city is located at an altitude of 296 meters in an area of ​​182 square kilometers.

Lviv has a humid continental climate, with cold winters and warm summers.

The origin of the city dates back to the year 1200 in the period of the Ukrainian-Russian Empire.

- 1256: The city of Lviv was founded by Prince Danilo, and it witnessed a great commercial prosperity through the trade route from Vienna to Kiev.

- Throughout the ages, the city has been a scene of conflict between the forces that tried to occupy the region.

- 1349: It was occupied by the Poles (Poles) and annexed to the Polish and Polo-Lithuanian kingdoms.

1672: The city of Lviv fell under the control of the Turks.

1704: Lviv falls under the control of the Swedes.

1772: Lviv becomes the capital of Galicia (currently one of the autonomous regions of Spain).

1772: The city is annexed to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

- After the fall of the empire during the First World War, Lviv became the capital of what is known as the Western Ukrainian People's Republic, where the Poles soon occupied it again to be included in the Second Republic of Poland.

1848: Lviv becomes the main center of the Ukrainian national movement.

1919: Lviv fell under the control of the Poles, and the Soviet-Polish treaty was signed confirming the city's ownership of Poland.

1939: In World War II, the city was annexed to the Soviet Union within the Ukrainian part for two years.

1941: It was occupied by the Germans.

1944: Returned to the Soviets again.

During World War II, the German forces occupied the city of Lviv and exterminated most of the Jews there.

By the early 1990s, the number of Jews in the city had reached approximately 17,000.

1945: Poland formally ceded the city to the Soviet Union.

1991: After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the city became part of the current state of Ukraine.

"Black City"

Throughout history, Lviv has been called by many names and expressions, such as “the city of lions”, “the city of sleeping lions”, “the royal city”, “the pearl of the crown of Europe”, “the city museum”, “the capital of Galicia”, and “Paris” Little Vienna, Little Vienna, Ukrainian Piedmont and Banderstadt.

The official emblem and flag of Lviv is the old coat of arms.

Before World War II, the emblem of Lviv consisted of an image of 5 colored towers in Lviv, and the motto "Lviv is open to the world" beneath it.

The modern coat of arms of the city of Lviv is a shield bearing the coat of arms of the city crowned with a silver city crown with 3 edges held by a lion and an ancient warrior.

The flag of Lviv is a blue square banner with the city's emblem and yellow and blue triangles at the edges.

Cultural center

The city of Lviv is a major center for publication and culture, especially for Ukrainian culture, which clearly flourished in the tsarist eras, and this was evident when a university was established as one of the institutions of higher education and scientific research in the city and was named after the Ukrainian poet and journalist Ivan Franko during the period of the Soviet regime.

The city includes public and private universities, the most important of which is Lviv University.

It is famous for the National Orchestra and the National Opera and Ballet Theatre.

It is an important cultural and economic center for the country and for Eastern Europe.

The historic city center is under the protection of UNESCO and has been the cultural capital of Ukraine since 2009.

Currently, the city has a very good economy, and is the most important commercial center in western Ukraine.

Unemployment rates in the city of Lviv are very low and reach less than 1%.

In Lviv there are about 218 industrial companies, more than 40 commercial banks and about 80 insurance companies, and it has many leading companies in information technology, with more than 15 thousand employees in this sector.

It witnesses a diversity of religions, with Catholics making up more than half of its population, and Jews about 2%.

It is one of the few European cities where there is a cemetery dedicated to the burial of Muslims according to Islam.

The Jesuit Garden is one of the most famous destinations in the city, as it was the first garden in Ukraine.

1784: The world's first balloon was launched into the sky from Lviv.

The city witnessed the construction of the first hotel in Ukraine, as well as the first railway, the first university and the first public theater.

Since tourism is one of the most important sectors in the city, it witnesses annually more than 100 annual festivals.

terrible disaster

- July 27, 2002: Sknilev Airport in Lviv, western Ukraine, witnessed a terrible disaster, when a Sukhoi-27 warplane crashed into a large crowd of spectators who were watching an air show of the Ukrainian Air Force.

The accident killed 83 people - including 19 children - and injured 199 others, and the two pilots managed to eject with a parachute and were taken to hospital.

President Leonid Kuchma dismissed the commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, General Viktor Strelnikov, and the commander of the 14th air unit, Sergey Onishchenko, and also took a decision in principle to ban air shows in Ukraine.

The Public Prosecution decided to remand General Strelnikov and 3 other officials in the Air Force in pretrial detention, pending investigation into the accident.

Defense Minister Vladimir Shkidchenko submitted his resignation to the president following the disaster.

September 15, 2014: Following the outbreak of battles between the Ukrainian army and pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, forces from 15 NATO member states, including the United States, conducted the Trident Rapid 14 military maneuvers near Lviv city.

- December 24, 2021: The Russian Foreign Ministry announced that its consulate in the city of Lviv was attacked by unknown persons.

The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the Chargé d'Affairs of the Ukrainian Embassy, ​​Vassily Pokotilo, to protest the attack on the consulate.