Zhytomyr

Zhytomyr is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Zhytomyr Oblast, as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Zhytomyr Raion. The city of Zhytomyr is not a part of Zhytomyr Raion: the city itself is designated as its own separate raion within the oblast; moreover Zhytomyr consists of two so-called "raions in a city": Bohunskyi Raion and Koroliovskyi Raion. Zhytomyr occupies an area of 65 square kilometres. Its population is 261,624.Zhytomyr is a major transport hub. The city lies on a historic route linking the city of Kyiv with the west through Brest. Today it links Warsaw with Kyiv, Minsk with Izmail, and several major cities of Ukraine. Zhytomyr was also the location of Ozerne airbase, a key Cold War strategic aircraft base 11 kilometres southeast of the city.