Bryansk (Russian: Брянск, IPA: [brʲansk]) is a city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, situated on the Desna River, 379 kilometers (235 mi) southwest of Moscow. It has a population of 379,152 at the 2021 census.

Bryansk
Брянск
Lenin Street
Lenin Street
Flag of Bryansk
Герб Брянска
Location of Bryansk
Map
Bryansk is located in Bryansk Oblast
Bryansk
Bryansk
Location of Bryansk
Bryansk is located in European Russia
Bryansk
Bryansk
Bryansk (European Russia)
Bryansk is located in Russia
Bryansk
Bryansk
Bryansk (Russia)
Coordinates: 53°14′33″N 34°22′00″E / 53.24250°N 34.36667°E / 53.24250; 34.36667
CountryRussia
Federal subjectBryansk Oblast[1]
Founded985[2] or 1146[3]
Government
 • BodyCouncil of People's Deputies[4]
 • Head[4]Marina Dbar[5]
Elevation
190 m (620 ft)
Population
 • Total
415,721
 • Estimate 
(January 2015)[7]
426,225
 • Rank41st in 2010
 • Subordinated toBryansky Urban Administrative Okrug (city of oblast significance)[8]
 • Capital ofBryansk Oblast,[1] Bryansky Urban Administrative Okrug[8]
 • Urban okrugBryansk Urban Okrug[9]
 • Capital ofBryansk Urban Okrug[9]
Time zoneUTC+3 (MSK Edit this on Wikidata[10])
Postal code(s)[11]
241000–241002, 241004, 241006, 241007, 241010–241025, 241027–241031, 241033, 241035–241041, 241044, 241044, 241047, 241050, 241890, 241899, 241960–241967, 241970, 241980–241983, 241985, 241988, 241991
Dialing code(s)+7 4832
OKTMO ID15701000001
City DaySeptember 17
Websitewww.bga32.ru
Historical population
YearPop.±%
189724,500—    
192643,937+79.3%
193987,490+99.1%
1959207,319+137.0%
1970317,504+53.1%
1979394,210+24.2%
1989452,160+14.7%
2002431,526−4.6%
2010415,721−3.7%
2021379,152−8.8%
Source: Census data

History

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A monument to Alexander Peresvet and Boyan

The first written mention of Bryansk, as Debryansk, dates to 1146 in the Kievan Chronicle. The name appears variously as Дъбряньск, Дьбряньск, and in other spellings.[3] Etymologically, it derives from "дъбръ", a Slavic word for "ditch", "lowland", or "dense woodland";[12][13] the area was known for its dense woods, of which very little remains today. Local authorities and archaeologists, however, believe that the town had existed as early as 985[2] as a fortified settlement on the right bank of the Desna River.

Bryansk remained poorly attested until the 1237–1242 Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus'. It was the northernmost of the Severian cities in the possession of the Olgovichi clan of Chernigov. After the Mongols executed Prince Mikhail of Chernigov in 1246 and his capital was destroyed, his purported son Roman Mikhailovich moved his seat to Bryansk. In 1310, when the Mongols sacked the town again, it belonged to the Principality of Smolensk.

Grand Duke Algirdas of Lithuania acquired Bryansk through inheritance in 1356 and gave it to his son, Dmitry the Elder. Until the end of the century Grand Duke Jogaila of Lithuania, Grand Duke Vytautas of Lithuania, the future Grand Duke Švitrigaila of Lithuania, and Grand Duke Yury of Smolensk contested control of the town.

The Grand Duchy of Moscow conquered Bryansk following the Battle of Vedrosha in 1503. The town was turned into a fortress which played a major role during the Time of Troubles (1598–1613). During the Time of Troubles the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth occupied the town in 1610, and it remained in Polish-Lithuanian hands as part of Smolensk Voivodeship until the Truce of Deulino in 1634. In 1709 Tsar Peter the Great incorporated Bryansk into the Kiev Governorate, but Empress Catherine the Great deemed it wise to transfer the town to the newly-formed Oryol Governorate in 1779. She also promulgated the town's coat of arms (August 1781).

In the 17th and 18th centuries the economy of Bryansk, which had become a regional trading center, was based on the Svenskaya fair (Russian: Свенская ярмарка), the largest in European Russia. The fair took place annually under the auspices of the nearby Svensky Monastery. After the town started to manufacture cannon and ammunition for the Imperial Russian Navy in 1783, Bryansk evolved from a regional market town into an important industrial center for metallurgy and textiles. The city's population exceeded 30,000 by 1917.[14] In 1812 Napoleon's Grande Armée fought the Russians in Bryansk and in Oryol during the French invasion of Russia.

 
May Day at former Christmas Mountain (now Yuri Gagarin Boulevard) in 1920

In 1918 the Belarusian People's Republic and Ukrainian People’s Republic both claimed Bryansk, but Bolshevik forces took the town in 1919. During World War II the German Wehrmacht captured Bryansk and encircled the Soviet 3rd,13th and 50th armies. The town remained under Axis occupation from October 6, 1941 to September 17, 1943, with the city left heavily damaged by fighting. About 60,000 Soviet partisans were active in and around Bryansk, inflicting heavy losses on the German Army. In 1944, soon after its liberation, Bryansk became the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast.

In 2016 the city council approved a new general city plan, which called among others for laying of a new route from Burov Street along the Bolva River to Vokzalnaya Street with the intersection of the railway and Bolva. In the southern direction, it is proposed to extend the road along the Desna to the Fokinsky District to Moskovsky Prospekt, construction of a road from the Black Bridge along the Karachizh ravine with the intersection of Stanke Dimitrova Avenue to Sakharova Street, reconstruction of Sakharova Street to the bypass road and the R120 highway, as well as development of the area of the old airport (area of Gorbatova, Stepnaya streets).[15]

A large fire was noted at an oil depot on April 25, 2022. Speculation was that it might have been a result of military action during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[16][17]

December 7, 2023 - shooting happened in gymnasium No. 5.As a result of the same shooting,two people died(including the attacker)and five were injured.Also,this shooting caused a high public result(although usually such cases mainly cause public outcry!),.[18][19]

Geography

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Urban layout

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Gorno-Nikolskaya Church

The location of the settlement was originally associated with navigable river-routes and was located in the area of the Chashin Kurgan, where the fortress walls were erected. For reasons that have not yet been clarified, the city changed its location and by the middle of the 12th century had established itself on the steep slopes of the right bank of the Desna on Pokrovskaya Hill (Russian: Покровская гора). The foundations of the future urban development of the city were laid even earlier, when around the city-fortress in the 17th century after the Time of Troubles of 1598–1613 on the coastal strip at the foot of the Bryansk fortress the posadskaya "Zatinnaya Sloboda" was upset, and on the upper plateau, between Verkhniy Sudok and White Kolodez - the "Streletskaya Sloboda".[20]

Somewhat earlier behind the posad (the territory between the fortress and the Peter-Pavlovsky monastery), after the annexation of Bryansk to the Moscow state and the organization of the Yamskaya service in 1503, the Yamskaya Sloboda appeared. Zatinnaya Sloboda is located on the site of the ancient "Zhitny Gorod" - a fortified territory of food warehouses and salt storages. Later, the settlement gave way to a cannon yard, on the site of which the Arsenal was located in the 18th century.[20]

The general plan of the city of Bryansk plan laid the foundations for the development of the city in a regular system designed to streamline the existing buildings for centuries, limit the spontaneous growth of the city, and create a new community center. In the drawing, the territory of the upper plateau was covered with a geometrical grid of quarters formed by streets going down to the Desna and perpendicular to them.[21]

Three squares were "strung" on two of them: Sobornaya - on the coastal Moskovskaya street, Krasnaya gorodskaya - in the center of the plateau and Shchepnaya market - on the western border of the city (by the entrance to the present-day Dynamo stadium). The plan captures the historical layout. The city is spread out on the right bank of the Desna. It was a picturesque group of different-sized, irregularly shaped quarters. The city center did not stand out in terms of planning, it was defined by a fortress on Pokrovskaya Hill, dominating the city.[21]

Streets descending from the upper plateau were united into one, following along the bank of the Desna. The city was almost entirely wooden, with the exception of only a few stone (mainly religious) buildings. The street network included all buildings significant at that time. The central quarters were designated for the construction of stone public, commercial and residential buildings. Red (Krasnaya) Square was to be decorated with the buildings of public offices, magistrates and commercial institutions; the market square - built up with handicraft enterprises, smithies and shops.[22]

The plan as revised in 1802 significantly increased the territory of the city and included in the regular system not only the coastal area and the area between Sudki, but also the Petrovskaya Gora area and Yamskaya Sloboda with Forest Sheds in the north and north-east, the area between the White Kolodez ravine and the Podar River on south; it increased the territory of the central part in the northwest behind the market square. The quarters were enlarged, the streets classified, and squares located on a larger scale to the territory of the city.[23]

Smolenskaya Street - in common parlance Rozhdestvenskaya Gora (now Sovetskaya Street - Gagarin Boulevard) - is the main highway connecting the upland part with the coastal one. It connects three squares: Cathedral, Red and Sennaya (former Shchepnaya). Two other highways run in the longitudinal direction: Bolshaya Moskovskaya (now Kalinin Street) in the coastal part and Petropavlovskaya-Voskresenskaya Street (now Lenin Avenue), which unites the city in the upland part.[23]

Petropavlovskaya and Voskresenskaya streets, continuing it, crossing the whole city, at the intersection with Trubchevskaya (now Krasnoarmeyskaya) street ended in a new, fourth square - Khlebnaya (on the site of the modern Partizanskaya Square, there was once a mill on this place). From here there were roads to Trubchevsk and Karachev. All squares were square. At the beginning of the 19th century, out of 867 houses in the city, only 25 were of stone; out of 17 stone churches there were 10. A little more than a dozen buildings built in the second half of the 18th century have survived to this day.[23]

The unique architectural silhouette of the city, which was formed by the beginning of the 19th century, was skilfully expanded and enlarged by the end of the century. In the center, on the territory of the Spaso-Polikarpov Monastery, the Novopokrovsky Cathedral was erected (1862–1897), which emphasized the planning center of the district town with its scale. On the right flank there was a building of a trade and craft school, built by the architect N. A. Lebedev, which linked the building of the Arsenal plant and the Tikhvin church into a single chain of historical buildings.[23]

 
Holy Trinity Orthodox cathedral in Bryansk

The first isographic depiction of the city is a 1857 panorama from the left bank of the Desna, painted in watercolor by self-taught artist Gabriel Vasilyevich Khludov, a draftsman of the Bryansk Arsenal. In the center of the picture is Pokrovskaya Hill with the stone church of the same name and a bell tower, at the bottom right of the Arsenal building, then the Resurrection, Nikolskaya and Trinity churches, the ensemble of the Peter-Pavlovsky Monastery, and in the foreground - the Ascension Church of the Zaretskaya Sloboda.[24][25]

It is not definitively known when the first Bryansk fortress appeared as a long-term fortification. The reports of the governor of 1629, and paintings from 1678, 1682, 1685, 1686 testify that the fortress on Pokrovskaya Hill was cut down, like in the old days, from oak logs and consisted of walls with towers. Inventories noted that the fortress was built on a native mountain. The city - "oak, chopped, covered with planks" - included a system of blind and drive-through towers connected by walls, supplemented by embankments and a wooden "standing prison in one log".[citation needed]

The fortress had towers: Spasskaya, Arkhangelskaya, Bezymyannaya, Bushuevskaya, the first and second Voskresensky, Nikolskaya, Pyatnitskaya, Rukavnaya, Sudkovskaya, Prechistenskaya, Rozhdestvenskaya, Georgievskaya, Karachevskaya and Tainichnaya. The fortress of the "old" and "new" cities had a certain number of towers and a different amount of weapons.[citation needed]

The fortress was described at the beginning of the 18th century: "an ancient fortress in the city of Bryansk occupied the top of a small mountain, but with rather steep slopes and, in terms of its position relative to the city located on the right bank of the Desna, constituted a citadel. Its fortified fence was in an irregular quadrangle, at the corners of which there were small ledges. They were joined by a chain retransmission, placed on one of the ledges of a raised area."[26]

Climate

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Bryansk has a warm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb).

Climate data for Bryansk (1991–2020, extremes 1928–present)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 7.6
(45.7)
9.9
(49.8)
23.5
(74.3)
28.3
(82.9)
32.2
(90.0)
34.9
(94.8)
37.7
(99.9)
38.4
(101.1)
30.7
(87.3)
24.8
(76.6)
17.1
(62.8)
9.9
(49.8)
38.4
(101.1)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) −3.3
(26.1)
−2.3
(27.9)
3.5
(38.3)
12.7
(54.9)
19.6
(67.3)
22.8
(73.0)
24.6
(76.3)
23.5
(74.3)
17.3
(63.1)
10.0
(50.0)
2.3
(36.1)
−2.1
(28.2)
10.7
(51.3)
Daily mean °C (°F) −5.7
(21.7)
−5.2
(22.6)
−0.3
(31.5)
7.7
(45.9)
14.1
(57.4)
17.6
(63.7)
19.5
(67.1)
18.1
(64.6)
12.5
(54.5)
6.3
(43.3)
0.1
(32.2)
−4.1
(24.6)
6.7
(44.1)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −8.1
(17.4)
−8.1
(17.4)
−3.7
(25.3)
3.2
(37.8)
8.8
(47.8)
12.5
(54.5)
14.6
(58.3)
13.2
(55.8)
8.3
(46.9)
3.1
(37.6)
−2.0
(28.4)
−6.3
(20.7)
3.0
(37.4)
Record low °C (°F) −41.8
(−43.2)
−34.9
(−30.8)
−29.6
(−21.3)
−21.8
(−7.2)
−4.2
(24.4)
−1.3
(29.7)
2.2
(36.0)
0.1
(32.2)
−5.2
(22.6)
−13.0
(8.6)
−23.6
(−10.5)
−38.6
(−37.5)
−41.8
(−43.2)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 46
(1.8)
42
(1.7)
38
(1.5)
38
(1.5)
65
(2.6)
74
(2.9)
83
(3.3)
60
(2.4)
70
(2.8)
56
(2.2)
50
(2.0)
50
(2.0)
672
(26.5)
Average rainy days 7 6 8 14 16 18 17 14 16 16 14 10 156
Average snowy days 23 21 14 4 0.4 0 0 0 0.4 4 14 22 103
Average relative humidity (%) 85 82 76 68 65 69 71 72 77 81 87 87 77
Mean monthly sunshine hours 18.6 58.8 133.3 180.0 282.1 264.0 294.5 260.4 171.0 83.7 27.0 21.7 1,795.1
Source 1: Pogoda.ru.net[27]
Source 2: Climatebase (sun, 1949–2011)[28]

Administrative and municipal status

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Bryansk is the administrative center of the oblast.[1] Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is, together with three work settlements (Belye Berega, Bolshoye Polpino, and Raditsa-Krylovka), incorporated separately as Bryansky Urban Administrative Okrug—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.[1] As a municipal division, Bryansky Urban Administrative Okrug is incorporated as Bryansk Urban Okrug.[9]

Economy

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Today's Bryansk is an important center for steel and machinery manufacturing, and is home to many large factories. The main industries are machine building, metalworking, chemical, electrical equipment, electronics, wood, textile and food industries, locomotives, diesel engines, freight cars, motor graders, pavers and other road equipment, agricultural equipment, construction materials, and garments.

Transportation

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Bryansk-I, May 2010

Since 1868, there is a railway connection between Bryansk and Moscow.[29] The city has railway stations: Bryansk Orlovsky and Bryansk-Lgovskiy (Bryansk Bryansk -I and -II, respectively), Ordzhonikidzegrad; Street Bus Station and Peresvet Bezhitsa bus station. fourteen kilometres (9 miles) west of the city lies the Bryansk International Airport.

Passenger traffic carried by bus (more than 1,400 cars on 54 permanent urban routes), trolley on 10 regular routes, uses (36 routes), as well as commuter trains and railcars. The cost of public transport (trolley buses) is 16 rubles, and buses, 20 rubles (as of May 2018).

Culture and education

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Monument of Kurgan of Immortality

In Bryansk, 69 municipal schools are operating in the 2022/2023 academic year.[30]

There are also 5 universities in the city:

Sport

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FC Dynamo Bryansk is football club which competes in Russian Second League.

Notable people

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Born in Bryansk

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Additional

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Twin towns – sister cities

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Bryansk is twinned with:[34]

  • (Until 2022)   Konin, Poland - On March 4, 2022, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Konin tore up the agreement.[35]
  • (Until 2022)   Chernivtsi, Ukraine
  • See also

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    References

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    Notes

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    1. ^ a b c d e Law #13-Z
    2. ^ a b Энциклопедия Города России. Moscow: Большая Российская Энциклопедия. 2003. p. 56. ISBN 5-7107-7399-9.
    3. ^ a b "Hypatian Codex". Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved July 3, 2007.
    4. ^ a b Charter of Bryansk, Article 24
    5. ^ Official website of Bryansk Council of People's Deputies. Marina Valentynivna Dbar Archived May 13, 2022, at the Wayback Machine, Head of the City of Bryansk
    6. ^ Russian Federal State Statistics Service (2011). Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года. Том 1 [2010 All-Russian Population Census, vol. 1]. Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года [2010 All-Russia Population Census] (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service.
    7. ^ Bryansk Oblast Territorial Branch of the Federal State Statistics Service. Предварительная оценка численности населения Брянской области по городским округам и муниципальным районам на 1 января 2015 года Archived April 2, 2015, at the Wayback Machine (in Russian)
    8. ^ a b Law #69-Z
    9. ^ a b c Law #3-Z
    10. ^ "Об исчислении времени". Официальный интернет-портал правовой информации (in Russian). June 3, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
    11. ^ Почта России. Информационно-вычислительный центр ОАСУ РПО. (Russian Post). Поиск объектов почтовой связи (Postal Objects Search) (in Russian)
    12. ^ Черных П. Я.: Историко-этимологический словарь современного русского языка. Москва, Русский язык-Медиа, 2004
    13. ^ Смолицкая Г. П.: Топонимический словарь Центральной России. Москва, Армада-пресс, 2002
    14. ^ "История Брянска". Archived from the original on May 3, 2014. Retrieved May 3, 2014.
    15. ^ "Новые микрорайоны и дороги: чего ждать брянцам от генплана?". November 22, 2016. Archived from the original on September 29, 2020. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
    16. ^ "Russia investigates large oil depot fire in region near Ukraine". Reuters. April 25, 2022. Archived from the original on May 3, 2023.
    17. ^ "Ukrainian TB2 Bayraktar drone 'bombed oil depots deep inside Russia'". Archived from the original on April 28, 2022. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
    18. ^ Russia school shooting: Teenage girl kills classmate and herself Archived December 7, 2023, at the Wayback Machine // BBC
    19. ^ Стрельба в гимназии в Брянске 7 декабря 2023: причины, последние новости, видео Archived December 10, 2023, at the Wayback Machine // Комсомольская правда
    20. ^ a b Кузин А. Другой Брянск. pp.34-35
    21. ^ a b "Брянск 1692 год". Archived from the original on November 30, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
    22. ^ Кузин А. Другой Брянск. pp.40-44
    23. ^ a b c d Mikhail Tsapenko. Земля Брянская, pp. 63-65
    24. ^ Евсюка. "Путешествие в глубину веков" альбом-путеводитель
    25. ^ "1629 год Брянская крепость". Archived from the original on January 5, 2019. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
    26. ^ "Крепость". Archived from the original on October 30, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
    27. ^ "Weather and Climate- The Climate of Bryansk" (in Russian). Weather and Climate (Погода и климат). Archived from the original on November 27, 2021. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
    28. ^ "Brjansk Climate Normals". Climatebase. Archived from the original on June 24, 2017. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
    29. ^ "Train Station in Bryansk" (in Russian). Archived from the original on March 23, 2012. Retrieved December 1, 2012.
    30. ^ "Образование". www.bga32.ru. Archived from the original on October 26, 2023. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
    31. ^ "Историческая справка". www.tu-bryansk.ru. Archived from the original on October 26, 2023. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
    32. ^ "Основные сведения". www.bgitu.ru. Archived from the original on October 26, 2023. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
    33. ^ "Тютчев Федор Иванович — биография поэта, личная жизнь, фото, портреты, стихи, книги". Культура.РФ (in Russian). Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
    34. ^ "Города-побратимы". bga32.ru (in Russian). Bryansk. Archived from the original on February 9, 2020. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
    35. ^ "Konin zerwał współpracę z Briańskiem i Rzeczycą - Konin. Tu płynie energia". www.konin.pl. Archived from the original on March 8, 2022. Retrieved March 12, 2022.

    Sources

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    • Брянский городской Совет народных депутатов. 30 ноября 2005 г. «Устав города Брянска», в ред. Решения №173 от 29 апреля 2015 г. «О внесении изменений и дополнений в Устав города Брянска». Вступил в силу после официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Брянск", №23, 7 декабря 2005 г. (Bryansk City Council of People's Deputies. November 30, 2005 Charter of the City of Bryansk, as amended by the Decision #173 of April 29, 2015 On Amending and Supplementing the Charter of the City of Bryansk. Effective as of after the official publication.).
    • Брянская областная Дума. Закон №13-З от 5 июня 1997 г. «Об административно-территориальном устройстве Брянской области», в ред. Закона №4-З от 5 февраля 2014 г. «О внесении изменений в отдельные законодательные акты Брянской области». Опубликован: "Брянский рабочий", №119, 24 июня 1997 г. (Bryansk Oblast Duma. Law #13-Z of June 5, 1997 On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Bryansk Oblast, as amended by the Law #4-Z of February 5, 2014 On Amending Various Legislative Acts of Bryansk Oblast. ).
    • Брянская областная Дума. Закон №69-З от 2 ноября 2012 г. «Об образовании городских административных округов, поселковых административных округов, сельских административных округов, установлении границ, наименований и административных центров административных округов в Брянской области». Вступил в силу 1 января 2013 г. Опубликован: Информационный бюллетень "Официальная Брянщина", №16, 6 ноября 2012 г.. (Bryansk Oblast Duma. Law #69-Z of November 2, 2002 On the Establishment of Urban Administrative Okrugs, Settlement Administrative Okrugs, Rural Administrative Okrugs, on Establishing Borders, Names, and Administrative Centers of the Administrative Okrugs of Bryansk Oblast. Effective as of January 1, 2013.).
    • Брянская областная Дума. Закон №3-З от 9 марта 2005 г. «О наделении муниципальных образований статусом статусом городского округа, муниципального района, городского поселения, сельского поселения и установлении границ муниципальных образований в Брянской области», в ред. Закона №75-З от 28 сентября 2015 г. «Об изменении статуса населённого пункта посёлок Красный Ятвиж Клетнянского района Брянской области». Вступил в силу через 10 дней после официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Брянская неделя", №13, 8 апреля 2005 г. (Bryansk Oblast Duma. Law #3-Z of March 9, 2005 On Granting the Municipal Formations the Status of Urban Okrug, Municipal District, Urban Settlement, Rural Settlement and on Establishing the Borders of the Municipal Formations of Bryansk Oblast, as amended by the Law #75-Z of September 28, 2015 On Changing the Status of the Inhabited Locality the Settlement of Krasny Yatvizh in Kletnyansky District of Bryansk Oblast. Effective as of the day which is 10 days after the official publication.).
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