TOWN DESCRIPTION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00047R000400350004-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 22, 2013
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: April 26, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr2013/04/23 : CIA-RDP82-00047R000400350004-4
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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
COUNTRY USSR
SUBJECT Town Description
PLACE
ACQUIRED
DATE
ACQUIRED
DATE OF
THIS DOCUMENT Ca NNNNNN INFORMATION AFFECTING THE NATIONAL 0 NNNNNN
OF THE UNITED NNNNNN THE DEANINGOF TITLE IS, SECTIONS 70$
AND 71149 OF TN! U.S. CODE, AS AMENDED. ITS TTTTTT ISSION OR PETE.
LOTION OF ITS CONTENTS TO OR IIECEIFT ST AN UNAUTHORIZED PERSON IS
PRONISITED MY LAW. PNE REPRODUCTION OP THIS FORM II PRONIDITEO.
DATE DISTR.. 4 Apr 1954
NO. OF PAGES 3 50X1
NO. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
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THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
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1. The town of Lokhvitsa is situated in a small valley and has a population
of 10 thousand.
2. The main street in town is Skovoroda Ulitsa. It is named after a famous
Ukrainian philosopher who was born and reared there. The main street
runs northeast to southwest through the center of town. It is constructed
of asphalt and stones and is in very poor condition. The other streets
are dirt- and are also in poor condition. All the sidewalks in the town
are narrow. Most of the streets in town are wide enough for four cars.
3. There is no heavy industry in town except a brick works, a leather factory
and a saw mill. The largest building in town is three stories high. The
leather factory is located northeast of the town on the outskirts and em-
ploys about 80 persons. The factory manufactures shoes, boots and felt
linings for the boots. The footwear is sold locally and it is also exported.
4. The saw mill is situated north, northeast of the town on the Sula River,
which is also on the outskirts. The mill employs 40 persons. They work
8-10 hours a day and a six-day week. The lumber products .are primarily used
locally.
5. The brick works is on the northeast side of the main road which leads to the
town of Minya. It is also on the outskirts of town and employs about 100
persons. It runs full blast during the summer season, from May until
September.. The bricks are used locally. The factory also makes vases of
various sizes and types for export and local use.
6. There is a large nursery in town which sells shrubs, flowers and plants
to the town folks and farmers for their gardens and orchards. There is a
very large park in the center of town which has many pine trees.
7. The post office and telephone station are in the same building on the main
street. It is a two-story red brick building. The,Mayorts office, a govern-
ment photo building and the first gymnasium school are also on Skovoroda
Ulitsa. The town has three other gymnasiums and on pedagogical institute.
. DISTRIBUTION
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr2013/04/23 : CIA-RDP82-00047R000400350004-4
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr2013/04/23 : CIA-RDP82-00047R000400350004-4
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The institute has an enrollment of five hundred students.
8. Electricity for the town, factories, stores, and some homes is furnished
by an old power plant which is in the center of town. It has one gasoline
pOwered, - :;eilertMtorand one auxiliary. Many times the generator would
break down and the town would be without lights.
9. The town jail of Lokhvitsa is in the center of the city. It is an old
brick building and is two stories high. Normally each cell holds from
three to five persons. During the Soviet occupation all the furniture was
taken out of the cells and each cell was crammed with about 25 persons,
each sitting or sleeping atop one another. At one time the entire jail
contained about two hundred persons.
10. The town has a large clinical hospital consisting of several buildings
scattered throughout the town. There is another large hospital near the
town of Tokari.
11. Most of the houses have no running wat :The homes have a hand type
water pump and there are spring water 1ls, scattered throughout the town.
Some wells are 20-30 feet deep. The Sula River is not suitable for drink-
ing and the town has no purification system.
12. The Sula River flows through the center of the town and in some places it
is from 20-30 feet wide and the depth varies. In some places a person can
wade across and in some it is deep enough for swimming. '
13. Most of the houses have ordinary outdoor WC's. Periodically the excrement
would be taken out, loaded on a horse drawn wagon or hand cart, taken to
the fields and used for fertilizer.
14. Each resident is responsible for his own garbage disposal. Some of it is
used in the garden, feeding pigs, or it is loaded on carts and taken out
to be dumped in the fields.
15. Hey, wood or peat is used in the homes for heating and cooking. The major-
ity of the homes are lit by candles or benzine type lamps.
16. Lokhvitsa is made up of about 90% Ukrainians with some Russian, Jewish,
and gypsy elements.
17. The town has no trolley lines. A bus which goes through the town twice a
day on its way to other towns is generally used, or the people walk, use
horse and wagon, bicycles, or manage to ride one of the state owned and oper-
ated trucks.
18. The town has many orchards. Cherries, apples, pears, peaches and plums are
grown. Oats and wheat are the chief crops in this area plus a vast acreage
of sugar beets. Approximately eight miles south, Southwest of Tokari there
is a large sugar beet factory. this is the largest sugar beet 50X1
factory in the USSR.
19. The rural area around Lokhvitsa is hilly, covered densely with forests in
some areas. The trees are mostly oak and birch and vary in height. Trees
are cut dawn by the town folk for home use.
One main highway is from Lokhvitsa via Mliny to Tokari. It is a dirt road
and wide enough for two i ton or 3 ton Zis type trucks to pass one another.
During the Soviet occupation this road was forbidden to all other type of
transportation except automobiles and trucks. They would have to travel
alongside the main road. The other main road is from Lokhvitsa via Venslavy
to Iubny.
21. The secondary roads are from Lokhvitsa to Vesilki and another to Bezsaly.
There was no railroad in Lokhvitsa. People had to go to Takuri or Peski to
get on the train.
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr2013/04/23 : CIA-RDP82-00047R000400350004-4
Declassified in Part- Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr2013/04/23 : CIA-RDP82-00047R000400350004-4
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22. Before the Soviet occupation there were five Ukrainian churches in town.
All of them were closed by the_Soviets. The crosses were taken down from
the church roofs, the icons were taken away and the churches were boarded
up. One church was converted into a museum,
23. The everyday greeting in town and rural areas was "God Help You", but dur-
ing the Soviet occupation this greeting was forbidden and the greetings
used were, "Good Day", or "Good Evening". In practically all the small
villages it,was customary to greet everyone but it was different in the
towns.
24. Most of the men in town bought their shoes, suits, coats and ties in the
stores. Some purchased only the material and their suits were made by a tailor
or their wives. The clothing material was very poor and did not contain any
wool. The greater percentage of the men preferred black or dark blue suits,
wide bottom trousers, a long dark grey coat, and a white shirt.
25. The women usually made their own clothes and the usual garb is a skirt, a
blouse of various colors, and. a kerchief.
26. The required documents that a person had to carry were a passport and a
'Working permit, Whenever one is stopped, the first question is, "Your pass-
port please*.
27. Just about everyone fishes in the town of Lokhvitsa. It is possible to fish
tn the Sula River which flows through the town or go out into the country.
It is not necessary to have a fishing permit when using a fishing rod, but
if one uses a fish net, he must have a permit. If one is caught net fishing
without a permit, he is subject to a fine and or_imprisonment and in some
instances the individual is accused of committing a "crime against the state",
and is sent away, presumably to Siberia. To avoid arrest and detection net
fishing is done at night. Ice fishing is also done in the winter season.
28. The most prevalent types of fish in the Sula River are the carp and the pike.
Nearly every person or farmer has some sort of a small boat or raft. The
town folks generally tie or lock their boats close to their homes, some Who
fished out in the country would hide their boats in the bushes or weeds along
the shore.
29.
'There are two wooden bridges south of Mliny and each is wide enough for two
cars to pass each other. The river in this section is about 30 meters wide,
varies in depth and has many whirlpools.
30. About one kilometer from Lokhvitsa alongside the road that leads to Vasilki
there is a small airfield for light planes. The airfield covers about 10
hectares and it has one small building to house gasoline for the ships.
-end-
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr2013/04/23 : CIA-RDP82-00047R000400350004-4