Rivne Oblast

Rivne Oblast links southern Volhynia with the forests of Polesia to the north and borders Belarus. A travel warning is in effect for Ukraine because of Russia's war of aggression; a trip to Rivne is described here as a portrait, for a time when the situation allows it again.

Rivne and Dubno

Rivne was the seat of the German Reichskommissariat Ukraine during World War II; the 1941 Sosenky massacre, in which around 17,000 Jews were murdered, remains a place of remembrance to this day. The city has a park with a palace of the Lubomirski princes, a Resurrection Cathedral, and a lively center. Dubno, one of the oldest towns in Volhynia, has a 15th-century fortress made famous by Gogol's novella "Taras Bulba." Nearby lies Ostroh, with a castle and Eastern Europe's first institution of higher learning, the 16th-century Ostroh Academy.

In the 16th century, Ostroh was a center of scholarship; the Ostroh Bible, the first complete Bible in Church Slavonic, was printed here in 1581. The castle and the academy still draw visitors today. In the nearby village of Mezhyrich stands a fortified Trinity Monastery from the 15th and 16th centuries.

Tunnel of Love and Polesia

The Tunnel of Love near Klevan became world famous: a forest railway line runs through a dense tunnel of foliage, shaped by the passing trains. In spring and summer, couples come here to make wishes. In the north of the oblast lies the Rivne Nature Reserve, a biosphere reserve with bogs and pine forests; amber lies in the ground and is mined illegally in many places. The Rivne Nuclear Power Plant near Varash is an important employer.

Food and Getting There

Mushrooms, berries, and fish are typical, as are potato pancakes and millet porridge. Rivne lies on the Kyiv–Lviv railway line and can be reached from Kyiv by train in a little over four hours. Air strikes are possible here, too; check current safety advisories before traveling. In peacetime, May through September is ideal, when the Tunnel of Love is green.