character of its sister city, the oblast capital of Poltava. During the Cold War, Kremenchuk became the headquarters for the 43rd Rocket Division of the 43rd Army of the Soviet Strategic Rocket Forces. The division was equipped with R-12 Dvina intercontinental ballistic missiles. In 1975 the city of Kryukiv was merged with Kremenchuk, while Kremenchuk was divided in two raions in city. In 2014 during the mass demolition of monuments to Vladimir Lenin in Ukraine, in the city were removed two monuments of the Russian Communist leader in the city center and near the Kryukiv Railcar Factory. Oleh Babayev, the mayor of Kremenchuk was assassinated on July 26, 2014. Oleh Babayev opposed separatism and promoted national unity, prior to becoming mayor he was a member of the Batkivshchyna political party which opposed Victor Yanukovich. His political views and Kremenchuk's large industrial base may have been the motivation for the attack. During the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine security at the Kremenchuk Reservoir was heightened as it was seen as a possible target for saboteurs. During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kremenchuk has been under attack by Russian forces. On April 27 and May 12 an oil refinery was hit by Russian missiles and will be out of operation for months. On June 27 a shopping mall was hit by Russian missiles and caught fire, 16 people died and 59 were injured. Just after the strike, a nearby factory was hit. Russian authorities claimed that the factory hosted weapons supplied by the US and European countries. In 2014, the factory was known to repair armoured personnel carriers (BTR-70s). Economy Kremenchuk is the economic center of the Poltava Oblast and one of the leading industrial centers of Ukraine. , it contributed about 7 percent of the national economy and accounted for more than 50 percent of the industrial output in Poltava Oblast. The city is home to KrAZ, a truck-manufacturing company (one of the largest in Eastern Europe) as well as a major European oil refinery operated by Ukrtatnafta, the road-making machine works, Kremenchuk Automobile Assembly Plant, the Kryukivsky Car Manufacturing Plant, train railway rolling stock wagons, the wheel plant, the carbon black plant, the steel works and others. The light industries of the city include tobacco (JTI), confectionery (Roshen), a knitting factory as well as milk and meat processing plants. Kremenchuk is one of the most important railway junctions in