Berdiansk or Berdyansk (, ; , ) is a port city in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast (province) in south-eastern Ukraine. It is on the northern coast of the Sea of Azov, which is the northern extension of the Black Sea. It serves as an administrative center of Berdiansk Raion (district), though it does not belong to the raion. The city is named after the Berda River forming the Berdianska Spit at the foot of which it is located. Population: Berdiansk is home to a safari zoo, water park, museums, health resorts with mud baths and climatic treatments, and numerous water sport activities. Since 27 February 2022, it is under Russian military occupation. Name Its original name was "Kutur-Ogly". The city name changed to "Novo-Nogaisk" in 1830 ("New Nogaisk") (see Nogai). The present name was given to the city in 1841 by special decree of Nicholas I and named after the nearby Berda River. Between 1939 and 1958 the city was known as "Osypenko", so named after Hero of the Soviet Union Polina Osipenko. This name has now been given to the nearby village Osypenko, where Polina Osipenko was born. History 19th century In the 19th century, the Russian Imperial government began to plan to build a seaport in the Northern Azov region. In 1824, Count Mikhail Vorontsov, Governor-General of the Caucasus Viceroyalty, sent an expedition to the Azov Sea. Its task was to find a place to build a new seaport to assist in the defense of Russia's southern borders. Initially, the place for a future port was implied in the village of Obetochnoe that belonged to Count Orlov-Denisov, near the town of Nogaisk founded in 1821. In the autumn of 1824, Captain N. Kritsky, the expedition supervisor reported on several prospective sites; the best being a place closed off from the sea by the Berdianska Spit. In an official report to Vorontsov, Kritsky wrote: "the quality of Berdiansk Spit surpasses that of Obytichna Spit; you can build a landing stage and port on it unless you concede to Sevastopol...". In 1820s, the place of the future Berdiansk was just a small settlement of fishers with a few huts In 1825, merchant Nikolay Kobozev built a private wooden quay which was opened with a ceremony on July 1, 1830. Only by 12 January 1835, a state-owned quay had been built. In 1833, Kobozev set up a wooden post to function as