to around 200,000 in 1917 (of which over half in the northern half of the Hotin county alone), mostly by migration from Podolia (just across the river Dniester). During World War I, the north-eastern corner of the Hotin county was the only area of Bessarabia occupied temporarily by Austria-Hungary. Modern history: 20th–21st centuries With the collapse of the Russian Empire, Bessarabia proclaimed independence from Russia as the Moldavian Democratic Republic in 1917. The Austrians were in control of Khotyn and several surrounding villages for several months starting February 28, 1918. In April 1918 the Moldavian Democratic Republic formally proclaimed a union with Romania. Romania and Austria signed a peace treaty in May 1918, and the Austrians withdrew from the area. The treaty was not formally ratified by Romania, a former Entente ally which found itself isolated, until on November 10 Romania re-entered the war. Shortly after that, in January 1919, local Ukrainians desiring to be part of Ukraine, started a revolt, which was also exploited by some Soviet agitators, followed by the expulsion and massacre of Ukrainian rebels and collaborators during the rebellion by the Romanian authorities from January 23 to February 1, 1919. After the Khotyn Uprising was put down by the Romanian Army, Romania implemented policies aimed at the re-Romanianization of the territory. At this time, the population was approximately 35,000. The city remained under Romanian control until June 28, 1940, when along with Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina it was occupied by the Soviet Union. In August 1940 most of Bessarabia became the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic of the Soviet Union; however, Northern Bukovina and the area around Khotyn were attached to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic as Chernivtsi Oblast and the southernmost part of Bessarabia (Budjak) became the Akkerman (later Izmail) Oblast. After Operation Barbarossa, where Romania acted as a Germany ally, the area was retaken by Romania in early July 1941. In March 1944, with the defeat of the Axis forces, the town was retaken by the Soviets, and reattached to Soviet Ukraine. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine in 1991, Khotyn became a part of newly independent Ukraine. In 2000, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine created the historical-architectural preserve "Khotynska Fortetsia" (Khotyn Fortress). In September 2002, the city celebrated its 1,000 year anniversary. Until July 18, 2020, Khotyn served as an administrative center of Khotyn Raion.