19 August has left very different marks in the history of Mykolaiv: from an unconfirmed legend about Shyroka Balka to shipbuilding, a dead dolphin and Russian missiles. And in 2022 the city that same day endured another strike and took an important step toward future cooperation with Denmark.
19 August 1941: did Hitler really land in Shyroka Balka?
In Mykolaiv local lore there is a version that on 19 August 1941 Adolf Hitler supposedly flew over Mykolaiv and landed his plane in Shyroka Balka. However, historical scrutiny of this version shows: the German newsreel often cited as evidence does not mention a landing in Mykolaiv, and Hitler’s personal pilot Hans Baur did not recall such a flight in his memoirs. Therefore this story should be regarded as an unconfirmed legend rather than an established fact.
19 August 2011: the Black Sea Shipbuilding Plant completed a large factory trawler
At the Black Sea Shipbuilding Plant in Mykolaiv on 19 August 2011 there was a ceremony marking the completion of construction and the handover to the customer of the factory trawler “General Troshev”. The vessel, 104.5 meters long, had a displacement of 5,715 tonnes and became the first in a planned series of trawlers that the yard was then trying to revive in its shipbuilding program.
19 August 2020: a dead dolphin was found in the Korablenyi district
An unusual find on 19 August 2020 was recorded by residents of the Korablenyi district: a dead dolphin lay on the riverbank. The author of the video published then indicated the area near the “Zhukova” stop.
19 August 2022: three S-300 missiles struck the “Mohylanka”, another three hit a company in the Korablenyi district
At about 04:00 on 19 August 2022 Russian forces again shelled Mykolaiv with S-300 missiles. “Korabeliv.Info” reported that 3 missiles again struck the Petro Mohyla Black Sea National University, neighboring houses were damaged, and preliminarily 1 person was injured. The mayor also reported that in the Korablenyi district another 3 missiles hit the territory of a private enterprise.
19 August 2022: Mykolaiv and Denmark signed a memorandum of cooperation
That same day the mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Senkevych, and the Danish Minister for Development Cooperation Flemming Møller Mortensen signed a memorandum of cooperation. The document envisaged implementing practices of transparency and accountability with a focus on rebuilding Mykolaiv, and the Danish side declared its intention to play a leading role in mobilizing international support for the city.
On this day in Ukraine and the world
19 August 1991 the State Committee on the State of Emergency in the USSR attempted a coup: troops were deployed in Moscow. The Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance notes that the coup’s failure accelerated the formal proclamation of Ukraine’s independence on 24 August 1991. And on 19 August 2003 an explosion at the Canal Hotel in Baghdad claimed the lives of 22 humanitarian workers; later the UN dedicated this date as World Humanitarian Day.
For Mykolaiv and the Korablenyi district, 19 August combined city legends, industrial history and wartime events. Especially symbolic was 2022: on the very day Russian missiles were destroying the city, Mykolaiv was already negotiating with international partners on principles for its future reconstruction.
Earlier we wrote:
- From Denikin’s forces to trolleybuses: what 18 August was remembered for in Mykolaiv
- Booths on the gas network, “Priluky” between the bridges and S-300 missiles: what 17 August was remembered for in Mykolaiv
- From the black August of 1941 to new trolleybuses: what 16 August was remembered for in Mykolaiv
- Sewer works, S-300, and finally trolleybuses: how “lucky” Korablenyi was on 15 August
- Books, ambrosia and “Smerchi”: the strange 14 August in Mykolaiv’s history
