16 September left very different traces in the history of Mykolaiv. In 1941 this date became one of the most tragic in the city’s history – the occupiers began to gather the Jewish population ahead of mass shootings. Decades later a team from the Mykolaiv region won a unique football trophy, the Siversov Front lighthouse in the Korabelny District was opened to tourists, and in 2025 Denmark secured a large-scale support program for the region.
16 September 1941: more than 10,000 Jews of Mykolaiv were gathered before mass extermination
During the Nazi occupation all Jews of Mykolaiv were ordered to gather with their belongings near the old Jewish cemetery – on the territory where the zoo is now located. Historical materials of the regional children’s library, based on archival sources, report that more than 10,000 people were assembled here and were then taken away for execution. The mass extermination of the city’s Jewish population became one of the darkest pages in the history of occupied Mykolaiv.
16 September 1990: Ochakiv’s “Mayak” won the USSR Cup
In Karaganda the football club “Mayak” from Ochakiv played the final of the USSR Cup among factory teams against Metallurg from Aldan. Regular and extra time ended 0:0, and in the penalty shootout the team from the Mykolaiv region won 3:2. A retrospective history of the club calls this cup the only such trophy in Mykolaiv football history; the team was coached by Valeriy Viktorovych Zhuravko.
16 September 2019: the Siversov Front lighthouse in Korabelny was opened to tourists
The Ministry of Infrastructure announced the opening of the Siversov Front lighthouse in the Korabelny District of Mykolaiv to visitors. Korabelov.info reported that the lighthouse system ensures the passage of vessels through the Buzko–Dnieper–Liman channel. Later, already after the quarantine restrictions, the editorial team found that access was closed again, although before the pandemic the lighthouse did accept tourists and even had a visitors’ book.
16 September 2025: after 84 years Mykolaiv opened the renovated Square of the Righteous Among the Nations
Next to the Mykolaiv zoo and the memorial sign to the victims of the Holocaust they opened the renovated Square of Memory of the Righteous Among the Nations – people who saved Jews during the Nazi occupation. According to the city’s department of culture, the Mykolaiv region has known names of 124 Righteous Among the Nations and Righteous of Ukraine, as well as 106 rescued Jews. Symbolically, the opening took place exactly 84 years after the start of the mass gathering of the city’s Jewish population.
16 September 2025: Denmark allocated more than €225 million for Mykolaiv and the region
At the meeting of the Steering Committee of the Partnership “Mykolaiv – Denmark” a new cooperation program for 2025–2028 was presented. Its total budget was about €375 million, of which over 60% – more than €225 million – was allocated directly for Mykolaiv and the region. The funds were to be directed to education, healthcare, energy, infrastructure restoration, and support for business and communities.
This day in Ukraine and the world
16 September 2000 in Kyiv journalist and founder of Ukrainska Pravda Heorhiy Ruslanovych Gongadze disappeared. The Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance calls his murder one of the most resonant events in the history of independent Ukraine. :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}
16 September 1987 in Montreal the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer was adopted. The UN document records this date as the day it was concluded; the protocol now has 198 states and territories as parties.
16 September for Mykolaiv is a date of contrasts: one of the darkest pages of the Holocaust, a rare sporting victory, the opening of a historic lighthouse in Korabelny, and a modern international partnership on which the city’s future depends.
Earlier we wrote:
- From World War II to the current war: in Mykolaiv they recalled the price of the fight for freedom
- Kim says: enough humanitarian aid — let’s do projects that earn money
- Denmark pours hundreds of millions into the Mykolaiv region: will the money really reach the people?
- The “open” Siversov lighthouse for tourists turned out to be inaccessible
- “The oldest settlement on the Siversov lighthouse”: Mykolaiv residents tried to protect an archaeological monument in the Korabelny District
