Dnipro (Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine)

Dnipro (formerly Dnepropetrovsk) is a Dnieper River cruise port and city in Ukraine. It is approx 391 km (243 ml) southeast of country's capital - Kiev. On May 19, 2016, the city name was officially changed to "Dnipro". This is Ukraine's 4th largest city, with population around 980,000.

Known as Ekaterinoslav until 1925, Dnipro was formally inaugurated in 1787 by the Russian Empress Catherine the Great as the administrative centre of newly acquired territories of imperial New Russia, including the ceded to Russia by Ottoman Empire under the 1774 Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca. Originally, the city was envisioned as the 3rd capital city of the Russian Empire, after Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Dnipropetrovsk was a key centre of the arms, space and nuclear industries of the Soviet Union. It is home to Yuzhmash, major space and ballistic missile manufacturer. Due to its military industry, Dnipro was a closed city until the 1990s.