Uryupinsk is a Russian town, an administrative center of Uryupinsk District of the Volgograd Region. It is located 340 km to the northwest of Volgograd, on the left bank of River Khoper.

The population of Uryupinsk is 41 594 people (2010). In Russian press and literature Uryupinsk is quite often referred to as the “capital of the Russian province”.

The town has the Museum of Local Lore, the Museum of the Goat, and an Art Gallery. The major sight of Uryupinsk is River Khoper, which is recognized by UNESCO as the purest river of Europe.

History of Uryupinsk

A town named Uryupesk is registered in the annalistic “List of Russian Towns, Faraway and Near” as a boundary fortress of the Ryazan Princedom. It was probably destroyed by steppe nomads and founded anew in 1618. From the 18th century it existed as Village Uryupinskaya, and became Uryupinsk town in 1929. Uryupinskaya Village was the center of Hopersky District of the Don Army. According to the census of 1897 the town’s population made 11 286 persons, including 569 noblemen, 3928Cossacks, and one foreigner.

During the Great Patriotic War no military operations took place in the town or nearby, however, the town suffered an airstrike. Many natives of the town were awarded ranks of the Heroes of Soviet Union and-or became marked military leaders.

In 1954-1957 Uryupinsk was a part of Balashovsky District.