Pinsk Marshes

The Rokitnosümpfe, named after the city Rokitno, also Pripjatsümpfe, Pinskische marshes or swamps Pole Forensic called, are marshlands in the south of Belarus and north- western Ukraine.

With about 90,000 sq km area, they are the largest wetland in Europe around the city of Pinsk or about Pripyat ( weißruss. Prypjaz ) ( between the Bug and Dnieper River ) and its tributaries Horyn, Pina, Ubort, Stochid and Turija and the lower reaches of the Styx in the southern Polesia. The main cities are Pinsk, Mazyr, Prypiat, Rokitno and Chernobyl.

The boggy comes from the lack of gradient of the water courses and the fact that the southern tributaries much earlier than the northern thaw. The extensive swamps and numerous, in marshy valleys slowly flowing tributaries rendering agricultural use. Only the timber industry has prevailed. In the First World War the area was fought over during the summer of 1915 as part of the Eastern Front. In the winter of 1943/44, fighting took place also in this area in the Second World War. The region has also become known by the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.