Rybinsk Рыбинск is located close to Moscow on the Volga River. It was first mentioned in 1071 and is one of the oldest Slavic settlements on the Volga River. It was first recorded at Ust-Sheksna "the Mouth of the Sheksna." It became a centre of craft and metalworks which were traded. In the mid 1200s, Rybinsk was laid waste to by the Mongol invaders. In 1504, Rybinsk was referred to as Sloboda "the Fishing Village" because sturgeon and sterlets were supplied to the Muscovite court by local fishers. Catherine the Great granted Rybinsk municipal status in 1777 and named it Rybinsk.
During Soviet times, Rybinsk's name was changed to Shcherbakov in 1946 after Aleksandr Shcherbakov, a prominent Soviet politician who died of heart failure at the age of 44. In 1957, Shcherbakov became Rybinsk again. The name was again changed in 1984 to Andropov, after Yuri Andropov, Soviet premier from 1982-84. In 1989, Rybinsk got its name back, no doubt due to the loosening grip of the Communist Party in the USSR.
Today, Rybinsk has 201 000 residents. Two large plants make up a large part of the economy. These plants make AL Turborus aircraft engines, power and naval turbines, small plant gas turbines, electronics, and radiotronics.
The nearby Rybinsk Reservoir was started in 1935, starting filling in 1941, and was filled by 1947. It was created for hydroelectricity. The project caused the disappearance of 663 villages to disappear under the rising waters, with 150 000 people having to be resettled elsewhere. When it was filled, it became the world's largest manmade reservoir. Today the reservoir isn't as important for hydroelectricity. Experts have warned the Russian government that the dam places Rybinsk in immediate danger if the dam breaks. Rybinsk will be severely damaged by a wall of water from the emptying of the reservoir.
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