Topoli (rural settlement)

Topoli (Тополі, Тополи, both names meaning lit. 'Poplars') is a rural-type settlement in Kupiansk Raion, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine.

Geography
Topoli is on the western, right bank of the Oskil River, adjacent to the border with Russia and at the northern end of Dvorichanskyi National Nature Park. On the other side of the Oskil, to the south, there is a much larger village that is also called Topoli.



History
On June 12, 2020, in accordance with the Order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 725-p "On the definition of administrative centers and approval of territories of territorial communities of Kharkiv oblast", it became part of Dvorichna settlement hromada. On July 19, 2020, as a result of further administrative-territorial reforms that abolished Dvorichna Raion, the village became part of Kupiansk Raion of Kharkiv Oblast.

The village was occupied by Russian troops on February 24, 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They withdrew from the village and the rest of the western side of the Oskil River on about 11 September 2022 during Ukraine's Kharkiv counteroffensive. Due to heavy mining, Topoli and the neighbouring village of Stroivka remained empty until September 2023, when Ukrainian forces cleared a path through the mines and re-entered the villages.