Sarny (Сарни; Sarny) translated as Deer, is a small city in the Rivne Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Sarnensky Raion (district), and is a major railway node on the Slutch River.

The current estimated population is 27,700.

History

Sarny was a part of the Kingdom of Halych-Volhynia. It was later annexed by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, followed by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. From 1795 it was considered a part of the Russian Empire, as part of the Volyn Guberniya. In 1921, the city became part of the Second Polish Republic. In Poland it was the seat of a Sarny county, firstly in Polesie Voivodeship, then, since 1930 - in Wołyń Voivodeship.

In the 1930s Polish military authorities constructed a number of fortifications in the area of Sarny, known as Sarny Fortified Area (Sarnenski Rejon Umocniony), along the Sluch river. On September 17, 1939, following the Soviet attack on Poland (see: Polish September Campaign), the Sarny Fortified Area, defended by a small number of soldiers of the Border Defence Corps, was attacked by the Soviet 60th Rifle Division. The Poles, under Sergeant Jan Bolbot, defended the area for three days, despite Soviet crushing advantage. Bolbot was later awarded the Virtuti Militari.

In June of 1941, Sarny was captured by Nazi Germany, and again reclaimed by Soviet forces in 1944. Since 1939, it has been a part of Ukrainian SSR and later independent Ukraine.