Lighthouses of Ukraine: Dnipro River

Ukraine (officially Україна, Ukraina) is a large country on the north side of the Black Sea, bordering Russia to the east. Except for a brief period of independence during the Russian Revolution (1917-20) Ukraine was part of Russian or Soviet empires from the mid seventeenth century until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Meanwhile the coastline of the Black Sea was mostly under the control of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire until it was taken by Russia during a series of wars in the second half of the 1700s.

The Black Sea's northern coast is in several sections. In the west is the Bight of Odessa, named for Ukraine's largest port. In the center is the diamond-shaped peninsula of Crimea. To the east is the Sea of Azov, connected to the rest of the Black Sea by the narrow Kerch Strait at the eastern end of Crimea.

In March 2014 Russia invaded and annexed Crimea, separating the Ukrainian coast into two sections: one on the Bight of Odessa in the west and one on the the northwestern side of the Sea of Azov in the east. In February 2022 Russian troops invaded eastern Ukraine, beginning a war that continues to the present. Since the end of 2022 Russia has occupied about 20% of Ukraine but a much larger percentage, more thn 80%, of Ukraine's coastline. Russia controls all of Crimea and the Azov Sea coast as well as the western Kherson region south of the Dnipro (Dnieper) River.

Ukraine is divided into provinces called oblasts (область), and the oblasts are divided into county-level districts called raions (райони). This page describes Ukraine's lighthouses along the Dnipro (Dnieper) River, which joins the Bight of Odessa to the northwest of Crimea. The Dnieper (known in Ukrainian as the Dnipro) rises in easternmost Russia and flows across Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is Europe's fourth longest river. In Ukraine it is a major source of hydroelectric power and also an artery of transportation. When Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union (1917-1991) a series of six major dams was built on the river. Each dam has a navigation lock, thus making the river navigable over the full width of the country. Each lock has an associated lighthouse. However one of the dams was breached by Russian attacks during the ongoing war and no navigation is possible today.

The lower course of the river, from its westward bend south of Zaporizhzhia to its mouth, has been the front line separating Ukrainian and Russian forces. The Ukrainians occupy the right (north) band and the Russians the left (south) bank. There has been frequent fighting to control islands in the river. From Zaporizhzhia northward to Kyiv and beyond the river is in Ukrainian control.

The Ukrainian word for a lighthouse is mayak (маяк); ostriv (острів) is an island, mys (мис) is a cape, richka (річка) is a river, and havan' (гавань) is a harbor.

Lighthouses in Ukraine are maintained by Derzhhidrohrafiyu, the hydrography and navigation service of the Ministry of Transport and Communications.

ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. UA numbers are the Ukrainian light list numbers as reported by Ukrainian Lighthouses on the Air. Admiralty numbers are from volume N of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 113. The Ukrainian light list, Вогні і знаки Чорного та Азовського морів (Lights and Signs of the Black and Azov Seas), is not available online.

General Sources
Lighthouses in Ukraine
The ARLHS Ukraine listing. Photos contributed by Ukrainian amateur radio operators are available for many of the lighthouses.
Lighthouses in Ukraine
Photos by various photographers available from Wikimedia.
World of Lighthouses - Ukraine
Photos by various photographers available from Lightphotos.net.
Online List of Lights - Ukraine - Black Sea
Photos by various photographers posted by Alexander Trabas.
Russische Leuchttürme auf historischen Postkarten
Historic postcard images posted by Klaus Huelse. Ukrainian lighthouses are near the bottom of the page.
World Lights - Ukraine
Historic postcard images posted by Michel Forand.
Google Maps
Satellite view of the lower Dnipro River.


Vyshhorod (Kiev) Light, Vyshhorod, August 2021
Google Maps photo by Oleh Kalinkin


Kherson Raion (Dnipro Entrance) Lighthouses
The Dnipro (Dneiper) River has formed a large delta at its mouth. The entrance for shipping is through the Rvach River, the Dnipro's northernmost distributary. This is the front line territory, where islands in the river have been the goals of offensives from both sides. Lighthouses in this area may change possession with the fortunes of war.

Kasperovskiy (Kizomys) Range Front
Date unknown. Listed with focal plane 15 m (49 ft); continuous red light. 6 m (20 ft) 2-story concrete tower rising from the front of a 1-story concrete keeper's cottage. The light was formerly shown from a square second-floor window, but it is now shown from a mast mounted in front of the window. Building painted gray; the seaward face of the light tower is painted purple as a daymark. No photo available but Google has a satellite view. This is the approach range for the Dnipro River entrance. Located on the north side of the entrance about 3 km (2 mi) west of Kizomys. Accessible by road. Site status unknown, probably open. ARLHS UKR-105; UA-1075; Admiralty N5152; NGA 18164.
Kasperovskiy (Kizomys) Range Rear
Date unknown. Listed with focal plane 35 m (115 ft); continuous white light. 27 m (89 ft) square pyramidal steel skeletal tower with lantern and gallery, painted red. The entire seaward side of the tower is covered with a red slatted daymark. Serhiy Demitsky's 2021 photo is at right, ARLHS has a 2006 photo by UR7GW and Google has a satellite view. Located on the north side of Kizomys, about 1.6 km (1 mi) east northeast of the front light. Site status unknown, probably open. ARLHS UKR-106; UA-1076; Admiralty N5152.1; NGA 18168.
Malyy Kasperovskiy Range Front
Date unknown. Listed with focal plane 11.5 m (37 ft); continuous green light. 11 m (36 ft) round tower carrying a diamond-shaped daymark painted black with a white vertical stripe. No photo available but Google has a satellite view. This is the entrance range for the Rvach River. Located in a wet field at the east end of the town of Kizomys. Site status unknown. Admiralty N5156; NGA 18172.
Malyy Kasperovskiy Range Rear
Date unknown. Listed with focal plane 19 m (62 ft); continuous green light. 19 m (62 ft) round tower carrying a diamond-shaped daymark painted black with a white vertical stripe. No photo available but Google has a satellite view. Located in a field 500 m (0.3 mi) east of the front light. Site status unknown. Admiralty N5156.1; NGA 18176.
Richka Rvach Range No. 12 Rear
Date unknown. Listed with focal plane about 17 m (56 ft); continuous (?) white light. Approx. 16 m (52 ft) square cylindrical skeletal tower. No photo available but Google has a satellite view. This is a downstream range. The front light is on a post. There are twelve ranges guiding vessels through the Rvach River to and from the port of Kherson; most of the lights appear to be on posts with daymark panels but no photos are available. Located on the south side of the river near the east end of Ostrov Zabich. Site status unknown. Admiralty N5159.71.

Kasperovskiy Range Rear Light, Kizomys, October 2021
Google Maps photo by Serhiy Demitsky
* Richka Dnipro Range No. 1 Front
Date unknown. Listed with focal plane about 15 m (49 ft); continuous (?) red light. Approx.14 m (43 ft) square cylindrical skeletal tower. No photo available but Google has a satellite view. This is a downstream range guiding vessels on a long reach from or past the Kherson docks into the delta. Located in the Zakitne neighborhood of Kherson, which faces the river loop called the Staryi Dnipro. Site appears open, tower closed. Admiralty N5177.
* Richka Dnipro Range No. 1 Rear
Date unknown. Listed with focal plane about 25 m (82 ft); continuous (?) white light. Approx. 22 m (72 ft) square cylindrical skeletal tower. No photo available but Google has a satellite view. Located in the Zakitne neighborhood of Kherson about 800 m (1/2 mi) southwest of the front light. Site appears open, tower closed. Admiralty N5177.1.

Dnipro (Dnieper) River Lighthouses


Kherson Oblast Lighthouse
Kakhovka Lower Entrance
Around 1955. Inactive; focal plane about 15 m (49 ft); continuous (?) red light. Approx. 9 m (30 ft) concrete tower. No photo available but Bing has a satellite view. Clearly trees obstruct the view of this light. Completed in 1956, the Kakhovka Dam created the Kakhovka Reservoir, which extends upstream for about 240 km (150 mi). Russian forces breached the dam on 6 June 2023, causing a disastrous fllod downstream and emptying the reservoir. The French newspaper Le Monde posted an aerial view of the breach. Located at the entrance to the canal leading to the navigation lock. Site and tower probably closed.
Kakhovka Upper Entrance
Around 1955. Inactive; focal plane about 22 m (72 ft); continuous (?) green light. Approx. 20 m (66 ft) round concrete tower atop an octagonal concrete tower. A photo (first photo on the page) is available and Google has a satellite view. The lighthouse is located at the end of a breakwater extending from the south shore of the reservoir to protect the entrance to the navigation lock. The breakwater appears to be part of a park, so the lighthouse may be accessible by walking the pier. Site probably open, tower closed.

Zaporizhia Oblast Lighthouse
Zaporizhzhia Upper Entrance
Around 1932. Inactive; focal plane about 25 m (82 ft) continuous (?) red light. Approx. 23 m (75 ft) round concrete tower topped by a mast. A photo is at right, Yuri Byshev has the 2011 photo seen at right, a 2013 photo and several additional photos are available, and Google has a satellite view. Built between 1927 and 1932, the Zaporizhzhia Dam and Dnipro Hydroelecric Station were one of the first major hydroelectric projects of the Soviet Union. The dam was dynamited by retreating Soviet troops in 1941 and again by retreating German troops in 1943; after extensive reconstruction it was placed back in operation in 1950. The lighthouse is located at the end of the west breakwater protecting the entrance to the navigation lock. Site and tower closed.

Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Lighthouse
Dniprodzerzhynsk Upper Entrance
Around 1964. Inactive; focal plane about 20 m (66 ft); continuous (?) green light. Approx. 15 m (49 ft) square concrete pillar rising from a 1-story concrete equipment shelter. Evgeny Burlakov has a distant drone view and Google has a satellite view. The dam is at Dniprodzerzhynsk, about 40 km (25 mi) west of the provincial capital of Dnipropetrovsk. The Kamianske (Dniprodzerzhynsk) Reservoir behind the dam is 114 km (71 mi) long. The lighthouse is located at the end of a detached, curved breakwater protecting the entrance to the navigation lock. Site open, tower closed.

Zaporizhzhia Upper Entrance Light, Zaporizhzhia, August 2011
Google Maps photo by Yuri Byshev

Kirovohrad Oblast Lighthouse
Kremenchuk Upper Entrance
Around 1960. Inactive; focal plane about 20 m (66 ft); continuous (?) green light. Approx. 18 m (60 ft) triangular skeletal tower, lower portion enclosed. A very distant street view is available, Denis Chuguev has a distant drone view, and Google has a satellite view. Built between 1954 and 1961, the Kremenchuk Dam creates the largest reservoir on the river, 149 km (93 mi) long and as much as 28 km (17.5 mi) wide. The lighthouse is located at the end of a detached, curved breakwater protecting the entrance to the navigation lock. Site open, tower closed.

Cherkasy Oblast Lighthouse
Kaniv Upper Entrance
Around 1975. Inactive; focal plane about 25 m (82 ft); continuous (?) green light. Approx. 23 m (75 ft) square cylindrical glass-enclosed skeletal tower mounted on a robust square concrete base. From a distance the tower appears black with narrow white horizontal bands. Dima Korol has a photo and Google has a street view and a satellite view. Completed in 1975, the Kaniv Dam was the last of the great hydroelectric projects on the river. The Kaniv Reservoir extends 162 km (100 mi) upstream to the capital city of Kiev. The lighthouse is located at the end of a curved breakwater protecting the entrance to the navigation lock. Site status unknown.

Kyiv (Kiev) Oblast Lighthouses
* Lighthouse Restaurant
Date unknown (recent). Active; focal plane about 12 m (39 ft); continuous white light. 12 m (39 ft) 2-stage tower with lantern; upper half round, painted red, on a round platform supported by a square unpainted concrete pier. A drone view is available and Google has a satellite view. Located on the east bank of the river just south of the Paton (E95) bridge. Owner/site manager: Pесторан «Маяк» (Lighthouse Restaurant).
* Chervona Kalina (2 towers)
Date unknown (recent). Two active lights; focal plane about 8 m (26 ft); continuous white lights. 8 m (26 ft) posts carrying large lanterns with galleries; spiral stairways surround the posts. Alexandra Kolotova's 2021 photo of the south light is at right and Google has an indistinct satellite view. Located adjacent to a pier of the yacht harbor at the Chervona Kalina Hotel Complex on the east side of the river opposite the Podils'kiy District in northern Kiev. Site open, tower closed.
Vyshhorod (Kyiv, Kiev) Upper Entrance
Around 1964. Inactive; focal plane about 25 m (82 ft); continuous (?) green light. Approx. 23 m (75 ft) square cylindrical skeletal tower with a glass-enclosed upper section, mounted on a robust square concrete base. The entire lighthouse is white. Oleh Kalinkin's 2021 drone view is at the top of this page, Dmitry Kukushkin has a 2016 photo, a 2013 photo is available, Serhii Dudchak has a 2009 photo, Maxim Kradozhon has a 2021 drone view, and Google has a satellite view. The Kiev Dam is located about 25 km (15 mi) north of the capital city. The Kiev Reservoir extends 110 km (68 mi) upstream and is about 12 km (7.5 mi) wide. The lighthouse is located at the end of a curved breakwater protecting the entrance to the navigation lock. Site status unknown.

Information available on lost lighthouses:

Notable faux lighthouses:


Chervona Kalina South Light, Kyiv, June 2021
Google Maps photo by Alexandra Kolotova

Adjoining pages: South: Occupied Ukraine: Western Crimea | West: Mykolaiv Oblast

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Posted February 19, 2007. Checked and revised October 9, 2025. Lighthouses: 17. Site copyright 2025 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.