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A soldier from the 128th Zakarpattia Mountain Assault Brigade in front of the watermelon monument [uk; zh] near Osokorivka in October 2022
The watermelon is a symbol of the region of Kherson Oblast, Ukraine. More than 50% of the watermelons in Ukraine are produced in Kherson Oblast and are shipped upriver to Kyiv.
History
Watermelons were thought to have been introduced by Crimean Tatars – a Turkic ethnic group and an indigenous peoples of Crimea – before the 18th century. During World War II, residents of the Kherson region would make molasses or jam from boiled-down watermelons, when there were restrictions on sugar usage. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began in 2022, a yearly tradition was televised, with a barge, full of watermelons, leaving Kherson for Kyiv along the Dnieper river.[1]
