Until July 18, 2020, Reni was the administrative center of Reni Raion. The raion was abolished in July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Odesa Oblast to seven. The area of Reni Raion was merged into Izmail Raion.[4][5]
Multiple Romanian sailors in the waters around the port caught the bombings on camera, and a Romanian ship was damaged during the assault. Similar attacks targeted the nearby ports of Izmail and Kiliia, all laying on the Danube. The government of the neighbouring country allowed numerous ships to immediately cross the border.[7]
The city of Reni had 20,761 inhabitants in 2001, including 6,694 ethnic Ukrainians (32.24%), 6,126 self-identified Moldovans (Romanians) (29.51%), 5,589 ethnic Russians (26.92%), 1,012 Bulgarians (4.87%), 736 Gagauz (1.81%) and 22 self-identified Romanians (0.11%).[10] There was a decrease in the population of the city of Reni from 20,761 inhabitants in 2001,[9] to 17,736 in 2022, and a reduction of the raion's population from 40,680 in 2001 to 35,954.[11] The city of Reni was mostly (70.54%) Russophone, 13.37% Moldovan/Romanian-speaking, 12.5% Ukrainian-speaking, 1.52% Gagauz-speaking and 1.33% Bulgarian-speaking.[12] In 2001, Reni Raion, in its boundaries at that time, including the city of Reni, had 40,680 inhabitants in 2001, including 19,938 Moldovans (49.01%), 7,196 ethnic Ukrainians (17.69%), 6,136 Russians (15.08%), 3,439 Bulgarians (8.45%), 736 Gagauz (1.81%) and 36 Romanians (0.09%).[13] The current Reni urban hromada, whose boundaries are identical with those of the former Reni Raion, had 40,680 inhabitants in 2001, out of which 16,639 spoke Romanian (40.9%), 15,411 spoke Russian (37.88%), 2,955 spoke Ukrainian (7.26%), 2,751 spoke Gagauz (6.76%), and 2,688 spoke Bulgarian (6.61%).[14]
In 1897, the ethnic make-up, by mother tongue, was 37.6% Moldovan/Romanian, 19.8% Ukrainian, 17.1% Russian, 10.5% Jewish, 9.4% Bulgarian, 2.0% Greek, 1.5% Turkish, 1.1% Polish.[8]
