Vorskla

a river in Sumy and Poltava oblasts, Ukrainian SSR. It is a left tributary of the Dnieper and falls into the Dnieprodzerzhinsk Reservoir. The Vorskla has a length of 464 km and a basin area of 14,700 sq km. Its source is on the western slopes of the Central Russian Upland in Belgorod Oblast, RSFSR. Along nearly its entire length the right bank of the valley is steep, high, and carved by many ravines, while the left bank is low-lying. The channel abounds in sandy shoals and sandbars. The broad floodplain is for the most part made up of meadows alternating with deciduous forests or at times with old dry riverbeds and marshland. In some places along the river there is a wide strip of loose sand forming dunes. The average annual flow is 28.5 cu m per sec. The principal tributaries are the Merla and the Kolomak from the left and the Vosklitsa from the right. The cities Graivoron, Poltava, and Kobeliaki are situated on the Vorskla.