History

As a center of the administrative territory – Oktyabrskiy region – the town of Oktyabrskiy appeared on the map of Belarus on August 31, 1954. The town of Oktyabrskiy comprised three townships – Rudobelka, Rudnya and Karpilovka and has been awarded the status of the regional center.

The village of Rudobelka (Rudye Belki) was first mentioned in chronicles in 1507. During the times of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania it belonged to Pan Gojticz as part of the Bczic (Ptich) volost, Mozyr uyezd and was given in lease or in temporary possession of N. Radziwill, Y. Zenovich, A. Vishnevetskiy.

From 1526 – in the property of N. Radziwill. After his death the village was passed over to his son Yan. In 1545 after the death of Yan Radziwill the village became the state property. In accordance with the census of 1552 there were 99 houses in the village.

In 1683 there was a church, a mill, inn, saw-mill, spirit and brick manufactures in Rudobelka.

From 1685 Rudobelka passed into possession of the Radziwill family.

After the second partition of Rzecz Pospolita Rudobelka was a part of the Bobruisk uyezd, Minsk province.

In 1867 the estate was sold to Baron A. Vrangel. From 1874 it belonged to Major-General O. Lilienfeld.

In the 1880s there were 25 houses in the village of Karpilovka and 1,609 residents.

A military-logistics route went through Rudobelka in the early 20th century.

Before 1902 Rudobelka belonged to wife of doctor of medicine C. Yakhontov.

The last owner of Rudobelka was wife of chamberlain of the court N. Ivanenko.

A volost revolutionary committee which was set up in Rudobelka on November 22 (December 5), 1917 declared the Soviet power. A commune was founded soon after. During the civil war and Polish intervention of 1918-1920 Rudobelka became the center of the so-called “Rudobelka republic”. The Oktyabrskiy region with the center in the village of Karpilovka was created June 28, 1939. During the Great Patriotic War – from autumn of 1941 till January 1944 – Oktyabrskiy was the center of the Oktyabrskiy-Liuban partisan zone. Schools, electric power plant, workshops, etc. kept functioning during the war. On June 27, 1944 Oktyabrskiy was liberated by the army of the 1st Belarusian Front.

There are 112 monuments in the Oktyabrskiy region – 2 monuments of history, 2 monuments of architecture (the middle, the end of the 19th century), 2 monuments to the soldiers-internationalists, 73 monuments to soldiers of the Great Patriotic War, 21 commemorative plaques, 12 monuments of archeology.

There are about 60 enterprises, organizations and establishments in Oktyabrskiy. Owing to the general development plan the once village has turned into a modern town of many-storied and single-store houses. The housing resources feature 1,500 apartments and 2,000 houses. The town has well-developed water supply, heating, and service systems. The town ranks second in the oblast in telephone penetration. Mobile communications coverage is getting widespread. In the near future (2006) the town will cerebrate the launching of a gas supply facility. The social sphere has been evolving. The track record of educational and cultural institutions is well known in the oblast and the country.

After the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant Oktyabrskiy has become home to many families who have moved from other regions of the oblast. Two villages have been built for them.