The Imperiia Project: a spatial history of the Russian Empire

Catherine establishes a cordon around Ukraine

While the newspapers stay silent, the empress nurses fears that plague will make its way to St. Petersburg. 

In Kiev, medical practitioners (led by the sole physician in the city, Dr. Mitrofanov) set up lazarets and quarantines. They cannot burn the houses of the afflicted - located mainly along the densely-populated riverfront - because they are built too close together. Despite their efforts, by October as many as a hundred people are dying each day. Nobles and merchants - anyone with means - flees the city.

In early November, large numbers of people gather to protest the quarantines, which are seen as heartless. A hard frost comes just days later, and mortality declines with the temperature.

By the turn of the year, the plague has ended in Kiev. 

Total mortality is reported as 3,180. With a total population of 20,000, this means a mortality rate of 15.9%.

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