In the
Middle Ages, the territory formed part of the
appanage principality of , which was annexed by the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania before its final annexation by the
Grand Principality of Moscow in the
early modern period. Sudzha was founded in 1664. It was initially a town of the
Sumy Regiment within
Sloboda Ukraine, and was fortified with ramparts and a moat. In 1708 it was included within the
Kiev Governorate, and in 1779, it became the seat of the
Sudzhansky Uyezd within the
Kursk Governorate. According to the 1897
Russian Empire census, the town had a population of 7,433, of which 61.2% spoke
Ukrainian, 37.2% spoke
Russian, 1.2% spoke
Yiddish and 0.3% spoke
Polish. In November–December 1918, Sudzha was the seat of the
Provisional Workers' and Peasants' Government of Ukraine before its relocation to
Belgorod. It formed part of the
Ukrainian SSR until 1922, when it was transferred to the
Russian SFSR.
Russo-Ukrainian War After the beginning of the full-scale
Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the
Urengoy–Pomary–Uzhhorod pipeline at Sudzha became the last remaining point at which natural gas flowed from Russia to Europe through Ukraine after the
2022 Nord Stream pipeline sabotage. On June 4, 2023, Russia said it shot down a Ukrainian drone over Sudzha.
Kursk offensive On August 6, 2024, fierce fighting broke out at the border of
Kursk Oblast and around Sudzha as part of an incursion by Ukrainian forces. The Ukrainian government confirmed the capture of the town on August 15 and announced the formation of a
military administration in Ukrainian-occupied areas of Kursk Oblast. A statue of
Vladimir Lenin in the town had been dismantled by August 16. On March 12, 2025, Russian state media published footage of Russian troops raising flags in the center of Sudzha. On the same day, it was reported that the town was once again under Russian control. ==Government==