Mostyska

Mościska (, , both in the "plural", is a city in Lviv Oblast (region) of Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Mostyska Raion. Population: . 
The names "Mościska" and "Mostyska" share a common etymological Slav root "most", which means "bridge", or the place associated with "river crossings". 
In 1340, Mostyska, together with the territory of Red Ruthenia, was annexed by Polish King Kazimierz Wielki, and the town remained in Poland for over 400 years, until 1772 (see Partitions of Poland). Mościska, as it was called, was in the Przemyśl region, and the Ruthenian Voivodeship. In 1404, King Wladyslaw Jagiello granted it a Magdeburg town charter. Mościska was the seat of a starosta, and the town was several times destroyed during Tatar, Turkish and Wallachian raids. In the late 18th century, when it was already part of Austrian Galicia, the population of Mościska was 2,200, with a large Jewish minority. During the Second Polish Republic, Mościska was a county seat in Lwow Voivodeship, with its population reaching 5,000. 
In late September 1939, during the Invasion of Poland, Mościska was seized by the Red Army. Its ethnic Polish population was routed, with thousands sent to Siberia. In June 1941, the town was captured by the Wehrmacht, which remained there until July 1944. In the autumn of 1945, the deportation, or so-called "repatriation", of Poles began (see Polish population transfers (1944–46)). It lasted until 1948, and as a result, most ethnic Poles were forced out of the town, together with monks from the foundation monastery of the Redemptorist fathers. This was the redemptorists' "Mother house" re-established in Poland for a third time in 1883 after the order's expulsion by Napoleon in 1809. Most of the priests left in the summer 1946, taking with them the holy icon and everything they were allowed to carry with them, including sculptures and clothes. Those who remained were arrested in May 1948 by the NKVD secret police, with two of the priests sent to Siberia. Afterwards, the complex of the monastery was turned into a warehouse. Currently, it serves as a hospital. 
Today, Mostyska is one of main centres of the Polish minority in Ukraine. In 1989, a regional office of the Association of Polish Culture of the Lviv Land was opened. At present Poles make up 36% of population. In 2002, a Polish - language middle school was opened with 250 students.