Governorate and Azov Governorate north of the Black Sea. Since much of that area had been only recently conquered by Russia from the Ottoman Empire, and a large number of Orthodox Greek settlers had been invited to settle in the region, the Imperial Government picked a renowned Greek scholar, Eugenios Voulgaris to preside over the new diocese. After his retirement in 1779, he was replaced by another Greek theologian, Nikephoros Theotokis.
In World War II, the Wehrmacht occupied Poltava from late October 1941 until September 23, 1943, when it was retaken during the Lower Dnieper Offensive. By the summer of 1944 the USAAF conducted a number of shuttle bombing raids against the Third Reich under the name of Operation Frantic. Poltava Air Base, as well as Mirgorod Airport, were used as eastern locations for landing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers involved in those operations
