LUTSK

also spelled Luck, Polish Luck, German Luck city and centre of Volyn oblast (province), Ukraine, on a defensive site at a bend in the Styr River. It is an old city, probably founded about AD 1000 by Prince Vladimir of Kiev. It then became a part of the Principality of Galicia-Volhynia and until the late 18th century was in Lithuania-Poland, when it fell into Russian hands. Lutsk belonged to Poland again in 191939. The older part of the city contains the 14th-century Lyubart Castle and much old architecture. Three monasteries date from the 16th to the 18th century. Today Lutsk is an industrial centre specializing in scientific instruments, food, and other light industries. Trucks are manufactured, and an automobile plant was constructed in the late 1970s to build the Volynyanka, a multipurpose vehicle for rural use. A teacher-training institute and a medical school are also located there. Pop. (1991 est.) 209,500.