Vasylkiv (Ukrainian: Васильків, IPA: [wɐsɪlʲˈkiu̯], Russian: Васильков, romanized: Vasilkov) is a city on the Stuhna River in Obukhiv Raion, Kyiv Oblast, central Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Vasylkiv urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine.[1] First mentioned in the 10th century, Vasylkiv was incorporated as a city in 1796.
Vasylkiv
Василькiв | |
|---|---|
 Cathedral of Anthony and Theodosius | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Vasylkiv Location of Vasylkiv  Vasylkiv Vasylkiv (Ukraine) | |
| Coordinates: 50°10′42″N 30°18′57″E / 50.17833°N 30.31583°E | |
| Country |  Ukraine |
| Oblast | Kyiv Oblast |
| Raion | Obukhiv Raion |
| Hromada | Vasylkiv urban hromada |
| First mentioned | 988 |
| Magdeburg law | 1586 |
| Area | |
• Total | 29.6 km2 (11.4 sq mi) |
| Population (2022) | |
• Total | 37,068 |
| Postal code | 8600 — 8612 |
| Area code | +380 4571 |
 | |
The city hosts Vasylkiv Air Base and is an industrial centre, producing electrical appliances and leather goods. Population: 37,068 (2022 estimate).[2]
History
editVasylkiv was founded in 988 CE, and fortified in the 11th century.[3] According to the Primary Chronicle, it was the place where Vladimir the Great's numerous wives lived. After the Christianization of Kyiv, Vladimir built there a fortress and named it Vasilev, after his patron saint, Saint Basil (Vasily).[4]
In the early 11th century, it was the birthplace of Saint Theodosius of Kiev.[5] The Anthony and Theodosius Pechersky Church, built in the Ukrainian Baroque style in the 1750s, commemorates both Theodosius and Anthony of Kiev.[4][6]
In 1240, the city was destroyed by the invading Mongol Empire. It slowly recovered, and was incorporated as a city in 1796.[3]
In 1658, the Russian military commander Yuri Baryatinsky defeated the army of hetman Ivan Vyhovsky's brother Konstantin near Vasylkiv, after the Ukrainian hetman switched sides in favour of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.[citation needed]
The first medical quarantine house in Ukraine was established in Vasylkiv in 1740.[6]
Through the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, Vasylkiv remained an obscure place, almost forgotten in spite of the glorious history and connection to many earlier historic events, it was put back on the map by an anecdotal story related to Catherine II of Russia. As per legend, while passing through it during the night, the carriage lost one wheel. Catherine II woke up from the sudden jerk, and asked the name of the town. When she fell asleep again, her servants repaired the wheel and the carriage moved again. She woke up again and upon learning that it is still Vasylkiv, she remarked : "A large town, indeed".[citation needed]
Russian troops in the city took part in the failed Decembrist revolt against the Russian Empire in 1825.[3]
In 1918-1919, the city was liberated from Bolshevik control by the Ukrainian army several times, on February 28 the Battle of Vasylkiv took place. On April 5, the city was occupied by Ataman Zeleny's rebels, and the villagers of 7 surrounding villages joined these forces.[7] During the liberation struggle, Marko Shlyakhovy, aka Ataman Karmelyuk, based a rebel-peasant unit in the Kladova tract near the village of Dzvinkova, which conducted combat operations against the occupiers together with Ataman Zeleni's units.[8] Since 1920 - under Bolshevik rule. On August 24, 1919, during the offensive on Kyiv, Vasylkov was approached by units of the UNR Army. According to patrol reports, the city was occupied by enemy infantry. After the battle of Vasylkiv, the Black Zaporizhzhia Cavalry Regiment was freed from the occupying Russian troops.[9]
Until 18 July 2020, Vasylkiv was incorporated as a city of oblast significance and served as the administrative center of Vasylkiv Raion even though it did not belong to the raion. In July 2020, as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Kyiv Oblast to seven, the city of Vasylkiv was merged into Obukhiv Raion.[10][11]
In the early morning of 26 February 2022, Russian invasion forces landed near the city in an attempt to capture the Vasylkiv Air Base, resulting in the Battle of Vasylkiv.[12] According to the city's mayor Natalia Balasinovich, the fighting had died down by later that day, with Ukraine still in possession of the city.[13]
Claims have been made that Ukrainian aircraft shot down two Russian Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft transporting assault troops.[14][15][16] According to Ukrainian accounts, the first plane was reportedly shot down at Vasylkiv airbase, “killing upwards of 250 elite Russian paratroopers with a single missile.” A second plane was also claimed to have been shot down over Bila Tserkva, which was allegedly carrying over 100 paratroopers.[17][18] As of 18 January 2024, claims that Ukraine had killed 350 paratroopers in the downed planes were still unconfirmed by independent sources.[19]
In the morning of 27 February 2022, Russian forces struck an oil depot in the city, leading to large explosions and fires.[20]
Population
editLanguage
editDistribution of the population by native language according to the 2001 census:[21]
| Language | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Ukrainian | 87.29% |
| Russian | 12.19% |
| other/undecided | 0.52% |
Gallery
edit-
A street in the downtown -
City panorama -
Remnants of medieval defensive walls in the city -
Sts. Anthony and Theodosius Cathedral (18th century) -
St. Nicholas Church (18th century) -
Former synagogue, later "Vasylkiv-2" railway station terminal (19th century) -
Stuhna River in Vasylkiv -
Vasylkiv Air Force College building -
A school -
Children dance studio lesson in Vasylkiv Culture House
Notable people
edit- Jerry Heil (born 1995) – singer, songwriter, and YouTuber
- Mykola Melnychenko (born 1966) – security services and politics personality
References
edit- ^ "Васильковская городская громада". Gromada.info (in Russian). Retrieved 16 June 2022.
- ^ Чисельність наявного населення України на 1 січня 2022 [Number of Present Population of Ukraine, as of January 1, 2022] (PDF) (in Ukrainian and English). Kyiv: State Statistics Service of Ukraine. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 July 2022.
- ^ a b c "Vasylkiv | city, Ukraine | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
- ^ a b "Vasylkiv". www.encyclopediaofukraine.com. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
- ^ "Theodosius of Kiev". Oxford Reference. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
- ^ a b Alkov, Volodymyr (2018). History of Ukraine and Ukrainian Culture. Kharkiv: Kharkiv National Medical University.
- ^ "Роздоріжжя, стор. 135" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 June 2015. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
- ^ "У Боярці на майдані закипає бій..." 20 March 2018. Archived from the original on 31 January 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
- ^ "Дяченко П. Чорні запорожці. Спомини командира 1-го кінного полку Чорних запорожців Армії УНР. — К.: «Стікс», 2010. — 448 с." Archived from the original on 18 December 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
- ^ "Про утворення та ліквідацію районів. Постанова Верховної Ради України № 807-ІХ". Голос України (in Ukrainian). 2020-07-18. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
- ^ "Нові райони: карти + склад" (in Ukrainian). Міністерство розвитку громад та територій України.
- ^ "Окупанти намагаються висадити десант у Василькові, йдуть бої". www.ukrinform.ua (in Ukrainian). 26 February 2022. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
- ^ "Fight for Vasylkiv ends with victory of Ukrainian Armed Forces - official". Trend.Az. 2022-02-26. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
- ^ "Помста за Луганськ 2014: біля Василькова збили ІЛ-76 із ворожими десантниками" [Revenge for Luhansk 2014: IL-76 with enemy paratroopers was shot down near Vasylkiv] (in Ukrainian). Unian. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
- ^ "На Донбасі збили російський вертоліт і штурмовик" [A Russian helicopter and an attack aircraft were shot down in Donbass]. portal.lviv.ua (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
- ^ "US officials say 2 Russian transport planes shot down over Ukraine". Times of Israel. Associated Press. 26 February 2022. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022.
- ^ Decisive Battle of the Russo-Ukraine War So Far: Putin’s Disastrous Attempt to Capture Kyiv
- ^ ⚡️Second Russian Il-76 transporter downed. Ukraine’s air defense near Bila Tserkva killed the second aircraft that could carry over 100 paratroopers for landing to the south of Kyiv. Source: Ukraine’s State Agency for Special Communications.
- ^ Double Shootdown of Russian Spy and Command Aircraft – Expensive Losses but Still Plenty of Questions
- ^ NEXTA [@nexta_tv] (26 February 2022). "❗️ A massive explosion in #Kyiv It is reported that an oil depot near #Vasylkiv is on fire as a result of the strike. If this is true, a large-scale technogenic and environmental catastrophe is possible. https://t.co/Yq1mx6ZNKZ" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Рідні мови в об'єднаних територіальних громадах України".
External links
edit
- vasilkov.INFO - Vasylkiv city website (in Ukrainian)
- vasylkiv.today - the first independent news portal and social network of Vasylkiv (in Ukrainian)
kyiv-obl.gov.ua - Site about Vasylkiv on Kyiv Oblast's Administration website (in Ukrainian)
- Soldatenko, Valeriy. A large town of Vasilkov in Zerkalo Nedeli, January 26 - February 1, 2002. Available in
- Vasylkiv, of Kyiv Guberniya, an article in Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary (in Russian)