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Volnovakha Волноваха | |
|---|---|
 Palace of Culture | |
 Flag  Seal | |
 Interactive map of Volnovakha | |
  Volnovakha  Volnovakha | |
| Coordinates:47°36′08″N37°29′31″E / 47.60222°N 37.49194°E /47.60222; 37.49194 | |
| Country |  Ukraine |
| Oblast | Donetsk Oblast |
| Raion | Volnovakha Raion |
| Hromada | Volnovakha urban hromada |
| Founded | 1881 |
| City status | 1938 |
| Area | |
• Total | 21 km2 (8.1 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 271 m (889 ft) |
| Population (2022) | |
• Total | 21,166 |
| Website | www.volnovaha.net (archive) |
Volnovakha (Ukrainian andRussian:Волноваха,Ukrainian:[wolnoˈwɑxɐ]ⓘ,Russian:[vəlnɐˈvaxə];Greek:Βολνοβάχα) is a city inDonetsk Oblast, easternUkraine. It serves as the administrative center ofVolnovakha Raion within the oblast. As of January 2022, it had a population of21,166.[1][2]
The train station is a railway hub. It serves the only onshore rail line betweenDonetsk and Russia to the north-east and east, andZaporizhzhia Oblast andCrimea to the west and south-west, and the only rail line south toMariupol.
In February and March 2022, during theRussian invasion of Ukraine, many of its buildings were damaged or destroyed. The governor of the region,Pavlo Kyrylenko, said that 90% of the city's critical infrastructure was destroyed.[3]
The site of modern Volnovakha was inhabited during theBronze Age, as is evidenced by archaeological excavations in the northeast part of the city. A burial in a stone tomb has been uncovered, andstone babas indicate the presence ofnomadic peoples in the area.[4]
Volnovakha was founded as a railway station in theRussian Empire in 1881.[5] Its name is derived from that of theMokra Volnovakha [uk] river, which originates nearby.[4] During the first two decades of the station's existence, it was a minor stop on the railway fromOlenivka toMariupol. It transported mainly bread and agricultural crops. As thePort of Mariupol was expanded and factories were built in Mariupol, cargo transit through Volnovakha increased significantly. This forced the administration of the railway to introduce optimizations, establishing atelegraph line in 1891 and introducing a second track in 1900. However, the actual civilian settlement around the station grew slowly. By the beginning of the 1900s, there were only 45 houses and 250 people living in Volnovakha.[6]
The station became a railway hub in 1904, contributing to its development and that of the settlement growing around it.[4] The new rail went through Oleksandrivsk (todayZaporizhzhia City) andPolohy to Volnovakha. A school for children was opened in 1905, and the number of workers at the station increased to 400 by 1908.[6]
During theRussian Civil War, Volnovakha was the scene of fighting multiple times due to its strategic significance as a rail hub. On 18–20 April 1918, it was the site of battles between theBolsheviks and theCentral Powers during the latter's1918 invasion of Ukraine. The Central Powers took over the station and village on 22 April. Volnovakha served as a base for the German15th Division and the Austro-Hungarian 59th Division starting in June 1918. It was captured by soldiers loyal to the anti-communistWhite Movement in early December 1918, and changed hands several more times.[6] It was the location of battles in 1919 and 1920 during theUkrainian War of Independence.[5] Eventually, the victorious Bolsheviks captured Volnovakha along with the rest of Ukraine and established the communistSoviet Union on much of the territory of the former Russian Empire.[6]
Volnovakha receivedurban-type settlement status in 1923,[4] and was assigned toMariupol Okruha. In January 1923, Volnovakha had a population of 872 people.[6] Development of the railway station continued throughout the 1920s and 1930s.[7] Volnovakha received city status in 1938.[8] In 1939, the city's population was 15,261 people.[7]
DuringWorld War II, Volnovakha was occupied byNazi Germany from 11 October 1941 to 10 September 1943.[4][7] According to official Soviet sources, during the occupation the Nazis murdered about one hundred Soviet citizens, including thirty-five communists and the head of the collective farm. 1,000 Soviet citizens werekidnapped to Germany for forced labor. Soviet sources also record heavypartisan resistance to the Nazi occupation, and say that the Soviet aviation repeatedly bombed Nazi ammunition warehouses and other military infrastructure in the occupied city.[7]
There was significant fighting in the area around Volnovakha during August and September 1943.[9] Eventually, Volnovakha was liberated by theRed Army on 10 September 1943, after fierce fighting on theKalmius river. The Nazis destroyed much of the city behind them during their retreat.[7] Several units were given honorary titles after the battle in the city.[10][9] The city's infrastructure was slowly rebuilt in the post-war period.[7]
In 1977, a museum of local history was founded in Volnovakha. It contains many archaeological objects, and exhibits on local nature, the ancient history of the area, and the history of the development ofOrthodox Christianity in the area.[11]
During thewar in Donbas, pro-Russian separatists captured the city in May 2014. The Ukrainian military recaptured it in July.[5] On 13 January 2015, 12 civilians were killed and 18 injured, afteran attack on a passenger bus at a checkpoint inBuhas, a town north-east of Volnovakha.[12] A monument to those killed in the attack was unveiled on 13 January 2017.[13]
In May 2015, a community of theUkrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate was registered in Volnovakha. They said that this had not been possible before, due to fear of theViktor Yanukovych regime that had been recently deposed in the 2014Revolution of Dignity.[14] In October 2015, a monument to Vladimir Lenin was demolished in Volnovakha as part ofdecommunization in Ukraine.
In 2018, a newUkrainian Greek Catholic church was opened in the city.[15]
During the 2022Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian forcesfought for control of the city and engaged inindiscriminate bombing of Volnovakha, shelling civilian areas.[16] Theterror bombing of the cities violated international law and echoed tactics Russia had previously used on civilian targetsin Syria.[17] Volnovakha was reported to be on the verge of humanitarian crisis on 28 February and almost destroyed by 1 March,[18] with around 90% of its buildings either damaged or destroyed.[19] Surviving residents were cut off from food, water, and electricity.[20] Following the assault, bodies lay uncollected in the streets.[17]
On 11 March, Russia claimed that forces of theDonetsk People's Republic hadcaptured Volnovakha.[21] On 12 March, Euronews reported that much of the town was in ruins after the fighting.[22] On 1 April,Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of Donetsk Oblast, said that 90% of its critical infrastructure was destroyed.[3]
On 27 October 2023, Ukrainian prosecutors said thatnine members of a Ukrainian family in occupied Volnovakha were murdered by Russian soldiers in their sleep. A few days prior, the family had refused to vacate their house to allow the soldiers to reside there.[23]
On 1 June 2025, Ukrainian partisans successfully sabotaged a newly constructed railway line near the town, which was used by the Russian military to transfer military equipment to the frontline.[24]
Volnovakha's main industry is railway transportation.[8] Volnovakha is a rail hub,[25] serving as the only onshore rail line betweenDonetsk andRussia to the north-east and east, andZaporizhzhia Oblast andCrimea to the west and south-west.[26] It has the only rail line south toMariupol.[27]
Volnovakha also has a metalworking industry and a building materials industry, which help serve the rail industry.[8]
Population census | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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As of 2001, Volnovakha had a population of 24,647 inhabitants. The town is home to a historicUkrainian Greek minority. Today, three out of four residents areUkrainians, roughly 20% are ethnicRussians andGreeks account for 2.5% of population. SmallerBelarusian andArmenian communities also dwell in the city.[5][28] Linguistically, Volnovakha is dominated by both theUkrainian andRussian language. Over half of the town's population prefers to communicate in Russian, while 42% considerUkrainian to be their first language.[29] Speakers ofMariupol Greek andUrum identified themselves asGreek speakers during the census.[30] As of the2001 Ukrainian census, the exact ethnic and linguistic composition was as follows:[31]
| percent | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ukrainians | 75.09% | |||
| Russians | 19.98% | |||
| Ukrainian Greeks | 2.52% | |||
| Belarusians | 0.55% | |||
| Armenians | 0.46% | |||
| Tatars | 0.17% | |||
| Georgians | 0.13% | |||
| Azerbaijanis | 0.12% | |||
| Moldovans | 0.09% | |||
| others | 0.89% | |||
| percent | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Russian | 56.3% | |||
| Ukrainian | 42.4% | |||
| Greek | 0.4% | |||
| Armenian | 0.3% | |||
| Belarusian | 0.1% | |||
| Climate data for Volnovakha (1981–2010) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −1.2 (29.8) | −0.6 (30.9) | 5.3 (41.5) | 14.5 (58.1) | 21.1 (70.0) | 25.2 (77.4) | 27.8 (82.0) | 27.3 (81.1) | 21.1 (70.0) | 13.4 (56.1) | 4.9 (40.8) | −0.1 (31.8) | 13.2 (55.8) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −4.0 (24.8) | −4.0 (24.8) | 1.1 (34.0) | 9.1 (48.4) | 15.4 (59.7) | 19.5 (67.1) | 21.9 (71.4) | 21.3 (70.3) | 16.4 (61.5) | 8.6 (47.5) | 1.6 (34.9) | −2.9 (26.8) | 8.6 (47.5) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −6.5 (20.3) | −6.8 (19.8) | −2.1 (28.2) | 4.7 (40.5) | 10.2 (50.4) | 14.5 (58.1) | 16.6 (61.9) | 16.0 (60.8) | 10.5 (50.9) | 4.8 (40.6) | −1.0 (30.2) | −5.3 (22.5) | 4.6 (40.3) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 52.2 (2.06) | 44.0 (1.73) | 49.0 (1.93) | 45.0 (1.77) | 52.1 (2.05) | 65.4 (2.57) | 55.0 (2.17) | 45.8 (1.80) | 42.9 (1.69) | 35.4 (1.39) | 49.8 (1.96) | 53.8 (2.12) | 590.4 (23.24) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1.0 mm) | 9.9 | 7.7 | 8.8 | 7.2 | 7.3 | 8.2 | 6.6 | 4.6 | 5.4 | 5.9 | 8.1 | 9.8 | 89.5 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 88.4 | 85.4 | 79.3 | 66.3 | 60.9 | 63.6 | 61.1 | 57.9 | 65.7 | 75.6 | 87.4 | 89.7 | 73.4 |
| Source:World Meteorological Organization[32] | |||||||||||||
A monument to 12 bus passengers killed in a Grad attack on Jan. 13, 2015 has been inaugurated in Volnovakha.
Volnovakha ... from there runs the only railroad that connects Russia to Melitopol
the Kamysh-Zarya – Volnovakha railway section, the only rail road connecting Mariupol to the rest of Ukraine
Media related toVolnovakha at Wikimedia Commons
