# Vovchansk

Vovchansk (Ukrainian: Вовчанськ, pronounced; Russian: Волчанск, Volchansk) is a destroyed city in Chuhuiv Raion, Kharkiv Oblast, northeastern Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Vovchansk urban hromada [uk]. The Vovcha river, a tributary of the Donets river, runs through the city.
Vovchansk had a population of 17,459 (2022 estimate). However, that dropped to about 300 by May 2024, as the city was largely destroyed during the 2024 Kharkiv offensive. By January 2025, Vovchansk was reported to be completely destroyed with zero permanent inhabitants.

## History

Vovchansk was first settled in 1674 under the Tsardom of Russia, when a territory of Belgorod Monastery was provided to Ukrainian migrants from Dnieper Ukraine led by Martyn Starochudny. The settlement was named as Vovche and designated as a guarding settlement.
In April 1780, it was officially renamed to "Vovchansk", and became an administrative centre of Volchansk uyezd in the Kharkov Governorate of the Russian Empire. The year 1780 is considered by the Verkhovna Rada as the official year of the city establishment. Between 1674 and 1780 a lot of changes took place and the borders of the Russian Empire moved away from the settlement.
In 1896, a Belgorod – Donbas railroad was installed through the town. Moreover, a local newspaper has been published here since February 1918.
It became a part of the Donets-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic, although in spring 1918 it was occupied by German troops. This lasted until November 1918.
On 12 April 1923, an administrative-territorial reform was carried out in the Ukrainian SSR. Vovchansk district was divided into 8 districts: Bilyi Kolodiaz, Velytkyi Burluk, Vovchansk, Zhovtneve, Pechenihy, Rubizhne, Khotimlia, and Shypuvate. In 1923, as part of the administrative reform, it became a district center. As of January 1, 1924, the population of Vovchansk district was 27,329 people. The town suffered as a result of the genocide of the Ukrainian people committed by the USSR government in 1932-1933; the number of identified victims in Vovchansk, Zavody Pershi, Zavody Druhi, Chapliivka, and Herhelivka was 1,789 people.
During World War II, Vovchansk was occupied by the Wehrmacht on June 10, 1942 in the aftermath of the German victory at the Second Battle of Kharkov. It was liberated by the Red Army in August 1943 during the Fourth Battle of Kharkov.
In 1964, the construction of two reinforced concrete bridges over the Vovcha River on Lenin and Gagarin streets was completed and the district House of Culture was built. In 1966, the city's population amounted to 20600 people. In 1979, Vovchansk had a carriage factory, a building materials factory, an asphalt plant, an oil extraction plant, a bread factory, a butter factory, a shoe factory, a cotton factory, a furniture factory, a meat processing plant, a bakery, and a district agricultural machinery, a consumer services plant, 8 a medical school, an aviation school, a technical school of agricultural mechanization, three medical institutions, a House of Culture, six clubs, a cinema, and 14 libraries.
The economic crisis that began in 2008 hit the local industry. A dairy factory that was built here during the time of the Soviet Union stopped work, and by December 2009, it ceased to exist.
The raion was abolished in July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Kharkiv Oblast to seven. The area of Vovchansk Raion was merged into Chuhuiv Raion.
Until 18 July 2020, Vovchansk was the administrative center of Vovchansk Raion.

### Russo-Ukrainian War

Vovchansk was occupied by the Russian military on 24 February 2022, the first day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It was retaken by Ukrainian forces on 10 September 2022 as part of a major counteroffensive in Kharkiv Oblast.
On 10 May 2024, Russian forces launched a new offensive near Vovchansk, with the speculated goal of establishing a buffer zone at least 10 kilometres from the Russian border, according to a Ukrainian military source. Vovchansk became a focal point of the offensive, with the city seeing heavily increased bombardment.
On 12 May, Russian forces entered northern Vovchansk and established a foothold in the city by seizing the Vovchansk Meat Processing Plant, with unverified reports claiming that the Russians had also seized the local shoe factory by the morning of 13 May and penetrated as far as the northern bank of the Vovcha River by that same evening. Geolocated footage on May 14 confirmed that Russian forces were continuing to advance through the northwestern and northeastern parts of the city.
On May 15, a speaker of the Ukrainian military stated that troops were withdrawn from the Lukiantsi and Vovchansk areas to "preserve the lives of our servicemen and avoid losses" and move to "more advantageous positions", and that the situation "remains difficult".
By late May 2024, Vovchansk was largely destroyed. About 300 citizens remained there of a pre-war population of around 17,000.

## Economy

Vovchansk was home to the Demurinsky Mining and Processing Plant, which was a mining and processing plant for the nearby titanium and zirconium deposit.

## Demographics

As of the 2001 Ukrainian census, the town had a population of 20,484 inhabitants. Over 80% of the population were Ukrainians, ethnic Russians were the second largest group, followed by Armenians. In terms of spoken languages, 82% of the city's inhabitants declared Ukrainian as their first language, while roughly 16% considered Russian as their native tongue. The exact ethnic and linguistic composition was:
Ethnic groups in Vovchansk
percent
Ukrainians
83.12%
Russians
14.43%
Armenians
0.91%
Gypsies
0.60%
Belarusians
0.37%
others
0.12% :
Native languages in Vovchansk
percent
Ukrainian
82.8%
Russian
15.7%
Armenian
0.7%
Romani
0.5%
Belarusian
0.1%
others
0.6% :

## Notable people

* Alexandra Snezhko-Blotskaya, animated films director (21 February 1909 — 29 December 1980)
* Orest Somov, writer (gothic and gothic-romantic genres) (21 December 1793 — 8 June 1833)
* Vasyl Babenko (1877 — 1955), Imperial Russian archeologist, born in Vovchansk
* Edward Balcerzan (1937), Polish literary critic and poet
* Artem Pyvovarov (born 28 June 1991), new wave singer and composer

## Gallery

* Historical building
* A school
* Palace of Culture
* Orthodox Church
* Zemska Executive
* Sunflower oil refinery
* Vovchansk Post Office
* Main street
* Vovchansk Bus Station
* Bus stop (renovated in 2021)
* Bohdana Khmelnytskoho Street
* The city of Vovchansk on the Vovcha (Wolf) river
* Vovchanskyi Reserve
* Memorial plaque on the former house of Oles Dosvitnii, a Ukrainian politician who was a victim of Stalinist terror