Vilkhovets, Cherkasy Oblast

Vilkhovets (Ukrainian: Вільховець; Russian: Ольховец, romanized: Olkhovets) is a village in Zvenyhorodka urban hromada, Zvenyhorodka Raion, Cherkasy Oblast, Ukraine. Its population is 3,048 (as of 2024).^[1]

Vilkhovets Вільховець
village
Monument to Red Army soldiers killed during World War II
Vilkhovets Location of Vilkhovets in Cherkasy Oblast Show map of Cherkasy Oblast Vilkhovets Location of Vilkhovets in Ukraine Show map of Ukraine
Coordinates: 49°01′56″N 30°53′46″E
Country	Ukraine
Oblast	Cherkasy Oblast
Raion	Zvenyhorodka Raion
Hromada	Zvenyhorodka urban hromada
First mentioned	1633
Population	3,048

History

Vilkhovets was first mentioned in 1633. During the Ruin, it was looted and burned by soldiers of the Ottoman Empire.^[2] Hetman of the Zaporizhian Host Ivan Vyhovsky was executed by Polish soldiers near the village in 1664.^[3]

From the 17th century, the village was ruled by the Jabłonowski, Branicki, and Potocki families. Most of the residents were serfs who worked in agriculture. In a protest against landlordism, local peasants felled the private forest of the Potocki family in January 1893. The village was first occupied by the Red Army in February 1918 before coming under the occupation of Austria-Hungary and the German Empire a month later. In December, it was captured by the Directorate of Ukraine, before again being occupied by the Red Army on 4 March 1919. It was taken over by the White Army in August before being occupied by the Red Army for the final time in December.^[2]

Ukrainian dissident leader Viacheslav Chornovil lived in Vilkhovets during his childhood.^[4] A museum [uk] dedicated to him exists in the village.^[5]

Notable people

• Lev Bykovskyi [uk], bibliographer, historian, and journalist
• Mykola Liubarskyi [uk], Hero of the Soviet Union
• Anatolii Mykhalevskyi [uk], educator, mathematician, and filmmaker
• Serhii Syrotenko [uk], colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine killed during the War in Donbas
• Petro Tymoshenko [uk], linguist

References

1. "Звенигородська міська громада" [Zvenyhorodka urban hromada]. gromada.info (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 22 May 2024.
2. "Вільховець, Звенигородський район, Черкаська область" [Vilkhovets, Zvenyhorodka Raion, Cherkasy Oblast]. History of Cities and Villages of the Ukrainian SSR (in Ukrainian). 11 June 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
3. Stepankov, V. S. (2003). "ВИГОВСЬКИЙ Iван Остапович" [VYHOVSKY, Ivan Ostapovych]. Institute of History of Ukraine (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 30 March 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
4. Chornovil, Viacheslav. "Вячеслав Чорновіл: Автобіографія". Rukh Press (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 2 January 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
5. Roshchenko, Olena (24 May 2018). "Погруддя Чорновола вкрали з садиби-музею на Черкащині" [Chornovil's bust stolen from museum house in Cherkashchyna]. Ukrainska Pravda (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 22 May 2024.