Shevchenkove (rural settlement)

Early history

In 1896, the settlement was founded as the village of Bulatselovka named after the owner of that land, Bulacel, a descendant of the Romanian boyars who owned land in the area. It was located inin the Staroverovskaya Volost of the Kupyansky Uyezd, Kharkov Governorate of the Russian Empire. In 1896, the Bulatselivka station was built, around which, in the early 20th century, the Bulatselivka farmstead arose on the lands of the Bulatseliv landowners, who owned vast tracts of land in what is now the Shevchenkivskyi District. The construction of the Kharkiv-Belgorod railway was completed in 1899.

At the station, station buildings and a number of outbuildings belonging to merchants and traders were built. By 1905, there were seven barns and numerous shops. At the same time, peasants and artisans began to settle on the farmstead: blacksmiths, saddlers, and tailors. By 1914, Bulatselovka had a population of about 100. As a result of the Stolypin agrarian reform, stratification among the Bulatselovka peasants increased. The poor became increasingly impoverished, and their land passed into the hands of wealthy landowners.

Part of the Soviet Union

In 1922, the village was renamed "Shevchenkovo" in honor of the poet Taras Shevchenko. A local newspaper is published here since February 1935.^[4] During the Great Patriotic War, the village was occupied by German troops on February 22, 1942, and liberated by Soviet troops on February 4, 1943. At the time of liberation, the population was only 250 people.

Shevchenkove has been considered an urban-type settlement since 1957.^[5] In 1962 it lost the status of a district center (due to the dissolution of the Shevchenkivskyi Raion), and on January 1, 1965, it again received the status of a district center. The population in 1966 was 2,812 people. In 1978, the largest enterprise in the village was a grain processing plant.^[3] In January 1989 the population was 7,856 people.^[6]

Independent Ukraine

By January 2013 the population was 7,100 people,^[7] and by January 2018 the population was 6,875 people.^[8] The settlement contains a railway station^[5] and a three-star hotel,^[9] the Kharkiv.

Until 18 July 2020, Shevchenkove was the administrative center of Shevchenkove Raion. 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, and the area of Shevchenkove Raion was merged into Kupiansk Raion.^[10][11]

Shevchenkove was occupied by Russian forces on 26 February 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. After over six months of occupation, the Ukrainian military recaptured the settlement on 7 September 2022.^[12]

Until 26 January 2024, Shevchenkove was designated urban-type settlement. On this day, a new law entered into force which abolished this status, and Shevchenkove became a rural settlement.^[13] In February 2024, the population was about 4,000 people, which was 60% of the pre-war population.^[14]

Transport

It has railway station Shevchenkovo-Yuzhnoye (Bulacelovka) on the line Kharkov - Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi^[3] Southern Railway. Also, the T-2110 and Р-07 highways pass through the village.

Enteprises

• CJSC "Shevchenko Bread Products Plant",^[15]
• Feed mill,
• Shevchenko Food Products Plant, LLC,
• Shevchenko Rassvet LLC,
• CJSC "Shevchenkovskaya Agricultural Technology",
• Shevchenko hatchery station,
• Shevchenko food flavoring factory,
• LLC "Plemzavod "Shevchenkovsky"",
• Shevchenkivskyi District Consumers' Union,
• Shevchenkivskyi Sausage Factory.