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Huliaipole

Coordinates: 47°39′N 36°16′E / 47.650°N 36.267°E / 47.650; 36.267
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Huliaipole
Гуляйполе
City
Museum of Local Lore
Museum of Local Lore
Coat of arms of Huliaipole
Coat of arms
Etymology: "Walk-about field"
Nickname: 
Makhnograd[1][2]
Map
Interactive map of Huliaipole
Huliaipole is located in Zaporizhzhia Oblast
Huliaipole
Huliaipole
Huliaipole
Huliaipole is located in Ukraine
Huliaipole
Huliaipole
Huliaipole (Ukraine)
Coordinates: 47°39′N 36°16′E / 47.650°N 36.267°E / 47.650; 36.267
Country Ukraine
OblastZaporizhzhia Oblast
RaionPolohy Raion
HromadaHuliaipole urban hromada
Established1785; 241 years ago (1785)
City status1938; 88 years ago (1938)
Government
 • BodyHuliaipole City Council
 • MayorSerhiy Oleksandrovych Yarmak
Area
 • Total
23.1 km2 (8.9 sq mi)
Elevation
109 m (358 ft)
Population
 (2024)[3]
 • Total
2,000
 • Density87/km2 (220/sq mi)
Postal code
70200
Area code+380 6145
ClimateDfa
Websitegpmrada.gov.ua[dead link]

Huliaipole (Ukrainian: Гуляйполе [ɦʊlʲɐjˈpɔle]; lit. 'walk-about field') is a small city in Polohy Raion, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukraine. It is known as the birthplace of Ukrainian anarchist revolutionary Nestor Makhno. In January 2022, it had an estimated population of 12,786.[4] This made it the 9th most populous city in Huliapole at the time.

During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Huliaipole was attacked, placing it on one of the lines of contact separating Ukrainian and Russian forces. In late 2025, it was contested after a Russian offensive towards the city. In November of 2025, it was estimated that there were less than 500 people remaining in the city.[5] By 28 December 2025, the Russian Ministry of Defense and other sources reported that their forces had gained complete control over Huliaipole. At the time, the Ukrainian General Staff denied the claims of Russian control.[6] Later, the ISW, in its 6 February 2026 offensive report, confirmed that Russian forces have captured the city.[7]

History

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Prior to the annexation of the Crimean Khanate by the Russian Empire, the area was mostly settled by the Zaporozhian Cossacks and the nomadic Lesser Nogai Horde. The settlement arose during the 1770s,[8] after the construction of the Dnieper defensive line [ru] on the former lands of the Zaporozhian Sich, as part of the Russian Empire's policy to populate and develop the conquered Zaporozhian lands. When Catherine the Great dissolved the Sich, the local Cossacks either fled into exile or were brought into serfdom, with the residents of what is now Huliaipole falling under the yoke of the Shabelskiys.[9]

In 1785, the board of the Yekaterinoslav Governorate ordered the Novomoskovsk Zemstvo Court to establish the Huliaipole state military settlement for protection from the Crimean Khanate. Archival data confirmed that the first settlers came to the newly formed settlement from the territory of Starodubsky District, and later Kyiv region, Chernihiv region, Poltava region and Sloboda Ukraine. The name "Huliaipole" (lit. 'walk-about field') reflected the nature of the area where it was founded, which had frequently played host to fairs for a long time before the settlement's foundation. The settlement was traditionally divided into centuries, administrative-territorial units formed along military lines.[1] Hundreds of people from Podolia, Pishchanka, Guryan, Verbiv, Bokhansky, Kherson and later Poland settled in this way. In 1794 the settlement had 150 yards. The inhabitants of the region were actively engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry.

In 1797 the wooden Orthodox Church "Exaltation of the Honest and Life-Giving Christ" was built, and Huliaipole became the township center of Alexandrovsky Uyezd.

Industrialization

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From the middle of the 19th to the beginning of the 20th century, the village of Huliaipole was transformed into a commercial and industrial town. In 1859, the first trades fair took place in Huliaipole. There were more than fifty trading companies with a total turnover of 1 million rubles. Next to them there were a large number of shops. The increased trade contributed to a large influx of population.[citation needed]

In the post-reform period, industrial enterprises emerged one after another in Huliaipole. In 1882, Krieger's factory of agricultural machinery began operating. Ten years later, another such plant and steam mill was opened by the industrialist Kerner. Both factories produced harvesters, horse threshers, choppers, and so on. The landowner Schroeder also had a large steam mill. In the following years, distilleries, several oil mills, and warehouses were put into operation. There were 18 shops in the village, and about three dozen merchants traded. In 1898, the Chaplyne–Berdyansk railway was laid nearby, which had a positive effect on the economic development of the village.[citation needed]

There were two agricultural machinery factories, four distilleries and one brewery in Huliaipole. There were three steam mills in Huliaipole and dozens more in the surrounding villages and economies that were part of Huliaipole parish. Besides them, there were a large number of peasant "windmills" around. In addition, there were two brick and tile factories in Huliaipole and twelve in villages and hamlets.[citation needed]

Along with industrial enterprises, in the village there were a dozen small, semi-artisanal productions - a crew workshop, several potters, as well as oil mills, smithies, carpentry and other workshops.[citation needed]

From 1884 until the First World War, Zemstvo exhibitions and auctions of agricultural and industrial products took place in Huliaipole every three years.[citation needed]

Conflict

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Location of the Makhnovshchina in present-day Ukraine.

After World War I, new socio-economic transformations took place in Huliaipole, caused by the change of state power and political regime. Between 1917 and 1921, reflective of the turbulence in the region brought about by the Russian Civil War (and concurrent Ukrainian War of Independence), the town changed hands no fewer than sixteen times. During this period, Huliaipole was variously held by Austro-Hungarian forces, the Red Army, the Ukrainian People's Republic, the Hetmanate, Anton Denikin's White Army and the Nestor Makhno's Insurgent Army, among others.[citation needed] During the conflict, Huliaipole became widely known as the headquarters of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine and the capital of the Makhnovshchina.[10]

During the industrialization of the 1930s, a rapid industrial development began to take place in Huliaipole,[8] resulting in it gaining city status in 1938.[11][12] Meanwhile, at least 108 residents of Huliaipole died during the Holodomor of 1932–1933.[13]

On 5 October 1941, as a result of the German offensive, Soviet troops fled the city and it was occupied by the Wehrmacht.[14][15] On 16 September 1943, it was liberated by the Soviet troops of the Southern Front during the Donbas strategic offensive.

Post World War 2 era

[edit]

In 1952, a brick factory, a butter factory, a garment and footwear factory, a pedagogical school, a secondary school, four seven-year schools, six elementary schools, a cinema and a club functioned here.[8] In 1970, there was an agricultural machinery plant, a paint and varnish plant, an auto repair plant, a household goods plant, a cheese-making plant and a shoe factory.[11]

By the time of the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine, the basis of the city's economy was an agricultural machinery plant, a paints and varnishes plant, a shoe factory and food industry enterprises.[8] In May 1995, the Government of Ukraine approved the decision on the privatization of the agricultural machinery plant,[16] the paints and varnishes plant, regional agricultural and chemistry plants.[17] In July 1995, a decision was approved on the privatization of the state farm.[18] On 17 December 2004, the economic court of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast filed a bankruptcy case against a privatized agricultural machinery plant.[19] On 17 July 2020, as a result of administrative-territorial reform and liquidation of Huliaipole Raion, the city became a part of Polohy Raion.[20]

Russo-Ukrainian War

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Building of Huliaipole Local Museum after Russian shelling on 24 August 2024

Since 2022, Huliaipole has been severely affected by the Russo-Ukrainian war.[21][22] Under constant bombardment by Russian forces,[23] many of Huliaipole's residents have been evacuated by the local administration,[24] while a number of residential buildings and civilian infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed.[25][26][27]

On 25 December 2025, Russian forces captured the headquarters of a Ukrainian Armed Forces battalion in the center of Huliaipole, as well as equipment and documentation.[28] On 27 December 2025, Russian forces claimed capture of the city. The Ukrainian side denied this. The Institute for the Study of War found evidence that Russian troops controlled 55% of the town.[29] According to Euromaidan Press, the city had fallen into Russian hands.[30] On 6 February, ISW reported that Russian forces captured Huliaipole.[7]

Geography

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The town of Huliaipole is located in the Haichul river valley[8][11] (the name of the reservoir is etymologized from the Turkic languages: gai "free" + chur "steppe"[31]), upstream at a distance of 3.5 km is the village of Marfopil, downstream at a distance of 1.5 km is the village of Zelene. It is located 8 km from the railway station of the same name and 98 km from the regional center of Zaporizhzhia (via highways H08 and T 0814). In the north, Polohy Raion borders with Synelnykove Raion of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, in the east - with Donetsk.

Demographics

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Ethnic and linguistic composition according to the 2001 Ukrainian census:

Ethnic groups in Huliaipole [32]
percent
Ukrainians
 
 93.71%
Russians
 
 5.45%
Belarusians
 
 0.23%
Armenians
 
 0.15%
Tatars
 
 0.05%
Languages in Huliaipole [33]
Languages percent
Ukrainian
 
 94.5%
Russian
 
 5.2%
others
 
 0.2%
Population of Huliaipole
Year 1810 1859 1900 1913 1917 1926 1970 1989 2013 2021 2024
Population 1,852 2,521 10,000[9] 16,150 25,000[9][10] 12,027[10] 16,000[11] 19,198[34][12] 14,358[35] 13,070 ~2,000

Notable people

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Twin towns – sister cities

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See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Ukraine

Huliaipole is twinned with:

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  • Former boys' gymnasium
    Former boys' gymnasium
  • Old mill, originally owned by the German Krieger company[2]
    Old mill, originally owned by the German Krieger company[2]
  • Local history museum
    Local history museum

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Skirda 2004, p. 2.
  2. ^ a b Rudenko, Eugene; Sarakhman, Eldar (9 October 2020). "Воля або смерть. Чим живе Гуляйполе – батьківщина анархіста Нестора Махна" ["We are from Makhnograd." What do they think about Zelensky in Huliaipole and how do they treat the anarchist Nestor Makhno]. Ukrayinska Pravda (in Ukrainian). Huliaipole: East View Publications. OCLC 1066371688. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  3. ^ "Як виглядає Гуляйполе у лютому 2024. ФОТОРЕПОРТАЖ". 21 February 2024.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ "Evacuation ongoing in frontline Huliaipole as enemy advances". Mezha. 11 November 2025. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  6. ^ "Ukraine debunks Russian claims of capturing Huliaipole, Myrnohrad, Pokrovsk". The New Voice of Ukraine. 28 December 2025. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  7. ^ a b "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, February 6, 2026". Institute for the Study of War. 6 February 2026. Geolocated footage published on February 6 shows Ukrainian forces striking Russian positions in northern Zaliznychne (west of Hulyaipole), indicating that Russian forces advanced beyond Hulyaipole at a prior date. ISW has not observed evidence in the past few weeks that Ukrainian forces continue to maintain defensive positions in Hulyaipole, and the pattern of recent Russian infiltrations and advances in area suggests that Russian forces hold the town.
  8. ^ a b c d e Гуляй Поле // Большая Советская Энциклопедия. / редколл., гл. ред. Б. А. Введенский. 2-е изд. том 13. М., Государственное научное издательство «Большая Советская энциклопедия», 1952. стр.194
  9. ^ a b c Skirda 2004, p. 17.
  10. ^ a b c Skirda 2004, p. 358.
  11. ^ a b c d Гуляйполе // Большая Советская Энциклопедия. / под ред. А. М. Прохорова. 3-е изд. том 7. М., «Советская энциклопедия», 1972.
  12. ^ a b Гуляйполе // Большой энциклопедический словарь (в 2-х тт.). / редколл., гл. ред. А. М. Прохоров. том 1. М., "Советская энциклопедия", 1991. стр.349
  13. ^ "Гуляйполе". Геоінформаційна система місць «Голодомор 1932—1933 років в Україні». Ukrainian Institute of National Memory. Archived from the original on 17 December 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  14. ^ Справочник «Освобождение городов: Справочник по освобождению городов в период Великой Отечественной войны 1941—1945». М. Л. Дударенко, Ю. Г. Перечнев, В. Т. Елисеев и др. М.: Воениздат, 1985. 598 с.
  15. ^ Исаев А. В. От Дубно до Ростова. — М.: АСТ; Транзиткнига, 2004.
  16. ^ «235803 Гуляйпольський дослідно-експериментальний завод сільськогосподарських машин»
    Постанова Кабінету міністрів України № 343а від 15 травня 1995 р. «Перелік об'єктів, що підлягають обов’язковій приватизації у 1995 році»
  17. ^ Постанова Кабінету міністрів України № 343б від 15 травня 1995 р. «Перелік об'єктів, що підлягають обов’язковій приватизації у 1995 році»
  18. ^ «03572808 Радгосп „Зарічний“, м. Гуляйполе»
    Постанова Кабінету міністрів України № 538 від 20 липня 1995 р. «Про доповнення переліку об'єктів, що підлягають обов’язковій приватизації у 1995 році»
  19. ^ Господарським судом в Запорізькій області 17.12.2004 року порушено провадження у справі № 19/222 (04) про банкрутство ВАТ "Гуляйпільський завод «Сільмаш» // газета «Голос України», № 25 (3525) від 10 лютого 2005
  20. ^ "Про утворення та ліквідацію районів". Resolutions (in Ukrainian). No. 807–IX. Verkhovna Rada. 17 July 2020. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  21. ^ Gibbons-Neff, Thomas; Yermak, Natalia (30 March 2022). "'Like Living in a Horror Movie': A Ukraine Town Dying a Slow Death". New York Times. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  22. ^ Gerasimova, Tanya (15 March 2022). "Russian Military Experiencing Problems With Supply Of Ammunition To Firing Positions". Ukrainian News Agency. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  23. ^ "Enemy attacks Huliaipole from artillery and aircraft". Ukrinform. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  24. ^ "Mayor of Huliaipole urges people to evacuate to safer places in Ukraine". The New Voice of Ukraine. 11 May 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  25. ^ "Residential houses damaged and destroyed in Russia's shelling of Huliaipole". Ukrinform. 15 May 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  26. ^ Vaniyan, Roman (16 May 2022). "Occupiers Destroy Road Between Polohy And Huliaipole". Ukrainian News Agency. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  27. ^ "In Zaporizhzhya, the Russian invaders blew up the road between Huliaipole and Polohy". Television Service of News. 16 May 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  28. ^ "Vostok fighters showed the captured Ukrainian Armed Forces headquarters in the center of Hulyaipole". Vzglyad. 26 December 2025. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
  29. ^ Sleiman, Nadia (29 December 2025). "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, December 28, 2025". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 29 December 2025.
  30. ^ Axe, David (30 December 2025). "Outgunned territorials retreat. Now the path to Zaporizhzhia is open". EuromaidanPress. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  31. ^ "Гуляйполе — столиця степів". Zaporizhzhia Regional Tourist Information Center (in Ukrainian). Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Archived from the original on 15 November 2009. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  32. ^ "Національний склад міст".
  33. ^ "Рідні мови в об'єднаних територіальних громадах України".
  34. ^ Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 г. Численность городского населения союзных республик, их территориальных единиц, городских поселений и городских районов по полу
  35. ^ "Чисельність наявного населення України на 1 січня 2013 року. Державна служба статистики України. Київ, 2013. стор.63" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  36. ^ "Керівництво Чернівців та Гуляйполя підписали угоду про співпрацю між містами". Гуляйполе.City (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  37. ^ "Новини / Гуляйполе та Горішні Плавні налагоджують співпрацю завдяки проєкту «Пліч-о-пліч: згуртовані громади»". Запорізька обласна державна адміністрація (in Ukrainian). 22 January 2025. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  38. ^ Басалига, Маріана (2 March 2023). "Івано-Франківськ, Гуляйполе та селище Покровське підписали угоду про співпрацю". Суспільне | Новини (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 25 July 2025.

Bibliography

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47°39′N 36°16′E / 47.650°N 36.267°E / 47.650; 36.267

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