Vilcha ( uk, Вільча, russian: Вильча) is a

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * Som ...

abandoned settlement and former

urban-type settlement Urban-type settlementrussian: посёлок городско́го ти́па, translit=posyolok gorodskogo tipa, abbreviated: russian: п.г.т., translit=p.g.t.; ua, селище міського типу, translit=selyshche mis'koho typu, ab ...

in the

Chernobyl Exclusion Zone The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Zone of Alienation, Belarusian: Хона адчужэння Чарнобыльскай АЭС, ''Zona adčužennia Čarnobyĺskaj AES'', russian: Зона отчуждения Чернобыльской АЭС, ...

, part of

Vyshhorod Raion Vyshhorod Raion () is a raion (district) in Kyiv Oblast of Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Vyshhorod. It has a population of On 18 July 2020, as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, the number of raions of Kyiv Oblast ...

Kyiv Oblast Kyiv Oblast ( uk, Ки́ївська о́бласть, translit=Kyïvska oblast), also called Kyivshchyna ( uk, Ки́ївщина), is an oblast (province) in central and northern Ukraine. It surrounds, but does not include, the city of Kyiv, w ...

History

The settlement was founded in 1926 on the site of a settlement named Oleksiivka ( uk, Олексіївка). After the 1986 accident at the

Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (ChNPP; ; ), is a nuclear power plant undergoing decommissioning. ChNPP is located near the abandoned city of Pripyat in northern Ukraine northwest of the city of Chernobyl, from the Belarus–Ukraine bor ...

, 45 km far from Vilcha, the settlement was not included into the "

Exclusion Zone An exclusion zone is a territorial division established for various, case-specific purposes. Per the United States Department of Defense, an exclusion zone is a territory where an authority prohibits specific activities in a specific geographic ...

" before 1993. During 1993 to 1996, most of the 2,000 residents moved to

Kharkiv Oblast Kharkiv Oblast ( uk, Харківська́ о́бласть, translit=Kharkivska oblast), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna ( uk, Ха́рківщина), is an oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. The oblast borders Russia to the north, Luhan ...

, where they founded a new Vilcha (709 km away), a few kilometres south of the town of

Vovchansk Vovchansk ( uk, Вовчанськ, ) is a Ukrainian city in Chuhuiv Raion of Kharkiv Oblast (province). It hosts the administration of Vovchansk hromada (urban settlement), one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population: History The settlemen ...

. The ghost town, today one of the checkpoints to the Exclusion Zone,"Securing the Chornobyl exclusion zone against illegal movement of radioactive materials"
( IRPA) was resettled by a few ''

samosely ''Samosely'' ( uk, самосели, russian: самосёлы, be, самасёлы — "self-settlers") are residents of the 30-kilometer Chernobyl Exclusion Zone surrounding the most heavily contaminated areas near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power ...

'' some years later. From February to April 2022, Vilcha was

occupied ' ( Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October ...

by Russia as a result of the 2022 invasion.

Geography

Located near the borders with

Zhytomyr Oblast Zhytomyr Oblast ( uk, Жито́мирська о́бласть, translit=Zhytomyrska oblast), also referred to as Zhytomyrshchyna ( uk, Жито́мирщина}) is an oblast (province) of northern Ukraine. The administrative center of the obla ...

and the

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

ian Oblast of Gomel, Vilcha is located in the middle of the natural region of

Polesia Polesia, Polesie, or Polesye, uk, Полісся (Polissia), pl, Polesie, russian: Полесье (Polesye) is a natural and historical region that starts from the farthest edge of Central Europe and encompasses Eastern Europe, including East ...

, close to its radioecological reserve. It is 17 km from Poliske, 40 km from Krasiatychi (the raion's administrative seat), 43 km from

Pripyat Pripyat ( ; russian: При́пять), also known as Prypiat ( uk, При́пʼять, , ), is an abandoned city in northern Ukraine, located near the border with Belarus. Named after the nearby river, Pripyat, it was founded on 4 February 1 ...

, 44 km from

Ovruch Ovruch ( uk, Овруч, pl, Owrucz, yi, , russian: О́вруч) is a city in Korosten Raion, in the Zhytomyr Oblast (province) of northern Ukraine. Prior to 2020, it was the administrative center of the former Ovruch Raion (district). It ha ...

and 95 km from

Slavutych Slavutych ( uk, Славу́тич) is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, purpose-built for the evacuated personnel of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant after the 1986 disaster that occurred near the city of Pripyat. Geographically ...

Transport

The settlement is crossed in the middle by the regional highway P02 Ovruch-

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

(150 km south), and is the southern end of the T1035 road from Oleksandrivka, Naroulia District, in

, that continues as P37 highway to Naroulia and

Mazyr Mazyr ( be, Мазыр, ; russian: Мозырь ''Mozyr'' , pl, Mozyrz , Yiddish: מאזיר) is a city in the Gomel Region of Belarus on the Pripyat River about east of Pinsk and northwest of Chernobyl. It is located at approximately . The ...

(95 km north). It also has a railway station, officially in service but without passenger traffic, on the Chernihiv–Ovruch line.

Gallery

References

External links

{{Chernobyl Exclusion Zone Urban-type settlements in Vyshhorod Raion Ghost towns in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone Populated places disestablished in 1993 Belarus–Ukraine border crossings Populated places established in 1926 1926 establishments in Ukraine 1993 disestablishments in Ukraine