| Zviahel | |
| Native Name: | Ukrainian: Звягель |
| Settlement Type: | City |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | Oblast |
| Subdivision Name1: | Zhytomyr Oblast |
| Subdivision Type2: | Raion |
| Subdivision Name2: | Zviahel Raion |
| Established Title: | First mentioned |
| Established Date: | 1256 |
| Established Title1: | City status |
| Established Date1: | 1795 |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Volodymyr Zahryvyi |
| Area Total Km2: | 26,67 |
| Population As Of: | 2022 |
| Population Total: | 55086 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Pushpin Map: | Ukraine Zhytomyr Oblast#Ukraine |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of Zviahel |
| Coordinates: | 50.5833°N 27.6333°W |
| Elevation M: | 218 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Postal Code: | 11700—11709 |
| Area Code: | 1811000000 |
| Website: | http://novograd.osp-ua.info/ |
| Subdivision Type3: | Hromada |
| Subdivision Name3: | Zviahel urban hromada |
Zviahel (pronounced as /uk/;) is a city in Zhytomyr Oblast, northern Ukraine. The city serves as the administrative center of Zviahel Raion (district). Population:
The city is located on the main route to Kyiv near its crossing at the Sluch River. Located on Sluch, the city geographically is located on the eastern border of historical Volhynia (Volyn) or Volhynia Superior.
The city has previously been known as: Возвягель Vozviahel, Звяголь Zviahol, Zviahel, Звягаль Zviahal, Dzwihel, Novohrad-Volynskyi.
Originally known as Zviahel, the city was renamed to Novohrad-Volynskyi (Новоград-Волинський) in 1795 after annexation of territories of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by the Russian Empire soon after the third Partition of Poland.[1]
Since the 1991 Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine there have been several attempts to rename the city.[2] Public discussions on renaming the city to Zviahel began in April 2022.[2] On 16 June 2022 the city council renamed the city again to Zviahel.[2] The decision was supported by 22 of the 30 deputies present, while four deputies opposed and abstained.[2] The name change was then to be approved by the deputies of the Zhytomyr Oblast Council[2] and the final decision on renaming the city had then to be made by the Ukrainian parliament,[2] which took place on 16 November 2022.[1] On 31 March 2022 the city council had removed the letter Z (which was a reference to the name Zviahel and it was placed on the bell symbol) from its coats of arms. This was done because letter Z was widely used by the invading Russian army during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and has become a propaganda tool in Russia.[3]
The city was mentioned in the Galician-Volhynian Chronicle under the year of 1256 as the town of Zviahel. The original settlement was an Old Ruthenian town of Bolokhiv Land located on the right bank of Sluch.[4] In 1257 it was razed by Daniel of Galicia.
The next mentioning of the settlement is found in 1432 as a rebuilt one on the left bank upstream from the original site.[4] Since 14th century it belonged to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania owned by Zwiahelski princely family.[4] In 1501 to 1554 the town belonged to Ostrogski princely family.[4] In 1507 Konstanty Ostrogski built here a castle.[4] After formation of Volhynian Voivodeship, it was located in Lutsk County. Following the 1569 Union of Lublin it was passed on to the Crown of Poland.[4]
During the Khmelnytsky Uprising, Cossacks destroyed portion of the city's fortification and burnt down the Catholic church (kosciol).[4] In September 1648 in the city was formed an insurgency group of local peasants led by Mykhalo Tysha.[4] In 1650s in Zwiahel existed Zwiahel Regiment.[4]
In 18th century the city belonged to Lubomirski princely family.[4]
The city had an important Jewish community. In the late 19th century it was home to 9,378 Jews, more than half the population of the town. Pogroms killed approximately 1,000 Jews in 1919.[5] After the Treaty of Riga, Novohrad-Volynskyi became part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic of the Soviet Union. By the start of World War II only 6,840 Jews remained, (30% of the total population). Hundreds of Jews were murdered in mass executions perpetrated by an Einsatzgruppen in 1941. Many survivors were imprisoned in harsh conditions in a ghetto and murdered in November 1942,[6] and an important part of the town was destroyed during the war.
In February 2013, the Novohrad-Volynskyi city council decided to dismantle the monument to Lenin, which was installed in front of the city council building, and move it to Slavy Park with extra-budgetary funds.[7] [8] After that, the local communists sued, but the cases were lost in the first instance and in the Court of Appeal of the Zhytomyr Oblast.[9] A sundial installation was installed instead of the Lenin monument.[10]
In 2015, Viktor Veselskyi was elected to the post of mayor. In connection with the Law of Ukraine on decommunization in the city, the Soviet names of streets, alleys, squares and boulevards were renamed.[11]
On 16 June 2022, the local council decided to return the historical name Zviahel to the city, and it was also proposed to change the name of the Novohrad-Volynskyi Raion (district) to Zviahel Raion.[12] In November, the draft law was submitted to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.[13] By the resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine dated 16 November 2022, the historical name of Zviahel was returned to the city.[14]
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Ukraine. Zviahel is twinned with:[15]
Bełchatów, Poland
Dolyna, Ukraine Halych, Ukraine
Khashuri, Georgia Łomża, Poland Myrhorod, Ukraine
Rahachow, Belarus
Suomussalmi, Finland