Novotroitske Territorial Community

History

The territory of the modern Novotroitske Community was inhabited in the late Paleolithic period, i.e. more than 10 thousand years ago. It is a land of mounds and Scythian sites. The formation of the settlements of the Novotroitske Community is closely connected with the liberation of the Black Sea region from the Turkish-Tatar yoke and the process of settling in the south of Ukraine.

The existence of Novotroitske village was first documented in 1816. At that time, it was part of the Airchynska volost, Dniprovskyi district, Tavriia province, and in 1862 it became the volost centre, which, in addition to Novotroitske, included the villages of Rizdviane (Syvaske), Odradivka, Novomykhailivka, Oleksandrivka, Dohmarivka, Novodmytrivka, and Novooleksiivka.

On 7 March 1923, Novotroitske Raion was established. It had 16 village councils, 74 settlements, and a population of 42,269 people. For more than two years during the World War II (from September 1941 to November 1943), the raion was occupied by the Nazis. The fiercest battles took place during the crossing of Lake Syvash in October 1943. A reminder of this is the mass grave where more than 1,500 soldiers and officers found eternal rest.

On 30 March 1944, the village of Novotroitske, along with the raion, was incorporated into the newly created Kherson Oblast. In the 1950s, collective farms were consolidated: in the Novotroitske Raion, instead of 44, they were reduced to 15. Additionally, village councils were created (14 village and 2 town councils).

In 1958, Novotroitske became an urban-type settlement.

The Water Tower and the Falz Fein ponds in the village of Dornburg (Chkalove) are still standing today. The water tower looks like a medieval castle, built in the late 19th century. The architecture of the building is typical of German towns: the roof has small towers, the windows are large, rounded at the top, and decorated with relief bricks. The bricks were made at the Falz Fein brick factory and are unrivalled in terms of strength and quality.

A beautiful park and two ponds connected by a small canal. The pond covers an area of 1.5 hectares, and the park covers 4 hectares. One of the ponds is called “Visimka”.

Economy and Welfare

The total area of the community’s land is 229,777 hectares, of which 151,100 hectares (65.7%) is arable land. The leading industry is agriculture: grain farming (wheat, corn, sunflower) and meat and dairy farming.

There are 222 agricultural enterprises in the community, including 164 farms, 27 business companies, 22 private enterprises and 3 collective agricultural enterprises. The food industry is represented by the Novotroitske Butter and Cheese Factory, which produces butter and cheese.

As of 01 January 2022, 210 small enterprises and 989 individual entrepreneurs were registered in the community.

There were 378 enterprises in operation, including: 

• 281 – retailers, 
• 36 – catering establishments, 
• 61 – consumer services companies. 
• There were 4 privately owned markets with a total number of 678 places in the community.

Before the full-scale invasion, the community was provided with the necessary infrastructure.

The network of educational institutions in the Novotroitske Community consisted of: 27 pre-school education institutions, 26 general secondary education institutions, 4 out-of-school education institutions, 1 Inclusive Resource Centre, 1 Novotroitske Interschool Production Complex.

Primary healthcare in the community includes the Primary Healthcare Centre, 9 outpatient clinics and 18 paramedic and obstetric stations. Secondary care is provided by the Novotroitske Central Hospital with a 105-bed inpatient facility.

The Centre for Integrated Social Services provides services to vulnerable groups: people with disabilities, single pensioners and families in difficult circumstances. A shelter for victims of violence was established, which underwent major renovation and purchased a vehicle, appliances and furniture.

Cultural services are provided by the Centre for Culture and Leisure with 24 branches.

The community also had a central library of the Novotroitske Village Council, which included an extensive network of branches (25).

In 2019, the Novotroitske Village Council established an Administrative Service Centre (ASC) department and a remote workplace on the Chongar to serve Crimean residents. The ASC provided 306 types of administrative services.

Thanks to the UNDP project supported by the UK Government, the ASC received a Mitsubishi Outlander, which ensured the availability of services throughout the community.

Before the full-scale invasion, alternative energy was actively developing on the community’s territory. The Novotroitske and Overianivka wind farms, which consisted of 39 wind turbines, were operating.

The community has significant water resources, including surface and groundwater, which are used for various purposes: 7 lakes, 28 ponds, 5 reservoirs. The water mirror area is 11,450.8 hectares. 

Novotroitske Community is one of the richest communities in Kherson Oblast in terms of the number and variety of archaeological monuments. It is a land of mounds and Scythian sites. There are 163 mounds, 11 sites, and 16 settlements on its territory. There is no other place in Europe with such a concentration, cultural and chronological diversity on an extremely limited area.

The asteroid of the main belt 8445 Novotroitske, discovered on 31 August 1973, is named after the village.

The Syvash Bay, part of which is part of the Azov-Sivash National Park, has unique recreational opportunities and is rich in brine, therapeutic mud and thermal iodine-bromine water (Vasylivka Starostat), which creates opportunities for the construction of healthcare facilities.

In addition, artesian water extracted at a depth of 15-30 metres does not contain nitrates and nitrites.

There are also clay deposits in the community (Hromivka and Chkalove villages) that can be used in the construction industry.

The Community and the War

On 24 February 2022, with the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the Novotroitske Community was under attack. In the morning, residents witnessed explosions and shooting from the temporarily occupied Crimea. The first military clashes with the enemy took place at the entrance to Novotroitske and along the main canal between the settlements of Sofiivka and Podove.

The remote workplace of the Administrative Service Centre department of Novotroitske village council at Chongar was completely destroyed as a result of active hostilities.

Since the beginning of the war, the community’s territory has been under temporary occupation. Nevertheless, the community leadership remained in place, taking measures to stabilise the situation, prevent panic and ensure the operation of vital institutions. Despite the repression, several protest rallies were held in the community.

The largest of them gathered several thousand people, who, under national flags and the national anthem, clearly stated that Novotroitske is Ukraine.

On 5 July 2022, the occupiers seized the administrative building of the village council.

Under the occupation, the community has faced forced passportisation, confiscation of property, restricted access to medical services and cases of abduction. Despite the difficult situation, the residents of the Novotroitske Community do not lose hope for liberation and the restoration of peaceful life.

Community People

In September 2022, the Novotroitske village military administration of the Henichesk Raion, Kherson Oblast was established, and Serhii Peretiatko was appointed head of the community.

Initially, the community leadership worked in Kryvyi Rih, and later the head was transferred to the Stanislav Community in Kherson Oblast. Key communal institutions were relocated to the government-controlled territory.

Communication with residents has been established through the website, Facebook and the Svoi chatbot, and e-democracy has been introduced to take into account the community’s opinion. The community is preparing for de-occupation, and memoranda of cooperation have been signed with municipalities in Poltava Oblast to restore life after liberation.

In 2023, the community joined the ASSOCIATION OF INVINCIBLE COMMUNITIES to share experiences with de-occupied communities and develop adapted solutions.

The Novotroitske Military Administration is actively working to protect the rights and property interests of the community affected by Russian aggression. An agreement was concluded with the International Movement for the Rights of Victims of Russian Aggression to implement the Legal Forces of Ukraine project. As a result of the work, criminal proceedings were initiated and a commission was set up to assess property damage.

In September 2023, the Novotroitske Lyceum No. 1 with distance learning resumed its work. In November 2023, the ASC was relocated, and in October 2024, the Novotroitske Primary Healthcare Centre was relocated to Reshetylivka, Poltava Oblast.

In order to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the military and their families, UAH 9.4 million was allocated from the community budget in 2023-2024 for the purchase of drones, electronic warfare equipment, night vision and other equipment, as well as UAH 3.9 million for social support for the military and veterans.

Development Strategy

The main task after the de-occupation is to restore the functioning of government institutions, the operation of life support systems, meeting the basic needs of residents and providing them with quality public services. To this end, it is necessary to ensure the reconstruction of damaged and destroyed facilities in accordance with the “Build Back Better” principle, as well as the increase of the municipal housing stock to accommodate citizens who have lost their homes. Equally important is the issue of restoring the community’s agricultural sector, which has been negatively affected by the destruction of irrigation systems as a result of the ecocide committed by the Russian Federation – the blowing up of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station.

A draft Recovery and Development Plan for the Novotroitske Community and a Catalogue of Projects for the period up to 2027 have already been developed.

After the de-occupation of the territory, we see the Novotroitske Community as a restored, safe, prosperous and secure community that is constantly developing and finding new effective solutions to overcome the challenges of the outside world.

Sources

• Facebook page of Novotroitske Village Military Administration: facebook.com
• shukach.com
• ksza.ks.ua
• radiosvoboda.org
• espreso.tv
• Photos by L. Artamonova, R. Horobets, own photos of the Village Council, Village Military Administration, Village Council’s Centre for Culture and Leisure, Kherson OMA.