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Vodianyky Territorial Community
Cherkasy
Population:
The Vodianyky Territorial Community is located in the territory of the Zvenyhorodka District of the Cherkasy Region.
The total area of the territory: 13,269.9 km2
Population: 5,852 residents
Men: 2,215 residents
Women: 2,529 residents
Children: 1,098 residents
Pensioners: 1,408 residents
Internally displaced persons: 241 people
The Community consists of eleven villages and three settlements with its administrative centre being in the village of Vodianyky.
History
Picturesque villages, clean rivers, dense forests, white rural huts and hardworking people – this is how great researcher Ahatanhel Krymskyi describes the territory of the Community in his writings.
The first settlements in the territory of the village belong to the Trypillia Culture of the 4th – 3rd millennium BC. There are about twenty barrows of the Bronze and Early Iron Age on the outskirts of the village.
In 1884, the Ryzhanivka mound was partially excavated, but because nothing was found, the excavations were stopped. In the abandoned trench in 1887, the soil collapsed above the undiscovered catacomb. Peasant Andrii Masliuk found gold and other things there. Frightened by the discovery of a human skull, which crumbled in his hands, he stopped the excavations and handed over the found items to the Ryzhanivka estate. After that, Polish archaeologist Osowski examined the accidentally discovered burial site. Most of the mound remained unexcavated and its research was completed only in our time.
At the moment, the small mounds located nearby are awaiting research.
The Community itself was formed in 2019. More than a thousand residents of the Community worked as a single mechanism solving all problems together, and thanks to their success seven more settlements joined in during the next elections.
Economy and Welfare
The Community is rich in fertile soil and has good harvests. Cereal and oil crops are mainly grown there. Recently, farmers have been trying to sow larger areas with pumpkins, which makes it possible to involve the local population in seasonal works. Some agricultural producers grow strawberries, which allows the residents to earn extra money without going abroad.
The largest agricultural producer is an enterprise that grows corns, wheat, soybeans and sunflowers, employing the vast majority of the Community residents, and people receive money or in-kind aid for their shares given to them.
In cooperation with the MHP-HROMADI Charitable Foundation, they have implemented projects that significantly improve the well-being of the Community residents. Playgrounds have been installed, children’s centres have been created, and greenhouses have been opened as part of the educational institutions.
Along with the MHP-HROMADI Charitable Foundation, they started sorting garbage. The local residents carefully sorted glass and plastic, which was then stored in a workshop from which they were preparing to start the production of paving tiles before the full-scale invasion.
In the Community, there are five preschool institutions attended by one hundred children and six general secondary education institutions attended by 466 students. All the educational institutions have their own shelters, which allow children to learn offline. The opening of the “safety class” is expected, and renovation works to open a new dining room in the lyceum are underway.
The Community is proud of the Sovyn Yar ski resort, the only one working in the centre of Ukraine. Exciting landscapes of its villages have long been beckoning with their beauty, developing rural green tourism.
The Vodianyky mountain skiing sports and recreation complex is a modern resort for lovers of an active lifestyle, fans of skiing and other sports, connoisseurs of a high level of comfort and service. The total length of the tracks is more than 2,000 meters, which are constantly levelled with the help of a grader and are well lit. The system of artificial snow makes it possible to get a perfectly prepared slope almost at the first frosts.
The beauty of the Sovyn Yar tract of the village of Vodianyky is Catherine’s Park organized in 2005. The story began with a linden avenue and a gazebo for recreation. Later, the park became an original example of garden and park and fine art in the area.
Community and War
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the residents of the Community have rallied and begun to bring victory closer in every possible way. The residents have accommodated internally displaced persons fleeing the war, provided them with food and everything they needed.
They cook stews for the military, sew underwear, weave camouflage nets, bake pancakes and make dry borsch. On their own initiative, the Community Council staff transfer part of their earnings to the charity fund, which is then used to purchase cars and necessary ammunition for the military.
The Community has handed over tonnes of food products to the de-occupied territories of the Kharkiv and Kherson Regions.
A good surprise was the news from the National Register of Records of Ukraine, where the Community was recognized for the largest number of pancakes made for the military.
Recently, a retro festival was held, where funds were raised for two drones for the military.
People of the Community
Ruslan Kaiuk is the head of the Community. He sees the main task in his work not only to fill the budget, but also to create comfortable conditions for all the residents of the Community.
The first thing that Ruslan Kaiuk did as head of the Community was to organize free meals for all the pre-schoolers and students of educational institutions.
Another priority of the Village Council head is the safety of the Community residents. At present, the Community has a precinct officer who monitors law and order, and video surveillance cameras have been installed in the villages of the Community.
Under the leadership of the head of the Community, Gardens of Victory have been organized to provide food for the army and local educational institutions. In 2023, the residents planted potatoes on more than one hectare of land and more than three thousand vegetable seedlings.
In order to support the residents of the Kherson Region, who suffer from enemy shelling on a daily basis, the volunteers from the Vodianyky Community travelled to the Kherson Region twice to help with the restoration of housing.
Development Strategy
The Community has its development strategy for 2020-2026; its important areas include the development of small and medium-sized businesses, investment attraction, tourism development and provision of comfortable living conditions for the Community residents.
A “safety class” has recently been opened in one of the lyceums as part of boosting the security issue in the Community. There, they teach the rules of fire, mine safety and civil defence, explain the algorithm of actions in case of emergency situations, and train students to provide first aid.
The Community prepares for the opening of its own fire brigade; repair works are underway in the premises, the would-be firefighters are recruited, and a mural has been installed there to immortalize the feat of firefighters dealing with the consequences of war. They are also preparing materials for participation in the “Firefighters. Strengthening the Capacity of Ukrainian Communities through the Development of Voluntary Fire Brigades” programme.
The Community has all the resources for the development of tourism, agriculture, and small manufacturing enterprises. Large empty buildings of former educational institutions are also available; they created a teaser of the available buildings and submitted it for participation in the projects.