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Fastiv Community
Kyiv
Population:
The area of the Community is 336.7 km²;
The population totals 62,720 residents.
Men: 28,224 residents
Women: 34,496 residents
Children under 18 years old: 13,800 residents
Pensioners: 18,590 residents
Persons with disabilities: 839 residents
Internally displaced persons: 7,900 people
Railway hub
The administrative centre of the Community – the town of Fastiv – is an important railway hub today. The main electrified railway passes through the town of Fastiv. Nearby are two important European transport corridors – No. 3 (E40) and No. 9 (E95).
Suburban, passenger and freight trains run in four directions: Kyiv, Koziatyn I, Myronivka, Zhytomyr. There are nine railway enterprises operating in the territory of the Community. Some of the largest enterprises of this industry in Ukraine operate there. The Fastiv-2 railway station is also used for cargo handling operations.
Being an important transport and logistics hub in the Kyiv Region, Fastiv is characterized by a high investment attractiveness level. The town has a modern logistics company equipped with the latest equipment and a warehouse complex, a customs terminal, an office centre and a mini-hotel in the Industrial Zone.
History
The town was first mentioned in the annals in 1390. It is from that time that the town of Fastiv has been officially recording its history, celebrating the Town Day every third Saturday in September.
The history of the town of Fastiv is inextricably linked with outstanding people, among them – the legendary colonel, Hetman of Right-Bank Ukraine Semen Palii, who took an active part in the defence of Vienna and many cities of the then Austro-Hungarian Empire from the attack of the Ottoman Empire. In 1685, after the restoration of the Cossack regimental system in the territory of the Right-Bank Ukraine, he settled there on the lands devastated by Tatar raids and chose the town as his residence.
Semen Palii led the towns and villages of the Right-Bank Ukraine, established his political and economic power: he created Cossack self-government bodies headed by otamans. For a fairly short time, the Cossack state led by Palii constituted one third of the entire territory of the Right-Bank Ukraine.
Town of Unity
On 01 December 1918, an act of unification of the Ukrainian People’s Republic and the Western Ukrainian People’s Republic was signed in Fastiv, which proclaimed the unification of Western and Eastern Ukraine into a single indivisible state. Now, next to the building of the railway station, there is a Museum on Wheels, the exhibition of which reproduces this event.
Cultural Heritage
The cultural heritage of the Fastiv Community is colourful and diverse. This is primarily due to the fact that Fastiv was an extreme outpost of the Austrian Empire, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and later an important centre for the Cossacks.
A landmark of Ukrainian wooden architecture, a masterpiece of national architecture of the early 18th century is the Church of the Intercession of the Holy Mother of God, which is an active church in Fastiv.
An original neo-Gothic landmark of the early 20th century (1903 – 1911) and an architectural monument of national importance is the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (an active parish Roman Catholic Church in Fastiv).
The Rulikowski crypt is located in the Fastiv Community.
Edward Rulikowski (1825 – 1900) was a Polish historian and ethnographer. Being a researcher of the Right-Bank Ukraine, ancient documents, family and other noble archives, he studied peasant life, recorded songs and legends. The result of his work was a monograph in the Polish language: “Description of the Vasylkiv County” – a complex local history work that concerns the modern southern Kyiv area. The monograph describes the nature and history of the area, the emergence of land ownership and the change of owners, as well as information on its ethnography and topography.
The Kyrylo Hryhorovych Stetsenko memorial museum (1882 – 1922) (Vepryk village) popularizes the figure and artistic achievements of an outstanding Ukrainian composer, a conductor, a choirmaster, an author of songs, choirs, cantatas and opera-tales for children, an archpriest of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, a teacher, a music critic, a public actor Kyrylo Hryhorovych lived and worked in the village of Vepryk in 1920-1922. He was buried there together with his wife Yevhenia Antonivna. On 10 May 1956, a tombstone was installed on his grave, and in October 1970 – a monument made by famous Ukrainian sculptor H. N. Kalchenko.
Town on the Unava
The Fastiv Community is located on the banks of the Unava River, which flows through the picturesque forests of the Kyiv Polissia area. The river bank is a favourite place of recreation for both the residents of the Community and its guests. The river is great for kayaking and canoeing, making it a favourite spot for those who enjoy these sports.
In addition to kayaking and canoeing, sports such as pankration, artistic and sports gymnastics, boxing, shot put, judo, kyokushinkai karate, athletics, football, hand-to-hand combat, basketball, and grappling are popular in the Fastiv Community. The natives of the Community include many champions of Ukraine in these types of sports both on the Ukrainian national and international arena.
Community and War
The russian occupation troops planned to pass through Fastiv to Bila Tserkva. However, the counteroffensive of the Ukrainian troops began and the Armed Forces of Ukraine entered Fastiv. The russian occupation of the Kyiv Region actually stopped in the neighbouring community.
From the first days of the war, the residents of the Fastiv Community helped the neighbouring communities that were under occupation: they received refugees, provided remote work of local self-government bodies, coordinated humanitarian aid from international organizations for the occupied communities. The town of Fastiv became a humanitarian hub for the affected areas of the Kyiv Region that were under occupation.
In wartime, the Community actively worked with partner towns abroad. At the most critical moment when the fighting was not far away from the town, the Polish sister town of Walcz received a delegation of children from Fastiv. Also, the Turkish sister town of Eskisehir and others helped the Community.
Despite the fact that the Community was not under occupation, the residents of the Fastiv Community did not escape russian rocket attacks. On the evening of April 28, the russian invaders fired three rockets at Fastiv. As a result of the impact, an infrastructure facility was destroyed. Two people were hospitalized as a consequence of the attack.
Mayor
Mykhailo Netiazhuk has been the mayor of Fastiv since 2014.
He has two higher education degrees, is a candidate of economic sciences and an author of a number of scientific works.
During the tenure of Mykhailo Netiazhuk, Fastiv has proved itself as a reliable partner on the international arena, repeatedly receiving the 12 Stars award from the Congress of Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, which is awarded to towns that demonstrate significant achievements of local authorities in involving the community in the development of local democracy.
A number of projects have been implemented in Fastiv in all the spheres of community life, in particular in cooperation with international organizations.
Of course, the war has radically changed the life of the town. Completely different tasks have come to the fore. But I believe that our Community has coped with all this very quickly.
People began to organize themselves: they understood in which direction they should act and what exactly to do. And at the same time, they showed, without a doubt, patriotism, responsibility and readiness to protect their Community and their Motherland…”
In 2022, Mykhailo Netiazhuk received the Danylo Halytskyi Order for organizing work in receiving evacuees and creating a humanitarian hub, which in March and April provided services to the southern Kyiv Region, for cooperation with defence units to counter russian aggression, for ensuring the uninterrupted operation of critical infrastructure facilities, medical and other institutions in the Community during the occupation of the Kyiv Region by russian troops and afterwards.
Strategic Vision of the Future
Development outlook: the Fastiv Urban Territorial Community is a community with strong industrial and logistics potential, with developed infrastructure and high-paying jobs. The Community is attractive for investors and businesses, comfortable for living, recreation and active leisure.
At present, the priority areas of the Community development include the creation of conditions for providing high-quality medical and sanitary services, psychological and physical rehabilitation of all categories of citizens, as well as healthcare, increasing the duration of active and working age. For this purpose, it is planned to implement a number of projects, including the reconstruction of the main medical building with the completion of buildings of the cluster hospital, which provides services to the residents of the entire Fastiv District, and the creation of a Centre for comprehensive support and rehabilitation of war victims.
Partner towns:
Walcz District
Tomaszow Lubelski
Odunpazari/ Eskisehir
Druskininkai
Meerbusch
Swanley
List of Sources
- Official website of the Fastiv Territorial Community
- Wikipedia
- Information resources Fastivnews