Huliaipole: A Town Between Past and Present
The historically rich town of Huliaipole is enduring a brutal wartime existence within a volatile 'grey zone,' where combat has raged for nearly two months. Historian Serhii Zvilinsky, a native of the town, details the urgent efforts to safeguard the region's heritage—particularly its connection to the Makhnovist movement—while simultaneously recording the history of the current conflict. When the full-scale invasion began, activists evacuated museum artifacts to Zaporizhzhia to preserve crucial relics for future generations. This work highlights the immense challenge of protecting cultural identity amidst the chaos of war.
By November-December 2022, only about 150 people remained in Huliaipole, a stark drop from its pre-war population of roughly 12,000. Mass departures started in early March 2022, and by the end of summer 2025, every building in the town had sustained damage. The mayor and head of the military-civil administration, Serhii Yarmak, notes that while the town is not fully occupied, shelling is constant. According to Zvilinsky, dozens of shells fell on the town daily from November onward, with major nearby villages like Verkhnia Tersa, Rizdvianka, Ternuvate, Vozdvyzhivka, and Liubytske also suffering severe destruction.
Safeguarding Cultural Heritage
Huliaipole is famed for its history, especially its ties to the anarchist Makhnovist movement. Serhii Zvilinsky's great-grandfather, Sava Savych Zvilinsky, served in Nestor Makhno's army in 1919. Surviving landmarks include the house where Makhno lived with his wife Halyna Kuzmenko and the home of his brother Karp, built around the 1880s. Makhno's own parental home was burned in 1918, but just before the full-scale invasion, Karp Makhno's house was purchased for a museum. Zvilinsky and colleagues are now developing a museum space in the Krieger family estate. While all museum collections were evacuated in 2022, monuments to Makhno erected in 2009 were left behind due to their size and the security situation.
Oral histories are being recorded to preserve the story of Huliaipole and the Makhnovist movement. The oldest interviewee is a 103-year-old woman born in 1922. Other testimonies are equally unique; for instance, records were found from a woman born in 1905 who, in the 1930s, documented the memories of elders born in the 1840s-1860s. Many residents in frontline villages plead for the evacuation of family archives and photos, as nearly every family has some connection to the Makhnovist era.
Despite the war, Huliaipole remains a vital historical center. Serhii Zvilinsky emphasizes that Makhno was neither an idiot nor illiterate, but understood the Bolsheviks perfectly.
"What Makhno was building, we would now call decentralization," says Serhii Zvilinsky.
Currently, villages within 15 kilometers of the frontline are inaccessible, severely hampering historical documentation. The situation in Huliaipole reflects not only the local struggle to preserve cultural heritage but also the broader impact of war on Ukrainian society. The importance of preserving history, especially under fire, underscores the need to document generational testimonies for future research and the restoration of cultural memory. Ongoing shelling continues to complicate access to many historical sites, which remain under threat of total destruction. Thus, the work of Serhii Zvilinsky and his team holds profound significance not just for Huliaipole, but for all of Ukraine in the context of preserving national identity.