Рава Руська: Історія та сучасність українського міста

City in Lviv Oblast, Ukraine

Rava Ruska (Рава Руська; Rawa Ruska; ) is a city in Lviv Raion, Lviv Oblast, western Ukraine. It is a border town between Ukraine and Poland. The border checkpoint is situated west of the city, along the international autoroute Warsaw–Lviv. Rava Ruska hosts the administration of Rava Ruska urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Its population is approximately

Rawa Ruska was founded in 1455 by the Polish prince Władysław I of Płock, Duke of Bełz and Mazovia. He added the suffix "Ruska", meaning "Ruthenian" (during this time, the urban Ukrainian inhabitants were referred to as "Ruthenians"), to distinguish it from Rawa Mazowiecka located further west. Due to a convenient location along the merchant trail from Lublin to Lviv, the newly located town quickly developed. For centuries, Rawa was part of the Kingdom of Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It remained in private hands of several consecutive szlachta families, such as the Głogowski, Suchodolski, Rzeczycki and Bogusz. In 1622, the town received permission of the King of Poland to organize fairs. In 1672, a skirmish between Polish and Crimean Tatar forces took place here, in which Polish unit under Atanazy Miączyński freed hundreds of captured peasants. In 1698, Rawa was the site of a meeting between Peter the Great and Augustus the Strong, which led to the Treaty of Preobrazhenskoye in 1699. From the First Partition of Poland in 1772 until the end of World War I in 1918, the town was part of the Austrian Partition ruled first by the Austrian Empire and then by Austria Hungary after the compromise of 1867. It was a seat of the Rawa Ruska district, one of the 78 Bezirkshauptmannschaften in Austrian Galicia province (Crown land) in 1900. In 1880, its population was 10,500, with 37% Jews, 35% Poles, 20% Germans and 7% Ukrainians. In 1857, Rawa received a rail connection with Jarosław, and next year, the railroad reached Sokal.

In the early 20th century, Rava Ruska developed into a rail junction, with a connection to Lviv and Rejowiec, built in 1915. After the rebirth of Poland Rawa Ruska became part of the Lwów Voivodeship, and the seat of the Powiat Rawski county (area ). The line from to Rejowiec was of leading importance, as it connected the two main cities of Poland, Warsaw, and Lviv. Due to the rail lines, Rawa prospered, and several businesses operated in the town. In 1924, a Belgian company opened here a factory of railroad ties. Furthermore, in the interbellum period Rawa Ruska was home to Main School of the Border Guard, which was moved there in 1928 from Góra Kalwaria. The school had a department of training of guard dogs, also located in Rawa Ruska. According to Polish census of 1921, the population of the town was 8,970; with 42% Poles, 42% Jews and 14% Ukrainians. By 1938, the population increased to 12,000.

On 14 September 1939, during the Invasion of Poland, Rava Ruska was captured by the Wehrmacht. The German troops left the town within days in accordance with the German–Soviet Frontier Treaty, and Rava Ruska was occupied by the Soviet forces. A year and a half later, on the 28 June 1941, it was recaptured by the Germans during the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Operation Barbarossa. The Ukrainian People's Militsiya was formed. The town was incorporated into the General Government territory. The Judenrat was established in July 1941. Approximately 5,000 Polish Jews from Rava Ruska were shot during a liquidation Aktion between 7 and 11 December 1942. The last mass shootings of Jews occurred in June 1943, during which 300 400 Jews were killed in a forest outside the village.

After World War II, the Polish community of Rava Ruska was forced to abandon the town and move to the Recovered Territories. Nevertheless, Rava Ruska remains one of the key centres of the Polish minority in Ukraine, with the local office of the Association of Polish Culture of the Lviv Land operating here. Until 18 July 2020, Rava Ruska belonged to Zhovkva Raion. The raion was abolished in July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Lviv Oblast to seven. The area of Zhovkva Raion was merged into Lviv Raion.

It is located near the border with Poland, opposite the town of Hrebenne. Through the city passes the European route At the border there is a "checkpoint Rava Ruska".

The city has a railroad station which also has a border and customs checkpoint. Since 2005 it has been used exclusively for freight transportation only and has two directions, one towards Hrebenne, another towards Werchrata.

Parish church of St. Joseph, built in 1700 1776 upon the initiative of Castellan of Belz Andrzej Rzeczycki. During the Soviet era the church served as a warehouse. Franciscan Abbey of Archangel Michael, founded in 1725 by Starosta of Belz Grzegorz Rzeczycki and Jozef Glogowski. The complex of the abbey and the church was completed in 1737 by architect Pawel Fontana, and was one of the most interesting sights of the town. In the Soviet Union, the complex was turned into a warehouse serving the local collective farm.