Vasylivka is a city in Zaporizhia Oblast

Zaporizhia Oblast

Zaporizhia Oblast is an oblast of southern Ukraine. Its capital is Zaporizhia.This oblast is an important part of Ukraine's industry and agriculture.-Geography:...

 (province

Oblast

Oblast is a type of administrative division in Slavic countries, including some countries of the former Soviet Union. The word "oblast" is a loanword in English, but it is nevertheless often translated as "area", "zone", "province", or "region"...

) in southern Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

. The city is situated on the banks of the Kakhovka Reservoir

Kakhovka Reservoir

The Kakhovka Reservoir is a water reservoir located on the Dnieper River. It covers a total surface area of 2,155 square kilometres in the territories of the Kherson, Zaporizhia, and the Dnipropetrovsk Oblasts of Ukraine...

 on the Dnieper River

Dnieper River

The Dnieper River is one of the major rivers of Europe that flows from Russia, through Belarus and Ukraine, to the Black Sea.The total length is and has a drainage basin of .The river is noted for its dams and hydroelectric stations...

. Population is 15,592 (2001 census

Ukrainian Census (2001)

The first Ukrainian Census was carried out by State Statistics Committee of Ukraine on 5 December 2001, twelve years after the last Soviet Union census in 1989....

).

The area was settled by the Zaporozhian Cossacks in the 1740s. In 1788, Catherine II of Russia

Catherine II of Russia

Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia on as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg...

 granted the region to Vasili Stepanovich Popov

Vasili Stepanovich Popov

Vasili Stepanovich Popov was an imperial Russian general and statesman who presided over the office of Prince Potemkin.In 1792 Popov advised Empress Catherine II of Russia on Polish affairs. It was he who authored the Targowicka Confederation founding act. Emperor Paul made him senator. Popov had...

, a Russian general whose name Vasylivka still bears. His grandson built the Popov Castle

Popov Castle

The Popov Castle is a castle-like rural residence built between 1864 and 1884 near the town of Vasylivka, Ukraine by Vasili Popov Jr. . Its Gothic Revival design is attributed to Nicholas Benois. The main house had a telescope, a picture gallery, and an ethnographic museum...

 there. The residence was visited by Anton Makarenko

Anton Makarenko

Anton Semenovych Makarenko was a Ukrainian and Soviet educator and writer, who promoted democratic ideas and principles in educational theory and practice. As one of the founders of Soviet pedagogy, he elaborated the theory and methodology of upbringing in self-governing child collectives and...

in 1925.