Early history
Brovary is a historic town, first mentioned in 1630.[3] At the time there were only 60 or 70 houses in Brovary, but in 1649 a Cossack sotnia is known to have been formed there. Cossacks took part in the Khmelnytsky Uprising under Bohdan Khmelnytsky's leadership.
Originally, the town was called Brovari (Ukrainian: Броварі), but the name was changed in 1969 to make it more similar to Russian.[4] The name, translated from Ukrainian, means 'breweries' (and is a loanword from Dutch). The town got its name after breweries where special beer was made. Travellers who went to Kyiv often stopped in Brovary, rested, dined and drank the local beer. Many famous people visited Brovary while travelling to Kyiv. A Ukrainian poet, Taras Shevchenko, was among them. He visited this town many times in the period from 1829 to 1847. Nowadays there is a monument to Shevchenko in the place from which Brovary began its history as a town, in its old centre.
In 1923, Brovary became the center of Brovary Raion. In that year, Brovary had a population of 4,065 people. In 1930, the district was reworked, with its center moved to Velyka Dymerka. In 1937, this change was undone, and the center was moved back to Brovary.[5]
Brovary received city status in 1956, and in 1972 was designated a city of oblast significance - meaning that while Brovary still served as the administrative center of Brovary Raion, it was no longer subordinated to it, instead being directly subordinated to the government of Kyiv Oblast.[3]
Russian invasion of Ukraine
It was reported on 10 March 2022 that there had been an attack on a Russian armoured column at Skybyn, just outside Brovary, as it was trying to move in from the north.[7][8] On 11 March there were fights in Brovary as Russian troops were trying to encircle Kyiv from its east.[9]
On 2 April 2022 the whole of Kyiv Oblast, where Brovary is located, was declared liberated by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense after Russian troops had left the area.[10]
In August 2023, Ukrainian Institute of National Memory decided that the name of the city did not meet the spelling norms and standards of the state language (Ukrainian), meaning that Brovary will be renamed.[11] On 20 March 2024, the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada on issues of organization of state power, local self-government, regional development and urban planning decided to propose the old name, Brovari, which corresponds to Ukrainian language standards.[12] The ultimate decision on the renaming will be made only after a vote.
