Dvorichna settlement hromada

Halyna Turbaba c. 2020, the first and only Head of the Hromada

The hromada was created on 12 June 2020 after merging 14 settlement councils within the soon to be abolished Dvorichna Raion.[lower-alpha 2][6] Upon establishment, the hromada became the local government for 55 settlements, and had a total population of 16,568 in January 2021.[7]

The hromada would hold their first elections on 25 October 2020,[8] where Dvorichna native Turbaba Halyna Hryhorivna would be elected as Head of the Hromada.[9] Before the war in 2022, the hromada had a total population of approximately 16,500[5] within a 1,109.1 km² (428.2 sq mi) area.[1]

The entire hromada was occupied by Russian forces in the early days of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.[5] During full occupation, Halyna Turbaba would be imprisoned twice for refusing to cooperate with the Russian military.[10] During Turbaba's first imprisonment lasting one month, and second imprisonment 50 days, some lesser hromada officials agreed to work with the Russians.[5] In this time: better houses, along with useful equipment from farms, were reportedly confiscated by the Russian military.[10] Many residents likewise would leave for the Russian border or travel across a dam going over the Pecheneg Reservoir to territory controlled by Ukrainian forces.[2]

The territorial situation would only change in the hromada after the successful Kharkiv counteroffensive conducted by Ukrainian forces during September 2022,[11] where control of the hromada would be divided along the Oskil river by 12 September,[2][5] and would remain this way with some exceptions.[lower-alpha 3] After the counteroffensive, those lesser officials who worked with the Russians had fled the hromada,[5] and many former-residents who left for Russia returned to live in Kharkiv or moved to other European nations including Czechia, Germany, Norway, Poland, Sweden, and Switzerland,[2] as the now-frontline hromada was placed under mandatory evacuation. This depopulation led to only about 2,000 residents remaining in the recaptured areas of the hromada by December 2022,[5] and only 1,100 residents by April 2023, consisting primarily of the elderly, with only 60 of whom being children.[2]

Daily shelling[2][5][10] of the hromada that has taken place since Ukraine's counteroffensive has destroyed much of the head administrative settlement Dvorichna: including all 35 apartment buildings there,[2][5][10] 30% of all residential buildings in the hromada,[5] and 70% in Dvorichna,[2] and much of the educational, medical, and recreational infrastructure in the hromada,[2][5][10] as well as damaged or destroyed all administrative buildings.[2][5][10] All buildings not bordering neighboring settlement hromadas have also lost access to electricity, gas, and heat,[10] leading to the hromada's post offices, banks, pharmacies, and other reliant establishments being closed indefinitely.[5][15]

Because of these factors, much of the remaining population either lives in their yards[2] or basements because of damages from the war.[10] Humanitarian aid consisting of food, hygiene, firewood, fuel, and other highly needed items are delivered on average twice a month to residents, making still living in the hromada possible.[5][10] A bakery built by humanitarian workers along with local village vegetable gardens also provide more food than necessary to residents.[5] A local doctor and ambulance also provides medical assistance despite the lack of a functioning pharmacy.[5] Administration is still led by Turbaba, and two other officials, with more opting to work remotely.[5] There is little to no communication with the occupied half of the hromada, with there existing the possibility of a humanitarian disaster.[5]

After Ukraine's successful counteroffensive, the territorial situation in the hromada would not change again until 18 October, when a localized Russian counteroffensive would retake Horobivka.[16] Four months later from 4[17] to 18 February 2023, a larger Russian counteroffensive from Dvorichne[18] would push Ukrainian forces from the settlement on 10 February,[19] and would continue their advancement to capture Lyman Pershyi on 16 February,[20] and Hrianykivka on 18 February,[21] being the last significant event from the offensive. According to Turbaba, it was about this time that Hrianykivka's population became zero after every building there had been destroyed during the series of offensives and counteroffensives.[2]

On 15 May 2023, another localized Russia counteroffensive would recapture Masiutivka,[22] the last settlement in the hromada on the east side of the Oskil.

On 17 July 2023, Russian forces would attempt to further their advances from Masiutivka and attempt to cross the Oskil. While the Ukrainian General Staff reported that the offensive was unsuccessful, a Russian milblogger claimed that the offensive captured 1–2 km (0.6–1.2 mi) of land in this direction.[23] This claim would be supported by other milbloggers and the Russian Ministry of Defense two days later on 19 July.[24] The Russian advance in this direction would continue again on 8 August, with Russian forces of the 6th Combined Arms Army capturing positions south of Vilshana and Lyman Pershyi.[25]