Early history The villages of Romanivka and Liubka stood on the site of Irpin in the 17th century. In the 19th century, the villages (or
khutirs) of Severynivka, then Rudnia and Stoianka appeared. Irpin was formed in 1899 as a
passing loop, during construction of the
Kyiv–
Kovel railway line. Railway workers founded the town near the railway line, along with other localities such as
Bucha and
Vorzel. The city's name (along with the settlement of Vorzel) was chosen due to its location on the
Irpin River.
20th century From 26 July 1941, from the
Battle of Kyiv onwards, it was occupied by the
Wehrmacht until November 1943, when
Kyiv was recaptured. Most of its
Jewish population were murdered in either
Babi Yar or other massacres by the
Nazis. In 1954, the community of Irpin built the
Irpin Central House of Culture.
2022 Russian invasion visited Irpin on 8 September 2022 During the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Irpin became the site of a
battlefield engagement during the
Kyiv offensive. Russian forces took the
Hostomel Airport in the north of the city to facilitate an advance southwards, around Kyiv. The city was shelled by Russian artillery while the Ukrainians were able to repel and destroy multiple forces attempting to move into the town. According to
Human Rights Watch, on 6 March 2022, Russian forces bombarded an intersection on a road of Irpin which was used by civilians to flee. Later in March, the
House of Culture was very badly damaged by Russian shelling. On the same day, Irpin received the title
Hero City of Ukraine by decree of the President of Ukraine,
Volodymyr Zelensky. On 29 March 2022
The New York Times reported that President Zelensky had announced that Irpin had been liberated. On 30 March 2022, the mayor of Irpin, Oleksandr Markushin, said that the Russian military had killed more than 300 civilians and 50 servicemen in the city. Around 76% of the city had been damaged by the Russian invasion. In March 2022, a Ukrainian urban renewal company called Innovations and Reconstruction for Societies, known as the Irpin Reconstruction Summit (IRS) was launched, aiming to "Build Back Better", was launched. Hundreds of architects, engineers, and urban planners responded to a call by the Investment Council of Irpen to help rebuild the town, with the goal of restoring social and critical infrastructure such as schools and lighting. International architects and planners include
Stefano Boeri from Italy, Christian Wittig from Chile, and Hiroki Matsuura, of the Netherlands (of Japanese origin). By March 2023, around 10 projects had been approved, including the House of Culture. On 25 June 2023 the mayor reported that most people had already returned, along with an additional "almost 25,000 internally displaced persons, mostly from the east". On 24 August 2023, the
Ruta Kindergarten was opened under a collaborative project by Lithuania and Taiwan. The IRS reconstruction of the city continues, with international assistance. ==Governance and demographics==