Founding and the Russian Civil War Polohy was established in 1887 after the construction of a railway that connected
Berdiansk with
Yekaterinoslav. The city specifically celebrates 17 September as the date of the city's founding. By 1890, houses for workers had been built in the area. In 1894, the railway station was built, contributing to the growth of the village. By 1904, when a second railway line was built that crossed through the village, Polohy became a railway hub. In 1905, there were "about a hundred thatched huts and dugouts" in the village, and it had a total population of around 700. Polohy received the status of
urban-type settlement in October 1928. From 1928 to 1937, Polohy carried the name of
Chubarivka, after the Soviet politician
Vlas Chubar. During
World War II, Polohy was occupied by
Nazi Germany beginning 5 October 1941. Oppressions against the local
Jewish population - who had comprised 3.2% of the population prewar - began immediately. Polohy was liberated by the
Red Army on 17 September 1943. The city was shelled with
Grad rockets and other weapons, heavily damaging many houses. Locals have accused Russian forces of deliberately destroying the city's critical infrastructure. Eyewitness reports from the city have also detailed accounts of Russian soldiers
murdering civilians,
sacking, abducting local activists, and torturing people in the city. In May 2023, reports from ordinary residents of Polohy as well as the exiled mayor Yuriy Konovalenko said that Russia was forcibly removing civilians from the city to be transferred to
Berdiansk, deeper within Russia-controlled territory. In July 2023, a three-man Ukrainian
drone team used an explosive-carrying drone to blow up a Russian
electronic warfare system mounted on a tower in Polohy. On 8–10 September 2023, the
2023 Russian elections took place in the
occupied Ukrainian territories, which
Melitopol mayor
Ivan Fedorov described as "hellish pseudo-elections". During this period, on 9 September, Fedorov reported that the headquarters of
United Russia - the Russian ruling party - in Polohy had been blown up. Fedorov alluded to casualties among the occupation authorities, stating on
Telegram that "Some went to the hospital, and some went straight to the morgue". ==Demographics==