It serves as the administrative center of Vasylivka Raion.
The city is situated on the banks of the Kakhovka Reservoir on the Dnieper River.
Population: 12,771 (2021 est.)
The area was settled by the Zaporozhian Cossacks in the 1740s. In 1788, Catherine II of Russia granted the region to a landlord Vasili Stepanovich Popov, a Russian general whose name Vasylivka as his manor still bears. His grandson built the Popov Manor House there. The residence was visited by Anton Makarenko in 1925.
On the outskirts of the city, at the foot of the Bald Mountain, a Neolithic burial ground (5th millennium BC) was excavated with 30 graves, indicating the settlement of this territory in ancient times. The remains of a settlement from the Late Bronze Age were found near the burial ground.
The history of the city is closely connected with the Popov family. Major General Vasily Stepanovich Popov, by decree of Empress Catherine II, on July 27, 1788, these lands were given and the village was founded
In the 19th - early 20th centuries, Vasilyevka was the center of the Vasilyevskaya volost and was part of the Melitopol district of the Tauride province.
In 1884, the Popov Castle was built here. It has not been completely preserved. Now it is a museum-reserve "Popov's Manor".
October 28, 1938 Vasilievka received the status of an urban-type settlement.
During the Great Patriotic War in 1941-1943 the village was under German occupation.
In 1957, Vasilievka was given the status of a city.
In 1989, the population was 16,325.
In May 1995, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the decision to privatize the feed mill and agricultural chemistry located in the city.
As of January 1, 2013, the population was 13,996 people, as of January 1, 2019 - 13,166 people. The city is widely known to tourists who travel in the northern Azov region.
The city is an important military and political facility that opens a direct route to Zaporozhye and the Dnieper.
