Vikhorevka

In the mid-60s west of Bratsk on the geographical map marked a new town called Vihorevka. It got its name from the Vikhoreva River, flowing in the area. Before the arrival of Russian explorers to Bratsk land it was called in Tungus "Gea". In 1630, a serviceman Vikhor Savin, streletsky centurion, in a skirmish with local residents was killed at the mouth of the river. Since then the river has received a new name, Vikhoreva...

The fact that Vikhoreva got its name during this period, i.e. in 1629-1630, and not later, is evidenced by the record of Maxim Perfiliev made in 1631: "And another long threshold in the Bratsk land beyond Vikhoreva river more than ten versts".

Thus, having inherited his name from the dead Cossack, the Vihoreva River not only retained it, but also transferred it to two settlements: the village of Ust-Vihorevo, located at the confluence of the Vihoreva River into the Angara, and Vihorevka town, which emerged in its middle reaches.

Vikhorevka is a city of district subordination, the largest administrative unit of the Bratsk district of the Irkutsk region.

According to the Urban Development Code of the Russian Federation, Vikhorevka belongs to the group of small towns of the country. The main function of Vikhorevka is that it is an important railway station of the Baikal-Amur Mainline and the East Siberian Railway on the section Taishet - Lena. The city plays an important role in timber harvesting, both on a district-wide and regional scale.

Vikhorevka station was founded in 1947 simultaneously with the construction of the railroad Taishet (Taishet station) - Ust-Kut (Lena station). The railway was built using the labor of Taishetlag prisoners, mostly Japanese prisoners of war. Among the prisoners-constructors there were also so-called "Harbin men" - Russian inhabitants of Harbin arrested by the Soviet authorities after the defeat of the Kwantung Army in August 1945.. In the 1950s, Vihorevka was the location of the 410th punishment camp of the Ozerlag.

On November 27, 1957, the station settlement Vikhorevka was reclassified as an urban-type settlement.

Vikhorevka received city status in 1966.

Until 1997, the Bratsk branch of the Eastern Siberian Railway (NOD-4, Chuna-Lena) was based in Vikhorevka.

On May 26, 2009, after two years of construction, the new building of the railway station was opened.