Rovenky came under control of pro-Russian separatists in early 2014, and was incorporated into the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR).

By the order of Peter I, 49 Cossack villages were burned and destroyed in September 1708, including Rovenky.

At this point, the residents of Rovenky mostly worked the land, raised cattle, and bred sheep.

A group of the underground anti-fascist Komsomol (Communist youth) organization Young Guard worked there.

[citation needed] Since early 2014, Rovenky has been controlled by the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) and not by Ukrainian authorities.

[4][better source needed] On 11 July 2014, alleged pro-Russia forces attacked a concentration of Ukrainian troops with "Grad" rockets, inflicted heavy damage and casualties to two motorized army brigades at Zelenopyllia south of this place.

[5] As of the Ukrainian Census of 2001:[6] There are 27 general secondary schools and gymnasiums in Rovenky and the surrounding villages.

In 2003, the city of Rovenky had their first ever Peace Corps volunteer, Bo Knutson, who would lay the pedagogical foundation for Dara Chesnutt- a Peace Corps teacher volunteer whose methods energized the educational system of Luhansk Oblast for years to come.

[citation needed] There are two television companies, "Nika-TV" and "RTV" and there are three newspapers, "Rovenkovsky Vesty," "Forward Rovenky," and "The Dialogue.

It is located in the basement of the central hospital where the five members of the Young Guard spent their final days before they were killed.

There is also the Common Grave of these five members of the Young Guard and a monument, erected in 1965 on the place where they were shot by the Nazis in 1943.