Rovenky was founded in 1705, and was incorporated as a city in 1934. By the order of Peter I, 49 Cossack villages were burned and destroyed in September 1708, including Rovenky. The freed Cossacks fled from Peter I into an area now referred to as the "Wild Field." Some settled in a place near a river and it was named after the abandoned native village - Rovenek. In 1793, Count Vasily Orlor became the owner of the settlement who later became the Cossack chieftan. In 1829, the first literacy school was opened and the first primary school was opened in 1852. At this point, the residents of Rovenky mostly worked the land, raised cattle, and bred sheep. During the Great Patriotic War, Rovenky was occupied by Nazi Germany. A group of the underground anti-fascist Komsomol (Communist youth) organization Young Guard worked there.
During the 1960s and 1970s, there was much development in Rovenky. Many new buildings were built, including the apartment buildings now called "Shaktyorski," "Gagarin," and "Molodyozh"." In the 1990s, private businesses began to appear - trade, transportation, and customer services. The backbone of the community remained its coal enterprises, which account for 95% of all manufactured goods in the city
