The village is located a few kilometers from the border with Poland, in the eastern part of the Bieszczady Mountains, near the towns of Przemyśl (in southeastern Poland) and Dobromil and Stryj (in western Ukraine). It is situated below the main watershed at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains, and has an elevation of 250 meters.
Felsztyn, as the settlement is called in Polish, was founded in 1374 by King Ludwik Węgierski, on lands granted by Duke Vladislaus II of Opole to the Herburtowie [pl] noble family, and received town privileges under the Magdeburg rights in 1380. Additional privileges were granted to the town in 1488 by Kazimierz Jagiellończyk and in 1551 by Sigismund II Augustus. The name was historically variously spelled as Fulsztyn, Folsteyn, Felstin, Fullensteyn, Fulsthine and Fulstin (1593). Its name comes from the town of Bohušov in present day Czech Republic, until 1950 called Fulštejn in Czech or Füllstein in the local's German, also belonging to the Herburt family. Another Felsztyn was founded in Podolia, today known in Ukrainian as Hvardiiske.
In the interwar years, Felsztyn had a mixed population of Poles, Ukrainians and Jews. The Jews were killed in World War II, while the area's Poles were deported to Siberia in cattle trucks after the Soviet invasion. Many of these Poles died in Siberia, some were able to leave Siberia with General Anders Army, while others eventually returned to Felsztyn in 1956 only to find their homes occupied by strangers or demolished. Most surviving Poles were moved to western Poland (mainly Lower Silesia) in the late 1940s and 1950s. After World War II, some Lemkos from Poland were moved to the renamed Skelivka. Today Skelivka is inhabited by Ukrainians and Lemkos. Until World War II, the town had a Roman Catholic church (and adjacent cemetery) which catered to the Polish population. During Soviet times the church was used as a barn and shed. It is now being restored as a Greek Catholic church.
Until 18 July 2020, Skelivka belonged to Staryi Sambir Raion. The raion was abolished in July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Lviv Oblast to seven. The area of Staryi Sambir Raion was merged into Sambir Raion.[2][3]