Alchevsk
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Alchevsk
Алчевск (in Russian) | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Alchevsk Location of Alchevsk  Alchevsk Alchevsk (Ukraine) | |
| Coordinates: 48°28′40″N 38°47′52″E / 48.47778°N 38.79778°ECoordinates: 48°28′40″N 38°47′52″E / 48.47778°N 38.79778°E | |
| Country |  Ukraine |
| Oblast | Luhansk Oblast |
| Founded | 1895 |
| City Status | 1932 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 55 km2 (21 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 240 m (790 ft) |
| Population (2021) | |
| • Total | 106,550 (2,021 est.)[1] |
| Postal code | 94200-94299 |
| Area code(s) | (+380) 6442 |
| Vehicle registration | BB / 13 |
| Control | Luhansk People's Republic |
| Website | http://alchevsk.su/ |
Alchevsk (Ukrainian: Алчéвськ, translit. Alchevs'k; Russian: Алчéвск) is a city of oblast significance of Luhansk Oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. It is located approximately 45 kilometres (28 miles) from the oblast capital, Luhansk.
Alchevsk is one of the largest industrial centers in the Donbas, and comprises a quarter of the entire oblast's production. The city economy depends on OJSC "Alchevsk Iron & Steel Works" (a trade blockade by Ukrainian activists during the war in Donbas has all but halted production of this plant in February 2017[2][3]) and "Alchevsk Coke-Chemical Plant" companies.
The city was known as Voroshylovsk (Ukrainian: Ворошиловськ) from 1931 to 1961, and then Kommunarsk (Ukrainian: Комунарськ) until 1991.
History[edit]
Alchevsk was founded in 1895 with the establishment of an iron works and named after the Ukrainian industrialist of the Russian Empire Oleksiy Alchevsky who founded the Donetsk–Yuryev Metallurgical Society.[4] He was famous for the financial and industrial development of the eastern part of Ukraine and particularly the Donbas region. Later his children as well as his wife made enormous contribution in the development of the Ukrainian culture through poetry and music.
A local newspaper is published in the city since 1930.[5]
In 1931, Alchevsk was renamed Voroshilovsk, after Kliment Voroshilov, a Soviet military and party figure.[4] As Voroshilov's personality cult was diminishing, the town was renamed Kommunarsk in 1961.[4] After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the original name was restored in 1992.[4]
Winter disaster of 2006[edit]
On 22 January 2006 the district heating system of the city almost entirely collapsed after an underground heat pipe line cracked in unusually cold weather (nearly −30 °C). As a result, heating equipment in the majority of Alchevsk's buildings was frozen and ruptured, leaving about 60,000 residents with only the protection of individual electric heaters. A few days later the sewage system also froze due to a lack of warm tap water.
An investigation revealed the massive, long-time negligence of the city authorities. The whole heating system was designed in a hyper-centralized way, depending on only two boilers and few main pipelines. Moreover, the housing company failed to react to the pipe incident properly: the water from the system wasn't immediately dumped to prevent further freezing.
The Ukrainian government took massive emergency actions to protect Alchevsk residents from freezing. Engineering teams sent by cities and industrial companies from other regions of the country were gradually restoring heating appliances in every apartment affected. Hundreds of children together with their schoolteachers were evacuated to the resorts and hotels in the warmer regions of Ukraine. According to the governor of Luhansk Oblast G. Moskal, it has been the worst human-made disaster in the history of independent Ukraine.
War in Donbas (2014–present)[edit]
Starting mid-April 2014 pro-Russian forces conquered several towns in Luhansk Oblast,[6][7] including Alchevsk.[8] In the following war in Donbas, the city became a part of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic.[9][10]
Economy[edit]
The main branches of Alchevsk industry – metallurgical and chemical. Electromechanical, light and food industry is also developed. Currently the city has 17 industrial enterprises.
Demographics[edit]
As of the Ukrainian Census of 2001:[11]
- Ethnicity
- Russians: 51.6%
- Ukrainians: 44.7%
- Belarusians: 1.1%
- Language
- Russian: 83.6%
- Ukrainian: 15.3%
- Belarusian: 0.1%
- Armenian: 0.1%
- Romani: 0.1%
Education[edit]
The Donbas State Technical University, founded in 1957, is located in Alchevsk.
Sports[edit]
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Alchevsk is home to the football team FC Stal Alchevsk which currently participates in the Ukrainian First League, the second tier of national football competitions.
Twin towns and sister cities[edit]
Alchevsk is twinned with:
References[edit]
- ^ "Чисельність наявного населення України (Actual population of Ukraine)" (PDF) (in Ukrainian). State Statistics Service of Ukraine. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
- ^ "Steelmakers in occupied Donbas cease work due to trade blockade in Ukraine".
- ^ "Week's balance: Blockade causing losses, NBU's anti-crisis measures, and increased industrial output".
- ^ a b c d Pospelov, p. 27
- ^ № 2903. Огни коммунизма // Летопись периодических и продолжающихся изданий СССР 1986 – 1990. Часть 2. Газеты. М., «Книжная палата», 1994. стр.381
- ^ Ragozin, Leonid (16 April 2014). "Vladimir Putin is Accidentally Bringing Eastern and Western Ukraine Together". The New Republic.
- ^ "Donbass defenders put WWII tank back into service".
- ^ "Pro-Russian rebels release four of eight OSCE monitors held hostage in eastern Ukraine – Jun. 27, 2014". 27 June 2014.
- ^ "Ukrainian Separatist Leader Laid to Rest".
- ^ Численность населения по состоянию на 1 октября 2015 года по Луганской Народной Республ ике (PDF) (in Russian). Luhansk People's Republic. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 February 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
- ^ "Офіційна сторінка Всеукраїнського перепису населення". Ukrcensus.gov.ua. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
Sources[edit]
- Ye. M. Pospelov. "Имена городов: вчера и сегодня (1917–1992). Топонимический словарь." (City Names: Yesterday and Today (1917–1992). Toponymic Dictionary.) Москва, "Русские словари", 1993.
External links[edit]
- Official site of town authorities
- Unofficial town page
- Another unofficial town page
- Alchevsk winter disaster page
- Map of Alchevsk
| General | |
|---|---|
| National libraries | |
- Alchevsk
- Cities in Luhansk Oblast
- Populated places established in 1895
- Yekaterinoslav Governorate
- Populated places in the Luhansk People's Republic
- Cities of regional significance in Ukraine
- 1895 establishments in the Russian Empire
- Populated places established in the Russian Empire
- City name changes in Ukraine
- Former Soviet toponymy in Ukraine