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Alchevsk (; ) is a city and the nominal administrative center of Alchevsk Raion in
Luhansk Oblast Luhansk Oblast (; ), also referred to as Luhanshchyna (), is the easternmost Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Luhansk. The oblast was established in 1938 and bore the n ...
, in the
Donbas The Donbas (, ; ) or Donbass ( ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. The majority of the Donbas is occupied by Russia as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War. The word ''Donbas'' is a portmanteau formed fr ...
region of eastern
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
. It is located from the administrative center of the oblast,
Luhansk Luhansk (, ; , ), also known as Lugansk (, ; , ), is a city in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. As of 2022, the population was estimated to be making Luhansk the Cities in Ukraine, 12th-largest city in Ukraine. Luhansk served as the administra ...
. Population: Alchevsk is one of the largest industrial centers in the Donbas, and comprises a quarter of the entire oblast's production. Its economy depends on the companies of OJSC "Alchevsk Iron & Steel Works" (a trade blockade by Ukrainian activists during the
war in Donbas The war in Donbas, or the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. The war Timeline of the war in Donbas (2014), began in April 2014, when Russian separatist forces in Ukraine, Russian para ...
has all but halted production of this plant in February 2017) and "Alchevsk Coke-Chemical Plant". The city was known as Voroshylovsk () from 1931 to 1961, and then Kommunarsk () until 1991. Alchevsk came under control of pro-Russian separatists in early 2014, and was incorporated into the self-proclaimed
Luhansk People's Republic The Luhansk People's Republic (LPR; , ) is a disputed territory administered as a republic of Russia in the occupied parts of eastern Ukraine's Luhansk Oblast, with its capital in Luhansk. The LPR was proclaimed by Russian-backed paramilitar ...
(LPR / LNR). After declaring its annexation of the region in 2022,
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
has claimed the city.


History

Alchevsk was founded in 1895 with the establishment of an iron works and named after the Russian industrialist Oleksiy Alchevsky who founded the Donetsk–Yuryev Metallurgical Society.Pospelov, p. 27 A local newspaper is published in the city since 1930. In 1931, Alchevsk was renamed Voroshylovsk, after
Kliment Voroshilov Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov ( ; ), popularly known as Klim Voroshilov (; 4 February 1881 – 2 December 1969), was a prominent Soviet Military of the Soviet Union, military officer and politician during the Stalinism, Stalin era (1924–195 ...
, a Soviet military and party figure. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, in 1942–1943, the German occupiers operated a
Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
prison in the city. As Voroshilov's personality cult was diminishing, the town was renamed Kommunarsk in 1961. After the
dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...
, the original name was restored in 1991.


Winter disaster of 2006

On 22 January 2006, the city's
district heating District heating (also known as heat networks) is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location through a system of insulated pipes for residential and commercial heating requirements such as space heater, space heating and w ...
system collapsed, in what Luhansk Governor Gennady Moskal described as "the worst
man-made disaster A disaster is an event that causes serious harm to people, buildings, economies, or the environment, and the affected community cannot handle it alone. ''Natural disasters'' like avalanches, floods, earthquakes, and wildfires are caused by natur ...
in the history of independent Ukraine" (). It has subsequently become a metonym in Ukrainian political discourse for cities without utility services, particularly during Russian infrastructural attacks in the 2020s invasion. The system had already collapsed once before: in 1972, when the sole
boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centra ...
failed. Contemporary
Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
authorities had authorized a second, back-up boiler, but did not further decentralize the system to preserve
economies of scale In microeconomics, economies of scale are the cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to their scale of operation, and are typically measured by the amount of Productivity, output produced per unit of cost (production cost). A decrease in ...
. In 2006, an underground pipe cracked in unusually cold weather (nearly ), isolating the main
boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centra ...
from the system. The heat authority delayed draining the
working fluid For fluid power, a working fluid is a gas or liquid that primarily transfers force, motion, or mechanical energy. In hydraulics, water or hydraulic fluid transfers force between hydraulic components such as hydraulic pumps, hydraulic cylinders, a ...
, and water throughout the system froze and burst additional pipes, some inside the walls of residential apartments. Consequently, many apartments could not be heated even after the boilers were restored to working order. Inhabitants turned to electric
space heater A space heater is a device used to heat a single, small- to medium-sized area. This type of heater can be contrasted with central heating, which distributes heat to multiple areas. Types Dominant mode of heat transfer All space heaters t ...
s to fill the gap, but these overloaded the grid, leading to
rolling blackout A rolling blackout, also referred to as rota or rotational load shedding, rota disconnection, feeder rotation, or a rotating outage, is an intentionally engineered electrical power shutdown in which electricity delivery is stopped for non-over ...
s. Some attempted to reuse gas ovens as space heaters, accentuating the effects of a Russian gas boycott. Without liquid
tap water Tap water (also known as running water, piped water or municipal water) is water supplied through a Tap (valve), tap, a water dispenser valve. In many countries, tap water usually has the quality of drinking water. Tap water is commonly used f ...
, the sewer system also froze and burst a few days later. The crisis was particularly urgent for the Ukrainian government, because parliament would hold elections in March. The authorities temporarily evacuated schoolchildren from the area to
Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...
and Western Ukraine, but struggled to organize an extensive repair effort. Workers imported to repair the apartments found themselves in substandard housing with inconsistent meals. Nevertheless, immediate repair actions were complete by mid-February. Later that year, President Yushchenko announced a plan to further harden the system against stress with a set of nine distributed boilers.


War in Donbas (2014–present)

Starting mid-April 2014, pro-Russian separatists captured and occupied several towns in the Luhansk Oblast, including Alchevsk. In the following
war in Donbas The war in Donbas, or the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. The war Timeline of the war in Donbas (2014), began in April 2014, when Russian separatist forces in Ukraine, Russian para ...
, the city became a part of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic. In June 2020, as part of the reform of administrative divisions in Ukraine, Alchevsk was made the administrative center of Alchevsk Raion. This new status is not recognized by the pro-Russian occupation authorities. After the 2022 Russian annexations of Southern and Eastern Ukraine, the city is now claimed by Russia itself.


Economy

The main branches of Alchevsk industry –
metallurgical Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the ...
and chemical. Electromechanical, light and food industry is also developed. Currently the city has 17 industrial enterprises.


Demographics

As of the Ukrainian Census of 2001:


Education

The Donbas State Technical University, founded in 1957, is located in Alchevsk.


Sports

Alchevsk is home to the football team FC Stal Alchevsk which currently participates in the
Ukrainian First League The Persha Liha ( ) or Ukrainian First League is a Ukrainian football league system, level of national football competitions (second tier) in Ukraine governed by the Professional Football League of Ukraine, Professional Football League at the disc ...
, the second tier of national football competitions.


Twin towns and sister cities

Alchevsk is twinned with: *
Dąbrowa Górnicza Dąbrowa Górnicza () is a city in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie, southern Poland, near Katowice and Sosnowiec. It is located in eastern part of the Silesian Voivodeship, on the Czarna Przemsza and Biała Przemsza rivers (tributaries of the Vistula Rive ...
,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
*
Dunaújváros Dunaújváros (; also known by #Etymology and names, alternative names) is an industrial city in Fejér County, Central Hungary. It is a city with county rights. Situated 70 kilometres (43 miles) south of Budapest on the Danube, the city is best ...
,
Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...


Notable people

* Oleksandr Babych (born 1979), Ukrainian football player and manager * Yevhen Koshovyi (born 1983), Ukrainian TV presenter * Krystyna Sankova (born 1996), Ukrainian artistic gymnast * Andriy Tsvik (born 1971), Ukrainian football player * Anatoliy Volobuyev (born 1953), Ukrainian football player and coach


References


Sources

*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


Official site of town authoritiesUnofficial town pageAnother unofficial town pageAlchevsk winter disaster pageMap of Alchevsk
{{Authority control Alchevsk Raion Cities in Luhansk Oblast Populated places established in 1895 Yekaterinoslav Governorate Cities of regional significance in Ukraine 1895 establishments in the Russian Empire Populated places established in the Russian Empire Former Soviet toponymy in Ukraine Alchevsk urban hromada