Donetsk region (Ukrainian: Donetsk region) is an
administrative-territorial unit of Ukraine, located in the south-east of
the country, in the Donbass.
In the west it borders on the
Zaporozhye and Dnepropetrovsk regions, in the north - on the Kharkov
region, in the east - on the Luhansk region of Ukraine and the Rostov
region of Russia.
The area of the region is 26.5 thousand km²
(11th place in Ukraine), the population for 2021 was estimated at 4.1
million people (1st place). The administrative center and largest city
is Donetsk, other large cities are Mariupol, Makeevka, Gorlovka,
Kramatorsk, Slavyansk, Enakievo, Bakhmut.
The region was formed
in 1932 by separation from the Kharkov region of the Ukrainian SSR. In
1938, the northern part was separated from the region, which became the
Luhansk region. From 1932 to 1961 it was called the Stalin region
(Ukrainian Stalin region).
In April 2014, during the pro-Russian
protests, the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) was proclaimed on the
territory of the region, which did not receive international
recognition. As a result of the war in Donbass, the DNR gained de facto
control over about a third of the region's territory, including Donetsk.
As of February 23, 2022, the regional administration of Ukraine and
most of the state institutions of the region were in Kramatorsk, the
regional council was in Mariupol; regional institutions were also
located in Slavyansk, Mariupol, Konstantinovka, Bakhmut and Mirnograd.
In 2022, after the start of a full-scale Russian invasion of
Ukraine, Mariupol and some other settlements in the Donetsk region were
occupied by the Russian Armed Forces and the People's Militia of the
self-proclaimed DPR. On September 30, Russia announced the annexation of
the region.
1 - Donetsk
2 - Avdiivka
3 -
Bakhmut (until 2016 Artyomovsk)
4 - Carbon
5 - Gorlovka
6 - Debaltseve
7 - Toretsk (until 2016
Dzerzhinsk)
8 - Mirnograd (until 2016 Dimitrov)
9 - Dobropolye
10 - Dokuchaevsk
11 - Druzhkovka
12 - Enakievo
13 - Zhdanovka
14 - Kirovskoe (Krestovka)
15 - Konstantinovka
16 - Kramatorsk
17 - Liman (until 2016 Red Liman)
18 - Pokrovsk (until 2016
Krasnoarmeysk)
19 - Makeevka
20 - Mariupol
21 - Novogrodovka
22 - Selidovo
23 - Slavyansk/
Sloviansk
24 - Snowy
25 - Torez
(Chistyakovo)
26 - Khartsyzsk
27 - Shakhtyorsk
28 -
Yasinovataya
Automotive
On the territory of the Donetsk region pass:
motorway E 40;
motorway E 50;
motorway E 58.
Railway
In
the Donetsk region there are railways owned by the state administration
"Ukrzaliznytsia" and related to the Donetsk railway. Since mid-January
2015, the northern part of the Ukrainian-controlled Donetsk region has
been served by the Southern Railway, the southern part by
Pridneprovskaya, the territory controlled by the DPR by the Donetsk
Railway.
Water
The main water artery of the region is the
Seversky Donets River. The port of the Sea of Azov is the city of
Mariupol.
In the XI-XIII centuries, part of this territory was part of the
Polovtsian land. In the XVI-XVIII centuries, the northern part of the
territory of the region was part of the Sloboda region, the eastern part
of the territory of the region was part of the Don Army Region, and the
southern part was partly part of the Kalmius and Orel palanoks of the
Zaporizhzhya Lower Army, partly under the control of the nomadic tribes
of the Nogais, who were under the control of the Crimean Khanate .
The Russo-Turkish war of 1735–1739 led to the subordination of the
Crimean Khanate to Russia, and under the peace treaty of 1774, the Sea
of Azov became part of the Russian Empire. From that moment, the
centralized settlement of the steppe by the settled population began.
Among the new settlers were many Russians, Serbs and Greeks, to whom the
tsarist government allocated vast lands in these places.
During
the Civil War on the Don, the territories of the Donetsk region were
part of various administrative formations of the warring parties: the
Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic (1918), the Great Don Army
(1918-1920), the Free Territory (1919-1921), the Donetsk province
(1920-1925 ).
On March 15, 1920, the Donetsk province was formed
as part of the Ukrainian SSR (Ukrainian SSR), with its center in the
city of Lugansk. It was formed from parts of the Kharkov and
Yekaterinoslav provinces and the region of the Don Cossacks. The new
province included the Izyum and Starobelsk districts of the Kharkov
province, Bakhmut, Mariupol and Lugansk (formerly Slavyanoserb) counties
of the Yekaterinoslav province, as well as the Donetsk, partially
Taganrog and Cherkassy districts of the Don Cossacks region. By a decree
of the Council of People's Commissars of October 12, 1920, the center of
the Donetsk province was transferred from Lugansk to the city of
Bakhmut, which was renamed Artemovsk on August 21, 1923. On March 9,
1924, the city of Yuzovka was renamed Stalino.
On June 3, 1925,
by a decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee in the
Ukrainian SSR, provinces were abolished and division into 41 districts
was introduced, uniting groups of districts. On the site of the
abolished Donetsk province, Artyomovsky, Lugansk, Mariupol, Stalin and
Starobelsky districts were created. On September 2, 1930, the districts
in the Ukrainian SSR were abolished, all districts were transferred to
republican subordination (then the capital of the Ukrainian SSR was
Kharkov).
On February 7, 1932, the Ukrainian SSR was divided into
5 regions - Vinnitsa, Dnepropetrovsk, Kyiv, Odessa and Kharkov. On July
2, 1932, by a decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the
Donetsk region was separated from the Dnepropetrovsk and Kharkov regions
with the center in the city of Artemovsk. This resolution was approved
on July 17, 1932 by the Central Executive Committee of the USSR with the
change that the city of Stalino was appointed the center of the region,
and the region itself was named Stalin.
On June 3, 1938, the
Voroshilovgrad region was separated from the Stalin region (in 1958-1970
and since 1991 - the Luhansk region). In November 1961, Stalino was
renamed Donetsk, and Stalin Oblast was renamed Donetsk Oblast.
On
June 13, 2014, by order of the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko,
the regional authorities temporarily moved to Mariupol.
On
October 13, 2014, the governor of the region Alexander Kikhtenko
announced that the Donetsk Regional State Administration would be moved
to Kramatorsk, and the region's security forces would remain in
Mariupol.
On July 17, 2020, the people's deputies of Ukraine
approved the resolution "On the creation and liquidation of districts",
which provides for a new territorial structure of Ukraine. In
particular, the Verkhovna Rada supported draft resolution No. 3650 on
the liquidation of 490 existing districts and the creation of 136 new
districts instead. According to the new administrative-territorial
division of the Donetsk region, the following districts have been
created, including in the uncontrolled territory: Bakhmutsky district,
Volnovakhsky district, Gorlovsky district, Donetsky district, Kalmiussky
district, Kramatorsk district, Mariupolsky district, Pokrovsky district.
Physical location
The region is located in the steppe zone of the
south-east of Ukraine, washed by the Sea of Azov. Predominantly plains,
indented with gullies and ravines, predominate. In the southwest and
west, the region borders on the Dnepropetrovsk and Zaporozhye regions of
Ukraine, in the northwest - on the Kharkov region of Ukraine, in the
northeast - on the Lugansk region of Ukraine, in the southeast - on the
Rostov region of Russia, and from the south it is washed by the Azov by
sea.
The length of the region from north to south is 255 km, from
west to east - 180 km. In terms of territory, it is only 166 km2 smaller
than the neighboring Luhansk region and ranks 11th in terms of
territory.
The total length of the borders of the region is 1526
km, of which: land - 1376 km, sea - 140 km. The highest place in the
region is an unnamed height of 336 m, located near the railway stops
Platform No. 3 and Meteorological in Debaltsevo; the lowest place (−0.4
m) is the water level in the Sea of Azov.
Extreme points of the
region:
northern - height 195 m in the Limansky district;
southern
- the village of Belosarayskaya Kosa, Mangushsky district;
the
western one is near the village of Kamyshevakha, Velikonovoselkovsky
district;
the eastern one is near the village of Upper Kut in the
Mining District.
The geographical center of the region is located in
the village of Peski, Yasinovatsky district
As a result of the formation of the self-proclaimed unrecognized
Donetsk People's Republic in parts of the districts and cities of the
Donetsk region in 2014, about 45% of the total industrial potential was
under the control of the DPR, including the city of Donetsk (about 40
billion UAH of industrial production in 2014), Makeevka ( 11 billion),
Yenakiyevo (7.5 billion), Gorlovka (7.1 billion), Khartsyzsk (5.8
billion), Starobeshevsky district (4.2 billion), Kirovskoe (1.6 billion)
and others. At the beginning of February 2015, the city of Debaltseve
came under the control of the DPR with the volume of industrial
production (mainly due to the Uglegorskaya GRES) up to 2.4 billion. and
the DPR, the output of industrial products fell significantly in almost
the entire range of goods.
The main centers of industry in the
Ukrainian-controlled part of the Donetsk region in 2014 were:
Mariupol - UAH 53.9 billion, or 54.7% of the volume of the part of the
region controlled by Ukraine and 30% of the total volume, taking into
account the DPR,
Central Donbass center - 13.4 billion, or 13.6%
(including Avdeevka - 6.6 billion, Maryinsky district - 5.4, Dzerzhinsk
- 0.7, Yasinovatsky district - 0.2),
Kramatorsk center - 10.5
billion, or 10.6% (including Kramatorsk - 5.0 billion, Druzhkovka - 2.7,
Slavyansk - 2.6 and the district - 0.1),
West Donbass center - UAH
9.5 billion, or 9.6% (including Krasnoarmeysk - 4.2 billion and the
district - 1.3, Dobropolye - 2.1 and the district - 0.7, Mirnograd -
0.4, Novogrodovka - 0.4, Selidovo - 0.2),
Bakhmut (4.7 billion) and
district (0.3) - 5.0 billion, or 5.1%,
Konstantinovka (1.8 billion)
and the district (0.7) - 2.5 billion, or 2.5%,
Debaltseve - 2.4
billion, or 2.4%.
Ferrous metallurgy
Mariupol Ilyich Iron and
Steel Works - part of Metinvest-Holding
Metallurgical plant
"Azovstal" (Mariupol) - part of Metinvest-Holding
including, since
2005, the Mariupol Coke and Chemical Plant (Markokhim)
Enakievo
Metallurgical Plant - part of Metinvest-Holding
including the
Makeevka Branch, part of the Makeevka Metallurgical Plant named after S.
M. Kirov, which was destroyed in the early 2000s
Donetsk
Metallurgical Plant (including Donetskstal) is a metallurgical plant
within the Donetskstal holding
Khartsyzsk Pipe Plant - part of
Metinvest-Holding
Kramatorsk Metallurgical Plant named after
Kuibyshev has been bankrupt since the end of 2012
Donetsk Metal
Rolling Plant
Konstantinovsky iron foundry (former metallurgical
plant named after M.V. Frunze) - does not function
Makeevsky Pipe
Foundry named after Kuibyshev - does not function
Coke industry
Avdiivka Coke Plant - part of Metinvest-Holding
Yasinovskiy Coke
Plant - part of Donetskstal
Makeevka Coke Plant - part of Donetskstal
Enakievo Coke and Chemical Industry
Donetsk coking plant
(Donetskkoks)
Dzerzhinsky Coke Plant
Gorlovsky Coke Plant - not
functioning
Kramatorsk Coke Plant - not functioning
Energy
The largest power plants:
Uglegorskaya TPP (3.6 GW)
Starobeshevskaya TPP (1.9 GW)
Slavyanska TPP (0.8 GW)
Kurakhovskaya TPP (1.4 GW)
Zuevskaya TPP (1.2 GW)
Most of the enterprises of the Donetsk coal basin are located on the
territory of the region. The development of the Donbass reserves took
place from east to west, so the most promising deposits of coal are now
located in the west (Pokrovsk, Dobropolye, Ugledar). Anthracite is mined
in the eastern regions of the region (Torez, Snezhnoye, Shakhtyorsk).
In 1984, 122 large highly mechanized mines operated in the region
(out of 248 hard coal mines in the Ukrainian SSR), united in 12 (out of
24) production associations (now - GCC, state holding companies and
state enterprises, state enterprises). In addition, in the
post-perestroika period, some mines left the PO, and later were leased,
privatized, or remained in the hands of the state. Coal MCC and GP:
Artyomugol (city of Gorlovka)
Dobropolyeugol (city of Dobropolye)
- part of DTEK
Donetskugol (city of Donetsk)
Donugol (city of
Donetsk)
Krasnoarmeyskugol (city of Mirnograd)
Makeevugol (city of
Makeevka)
Oktyabrugol (city of Kirovskoe)
Ordzhonikidzeugol (city
of Enakievo)
Selidovugol (city of Selidovo)
Snezhnoe anthracite
(city of Snezhnoe)
Thorezanthracite (Torez city)
Toretskugol (city
of Toretsk)
Shakhtyorskanthracite (city of Shakhtyorsk)
Independent mines and mine administrations:
Mine No. 17-17bis
Mine
No. 4-21 (former Petrovskaya mine, Donetsk city)
Butovka-Donetskaya
mine (Donetsk city)
Mine "Capital" (Donetsk city)
Mine
"Komsomolets Donbassa" (Kirovskoye city) - part of DTEK
Mine
"Krasnoarmeyskaya-Zapadnaya" (urban settlement Udachnoye, Pokrovsky
district)
Mine "Krasnolimanskaya" (city of Rodinskoe, city of
Pokrovsk)
Mine them. Saint Matrona of Moscow (Toretsk city)
Oktyabrskaya mine (Donetsk city)
Rassypnyanskaya Mine (Rossypnoe
village, Torez town)
Mine "Yuzhnodonbasskaya No. 1" (city of Ugledar)
Mine "Yuzhnodonbasskaya No. 3" (city of Ugledar)
Mine named after
Gaevoy (city of Gorlovka)
Mine named after Zasiadko (Donetsk city)
Mine named after Pochenkov (Makiivka city)
Mine Administration
"Kirovskoye" (city of Kirovskoye)
Mine named after Skochinsky
(Donetsk city)
The largest coal enrichment enterprises (GOFs,
TsOFs - state or central enrichment plants, UPP - coal processing
enterprises) are located in the following cities of the region:
Makeevka, Donetsk, Torez, Toretsk, Gorlovka, Mirnograd, Dobropolye,
Selydovo and others. Most of the CEPs are part of coal mining
enterprises, but some of them operate separately (Donbass coal
enrichment). The total number of enrichment plants in the region (as of
1986) is 31, the largest of them are:
Komsomolskaya CEP
Kalmiusskaya CEP
Chumakovskaya CEP (Donetsk city)
Dobropilska CEP
DTEK (city of Dobropillia)
Gorlovskaya CEP (Gorlovka city)
Dzerzhinskaya CEP (Toretsk city)
Donetsk CEP
Kalinin CEP (Gorlovka
city)
Kiselyovskaya CEP (Torez city)
Kolosnikovskaya CEP (Makiivka
city)
GOF "Red Star" (Torez city)
Krasnolimanskaya CEP (Rodinskoe
city, Pokrovsk city)
Kurakhovskaya CEP DTEK (town Kurakhovka, city of
Selidovo)
Mospinskoe UPP DTEK (city of Mospino, city of Donetsk)
Oktyabrskaya TsOF DTEK (Belitskoe town, Dobropillia town)
Postnikovskaya CEP (Shakhtyorsk city)
Proletarian TsOF (Makeevka
city)
CEP "Russia" (city of Novogrodovka)
Selidovskaya CEP
(Selidovo city)
Serditenskaya CEP
Snezhnyanskaya CEP (Zalesnoye
town, Snezhnoye city)
Torez CEP (city of Kirovskoe)
Uglegorsk CEP
(the city of Uglegorsk as part of the city of Yenakiyevo)
Uzlovskaya
CEP (Gorlovka city)
CEP "Ukraine" (city of Ukrainsk, city of
Selidovo)
Shakhtyorskaya CEP (Shakhtyorsk city)
Svyato-Varvarinskaya OF (urban settlement Udachnoye, Pokrovsky district)
In 2014, exports amounted to 8.4 billion dollars (15.6% of the total
Ukrainian), imports - 2.1 billion (3.9%).
The largest shares of
exports by country, %:
Italy - 15.4, Russia - 13.3, Turkey -
10.4, Egypt - 8.2, Saudi Arabia - 4.1.
The largest shares of
imports by country, %:
Russia - 31.1, USA - 12.2, Lithuania -
7.1, China - 6.4, Germany - 6.2.