Luhansk or Lugansk is located in the Donbass, was the administrative
center of the Lugansk region, the easternmost region of Ukraine.
Since 2014, Lugansk has not been controlled by the government of
Ukraine and has been the capital of the Lugansk People's Republic.
People have settled in the region since the Paleolithic. In a
later historical period, this place was part of Scythia, the
Polovtsian Steppe, the border between the southern lands of the
Muscovite state and the nomads of the Wild Field.
The
indigenous population appeared here in the 17th century, with the
development of Sloboda Ukraine. Slavic Serbia also had a certain
influence on the culture and mentality of the locals - the
settlements of the early 18th century (including on the territory of
present-day Lugansk) refugees from the Balkan countries that
belonged to Ottoman Turkey.
Since the 1750s, on the territory
of modern Lugansk, there was the village of Kamenny Brod with a
church that has survived to this day, and several small villages.
The foundation of Lugansk and some other large cities in the
region is associated with the decree of Catherine II of November 14,
1795, which, in particular, spoke about the construction of the
first iron foundry in the south of the Russian Empire. In the
vicinity of Lugansk (100 km to the north, in Lisichansk), the first
coal mine in the Donbass was also founded. Over the next two
centuries and still today, metal and coal have a huge impact on the
economic life of the city and region.
Luhansk is located in the east of Ukraine in the
middle of Podintsivia, at the confluence of the Luhan and Vilkhov
rivers. The area of Luhansk is more than 25,000 hectares, the population
is more than 450,000 people. The city with its suburbs and nearby
settlements forms an agglomeration with a population of about half a
million people.
Luhansk is located a little south of the
Siverskyi Donets River, the northern outskirts of the city lie on its
right bank. Luhansk has borders with the regions of the region:
with
Slavic-Serbian — in the north and northwest.
with Lutuginsky — in the
west and south.
with Krasnodonsk — in the southeast.
with
Stanychno-Luhansky in the east.
The distance to the capital of
Ukraine, the city of Kyiv, by road is about 800 km, to the nearest
regional centers: 150 km to Donetsk, 330 km to Kharkiv. The distance
from Luhansk to the state border with the Russian Federation is about 30
km.
Local toponyms
The 3rd kilometer is the area along Lenin
Street, approximately from its intersection with Sosyury Street to the
ring of tram route No. 2. Private sector.
Aviation center is an area
at the intersection of the 50th anniversary of the formation of the USSR
and Budyonoy streets.
Bezumnyi is the area around the former
Burevisnyk cinema, to the south of the Hayovoi quarter. Private sector.
Vergunka (Velika Vergunka, Mala Vergunka) is a historical area in the
east of Luhansk, north of the Eastern quarters. Construction is a
private sector.
Gostra Mohyla is an area in the southeast of the
city. Mostly private sector.
Husynivka is a historical area from the
Memory Square to the locomotive factory (PJSC "Luhanskteplovoz"). Mostly
private sector.
Durakovka is an area in the center of Luhansk, the
Heroes of the Great Patriotic War square around the monument to Taras
Shevchenko.
Kambrod is the colloquial name of the Kamianobrod
district of the city; the area north of the Luhan River. Mostly private
sector.
Town of OR (abbreviated from Town of the October Revolution
Plant) is an area south of PJSC "Luhansteplovoz", along Lykhovida
Street.
The southern quarters are the name of the "sleeping district"
in the southwest of the Artemiv district, which includes the Southern,
Myrny, Olkhovsky, Stepovy, and Zarechyny districts. Mostly high-rise
buildings.
The village of Kosiora, or Durnyi khutir, is an area
between the Pivdenny quarter and the Heroes' quarter of Stalingrad.
mainly the private sector.
The Old Town is the historic center of the
city, the area between Taras Shevchenko Street and the 1st Travnia Park.
It also covers Karl Marx, Volodymyr Dahl, Pushkinska, Postova, Sverdlov
Streets, the 9th Line, part of Lenina, Titov, Demyokhin Streets,
Parkhomenka Avenue, Revolution Square and Bortsiv Revolution Square.
One-, five-story buildings.
Eastern quarters is the name of the
"sleeping area" in the eastern part of the Zhovtnev district of the
city. Multi-storey building.
The taxi park is an area along Oboronna
Street approximately from 1st Slavyanska Street to Dniprovska Street.
Sometimes it is also used in relation to the Shevchenko quarter. Three-
and five-story residential buildings.
The center is the business and
commercial center of Luhansk, an area tentatively surrounded on the
perimeter by Sovietanskaya, Oboronnaya, 16th line, Taras Shevchenko and
Lenina streets. Mostly high-rise buildings.
Artemivskyi district (3rd kilometer, Bezumnyi,
Southern quarters, Telmana)
The district in the south-west of
Luhansk. The area of the district is 5.5 thousand hectares, the
population of the district is about 150 thousand people. Artemivsky
District borders Leninsky District in the east, and Kamianobrodsky
District in the north. The Luhan and Vilkhova rivers flow through the
area. Significant industrial potential is concentrated in the district:
machine-building, coal, woodworking, food industry, and ferrous
metallurgy enterprises.
Zhovtnevy district (Velika and Mala
Vergunka, Vergunsky interchange, Veselenke, Husynivka, Town of OR,
Eastern quarters, Chervyn Yar, Shchastya)
The district is located in
the northeast of the city. Luhansk district is the largest in terms of
population and area: the area is 14.4 thousand hectares, the population
is about 200 thousand people. In the west, it borders Leninskyi and
Kamianobrodskyi districts. In the administrative subordination of the
district is the city of Shchastya. The district is crossed by the Luhan
River, and the northern border of the district is the Siverskyi Donets
River. PJSC "Luhanskteplovoz" is located in the western part of the
district.
Kamianobridsky district
The district is in the north
of Luhansk, bordering the other three districts of the city. It arose on
the site of the village of Kamiany Brid. The area of the district is
2.99 thousand hectares, the population is about 40 thousand people,
which makes it the smallest district of the city. In the southern part
of the district is the confluence of the Luhany and Vilkhova rivers.
There is no large enterprise on the territory of the district. Local
residents, speaking about the district, use the abbreviation Cambrod.
Leninsky District (Vidny, Hostra Mogila, Stare Mesto, Center)
Central district of the city. Representations of regional and city
authorities, the main objects of the social sphere of the city are
concentrated on the territory of the district. In the district there are
4 museums, 3 largest libraries of Luhansk, 3 theaters, regional circus,
philharmonic hall, central stadium "Avangard". Large industrial
enterprises are located on the territory of the district (mainly in the
western part), and there are regional offices of most banks.
It was founded as a plant in 1795-1796 after the publication of the decree of Catherine II "On the establishment of a foundry business in the Donetsk district near the Lugan River." The village that arose at the plant received the name Lugansk from the hydronym Lugan, which comes from the word "meadow". The village received city status in 1882. In 1935, the city was renamed Voroshilovgrad in honor of the Soviet party and military leader K. E. Voroshilov. After the adoption in 1957 of the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, which forbade assigning to settlements the names of statesmen during their lifetime, the name Lugansk was returned to the city in 1958, but in 1970, after the death of K. E. Voroshilov, the city was again renamed Voroshilovgrad. In 1990, the city was again renamed Lugansk.
18th century
1740-1750 - winter quarters and farmsteads of
several Zaporozhye Cossack families on the territory of the modern
city. In 1753-1755, by government permission, families of Serbs,
Croats, Moldavians and Bulgarians join them. In particular, in 1753,
the Slavic-Serbian regiments of Shevic and Preradovich (the founder
of the Depreradovich clan) arrived. Ukrainians also moved here, at
first mainly from the Left-Bank Ukraine, Russians and
representatives of other peoples. The settlement of Kamenny Brod was
founded.
Main article: Luhansk pike regiment
1790 - Scottish
engineer Carl Gascoigne, invited to the Russian service, was
entrusted with exploring deposits of ores and coal in the region of
Slavic Serbia. Gascoigne fulfilled the order and assured the
government that "the found mines of iron ore and coal, according to
the survey, promise the richest amount of these minerals in the best
quality."
November 14, 1795 - Catherine II issues a decree on the
founding of the first iron foundry in the south of the empire, with
the construction of which in the valley of the Lugan River the
emergence of the city is connected. The villages of Kamenny Brod
(founded in 1755) and Vergunka were the first settlements to receive
builders and workers from the Luhansk foundry.
1797 - the
settlement that arose around the plant was named Lugansk Plant.
Workers and specialists were recruited from internal Russian
provinces, partly from abroad. The main backbone was made up of
artisans who came from the Lipetsk plant, as well as highly skilled
workers from the Aleksandrovsky cannon plant in Petrozavodsk
(Olonets province), carpenters and masons from the Yaroslavl
province. All the main administrative and technical staff consisted
of the British, invited by Gascoigne.
19th century
During the war with Napoleon, the Lugansk plant
became one of the main suppliers of guns and ammunition for the Russian
army. In 1823, the first educational institution, a professional mining
school, was opened in the village. By the end of the 1860s, the
population of the village reached 10 thousand people. In the mid-1870s,
the Lugansk-Debaltseve railway was opened. On September 3, 1882, the
emperor approved the regulation of the Committee of Ministers of the
Russian Empire on the foundation of the Luhansk plant on the basis of
the village with the addition of the village of Kamenny Brod to the city
of Lugansk.
1896 - German industrialist Gustav Hartmann begins
construction of a large locomotive plant. The equipment was brought from
Germany.
According to the 1897 census, the population is 20,404
people, distributed according to their native language as follows: Great
Russian - 13,907, Little Russian - 3902, Jewish - 1449, Belarusian -
716.
20th century
1900 - the first freight locomotive built
here entered the railway lines from Luhansk.
The beginning of the
20th century - Luhansk (as part of the Slavyanoserbsky district of the
Yekaterinoslav province) was a large industrial center of the Russian
Empire. There were 16 factories and plants, about 40 handicraft
enterprises. A telephone exchange was opened in the city, a new building
of the post and telegraph office was built. There were 5 cinemas:
"Artistic", "Express", "Hermitage", "Illusion" and Sharapova. In Luhansk
there were 6 Orthodox churches, a synagogue, a Roman Catholic church, a
Lutheran church. The first church was built back in 1761 in Kamenny Brod
- the wooden Peter and Paul Church. In the period 1792-1796. a stone
church was built on the same place, the only one that has survived to
this day.
German cavalry parade in Luhansk in the spring of 1918.
1917-1919 - the events of the revolution and the Civil War. Power is
alternately in the hands of the Bolsheviks, the Central Council, the
Austro-German troops, the Don Cossacks, the Armed Forces of the South of
Russia.
April 1918 - the capital of the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Republic.
February 1919 - December 1920 - the capital of the Donetsk province.
May 27, 1919 - December 24, 1919 - the city is under the control of the
All-Union Socialist Revolutionary Federation.
December 1919 - Soviet
power was finally established in the city.
From 1923 until February
1940, the 240th Rifle Regiment, the 80th Artillery Regiment, the 80th
Cavalry Squadron of the 80th Rifle Division of the Ukrainian Military
District were stationed in the city. In July 1928, by order of the
Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR, the regiment was given a new
name - the 240th Infantry Red-Lugansk Regiment. The patronage of the
regiment was carried out by the local city council of people's deputies.
In 1934, the Komsomol organization of the 240th Lugansk joint venture
was awarded the challenge Red Banner of the Central Committee of the
Komsomol for exemplification in discipline and study.
1926 - The
population of the city is 77,000 people.
October 31, 1931 - the first
in the USSR heavy freight steam locomotive of the Felix Dzerzhinsky
series is produced in Lugansk.
May 1, 1934 - the first tram was
launched.
November 5, 1935 - the city was renamed Voroshilovgrad.
June 3, 1938 - the city becomes a regional center.
July 17, 1942 -
February 14, 1943 - the occupation of the city by the troops of the Nazi
invaders during the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945).
February 14,
1943 - the city was liberated from the troops of the Nazi invaders by
the troops of the Southwestern Front of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red
Army of the USSR Armed Forces during the Voroshilovgrad offensive
operation:
3rd Guards Army consisting of: 18th Rifle Corps (Major
General Mikhail Zaporozhchenko) consisting of: 59th Guards Rifle
Division (Colonel Georgy Karamyshev), 279th Rifle Division (Colonel
Gerasim Mukhin), part of the troops 243- 1st Infantry Division (Colonel
Alexander Kutsenko).
17th Air Army consisting of: 1st mixed air corps
(major general of aviation Vladimir Shevchenko) consisting of: 288th
fighter aviation division (lieutenant colonel Sergei Konovalov), 267th
assault air division (lieutenant colonel Leonid Kolomeytsev); units of
the troops of the 262nd night bomber air division (Colonel Gennady
Belitsky)
On February 20, 1943, the German invaders, not wanting
to retreat, subjected the city to fierce 10-day bombardments. In just 1
day, 345 people died. As a result, on April 1, 1943, only 73,000 people
remained in Voroshilovgrad.
1956 - more than 250 thousand people
lived in the city.
March 5, 1958 - the historical name of Luhansk was
returned to the city. Reasons: in September 1957, on the initiative and
signed by K. E. Voroshilov (at that time the Chairman of the Presidium
of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR), a Decree was issued on the
prohibition of assigning to anything the names of living people, no
matter what exploits they may have become famous for, and the
participation of K. E. Voroshilov in the anti-party group.
1970 -
after the death of K. E. Voroshilov (1969), the city was again renamed
Voroshilovgrad by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of
the Ukrainian SSR on January 5, 1970 "On the renaming of the city of
Lugansk and the Lugansk region."
1972 - the Zarya football club
became the USSR football champion for the only time. It was the first
champion of the USSR from a city that was not the capital of the
republic.
1970-1980 - the liquidation of the "criminal nest" in the
city center in the Gypsy ravine, the beginning of its development.
May 4, 1990 - By Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the
Ukrainian SSR No. 9169-XI, Lugansk returned to its original name.
1991 - the population of the city is 524 thousand people.
1994-1998 -
Aleksey Danilov was the mayor of Luhansk. Later, in 2005, he became the
governor of the Luhansk region.
1996 - the population of the city is
517 thousand people.
XXI Century
At the beginning of the 21st
century, 87 industrial enterprises operated in the city (the leading
industry was mechanical engineering). The mayor of the city from 1998 to
2002 was Anatoly Yagoferov, a member of the Reforms and Order party. In
2001, an all-Ukrainian population census was held in the country,
according to which the population of Luhansk was 463,000 people. In the
local elections of 2002, which were held together with the national
parliamentary elections, Yevgeny Burlachenko was elected mayor.
Since 2006, Sergey Kravchenko has become the mayor. In 2009, the
population of the city is 474 thousand people. In the agglomeration, the
center of which is Luhansk - 688 thousand people.
In 2012, the
last tram was put into operation. In 2013, Yakubovsky's pipe plant was
shut down.
Actions in support of Euromaidan were few, although
the first pickets of supporters of European integration were exhibited
on November 22. On December 13, 2013, a special train of activists was
sent from Lugansk to Kyiv to support the authorities.
March 2,
2014 and. O. President of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov removed the
Luhansk governor Volodymyr Pristyuk and appointed Mikhail Bolotsky in
his place. On March 5, a "people's governor" Alexander Kharitonov was
elected at a pro-Russian rally. On March 9, opponents of the new
Ukrainian authorities seized the building of the regional
administration, raised the Russian flag and expelled Mikhail Bolotsky,
having forced him to write a letter of resignation. On March 21,
supporters of the Ukrainian authorities from the People's Self-Defense
smashed a picket tent of pro-Russian activists from the Luhansk Guard.
On March 27, the broadcasting of Russian channels was banned, which
caused protests from the city's residents. On March 30, a rally was held
in Luhansk under the slogan: “Yes” to a referendum, “no” to presidential
elections!”
On April 6, thousands of people rallied under the
flags of Russia and with St. George ribbons in the city, after which the
protesters seized the SBU building. On April 29, activists of the
Lugansk People's Republic again seized the building of the regional
administration, as well as the building of the prosecutor's office, the
regional television and radio company LOT and the Department of the
Ministry of Internal Affairs.
On April 27, 2014, at a rally near
the SBU building seized by pro-Russian activists, the Luhansk People's
Republic was proclaimed.
On May 11, the authorities of the
self-proclaimed LPR held a referendum on self-determination (which was
not recognized at the international level), as a result of which the
independence of the republic was proclaimed the next day, May 12, at a
rally in the city center.
On June 2, 2014, during a military
special operation, the Ukrainian Air Force launched an airstrike in the
center of Luhansk, as a result of which civilians were killed. In the
square in front of the shelled state administration, two unexploded
unguided aircraft rockets were found, the total number of ammunition
fired during the volley was about 20. 8 people died, more than 20 were
seriously injured.
On July 15, 2014, the Lugansk tram stopped
serving passengers.
Since 2015, the Luhansk Diesel Locomotive
Plant has stopped producing locomotives.
In 2022, on Victory Day,
the city was renamed Voroshilovgrad for a day.