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Sievierodonetsk Сєвєродонецьк (Ukrainian) Severodonetsk
City
From top to bottom and left to right: City's Center Market; Sievierodonetsk Collegium; City council building; Azot Chemical Plant; Palace of Culture of Chemists; Prospect of Sievierodonetsk from above
FlagCoat of arms
SievierodonetskLocation of SievierodonetskShow map of Luhansk OblastSievierodonetskSievierodonetsk (Ukraine)Show map of Ukraine
Coordinates: 48°56′53″N 38°29′36″E / 48.94806°N 38.49333°E / 48.94806; 38.49333
Country	Ukraine
Oblast	Luhansk Oblast
Raion	Sievierodonetsk Raion
Hromada	Sievierodonetsk urban hromada
Founded	29 April 1934
City status	1958
Government
• Head of Military-Civil Administration	Oleksandr Stryuk
Area
• Total	42.1 km (16.3 sq mi)
Elevation	51 m (167 ft)
Population
• Total	99,067
• Density	2,400/km (6,100/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code	93400
Area code	+380 6452 (645)
Vehicle registration	BB, HB
Climate	Dfb
Website	sed-rada.gov.ua

Sievierodonetsk (UK: /ˌsɛvərədɒnˈjɛtsk/ SEV-ər-ə-don-YETSK), also spelled Severodonetsk, officially since 2024 Siverskodonetsk, is a city in Luhansk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. It is located to the northeast of the left bank of the Donets river and approximately 110 km (68 mi) to the northwest from the administrative center of the oblast, Luhansk. Sievierodonetsk faces neighbouring Lysychansk across the river. The city, whose name comes from the above-mentioned river, had a population of 99,067 (2022 estimate), making it then the second-most populous city in the oblast. Since June 2022, it has been militarily occupied and administered by Russia.

Prior to the war, Sievierodonetsk had several factories as well as the Azot chemical plant. There was also an airport six kilometres (3.7 mi) to the south of the city.

Sievierodonetsk served as the administrative centre of Luhansk Oblast from 2014 to 2022, due to the city of Luhansk falling under the control of pro-Russian separatists at the start of the war in Donbas. During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sievierodonetsk came under heavy attack from Russian forces and was the forefront of the battle of Donbas, resulting in extensive destruction to the city, including residential areas. By 25 June 2022, the city was fully captured by Russian and separatist forces, with Ukrainian authorities claiming that the civilian population was approximately 10,000, or ten percent of its pre-war population.

Toponymy

According to one of the versions, the city got its name from the Donets. Based on the Russian name of the river (Сѣверный Донецъ, M: Северский Донець), the name of the city in Russian is Severodonetsk. According to another version, the name comes from the location of the city, which is situated to the north of the Donets bank.

The Ukrainian name of the city has a rather complicated history. The decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic dated 27 January 1950, "On the renaming of the urban-type settlement Lyskhimstroi of the Lysychansk Raion of the Voroshilovgrad Oblast" was issued in Russian, and the name of the city was indicated as Severodonetsk, which was later translated into Ukrainian as Sievierodonetsk. However, this spelling is erroneous in the Ukrainian language, and the spelling of the city's name in many sources (dictionaries, maps, and official documents) has been corrected, but it has not been fixed at the official level. At the same time, the name Sieverodonetsk was used in the notification about the assignment of the settlement to the category of cities of district significance.

According to the spelling of 1993 (in Section 108), the name of the city is Siverskodonetsk, which corresponds to the etymology (from the Siverskyi Donets). This name was included in the encyclopedias and reference books of Soviet times. A number of Ukrainian linguists also stand on the same principles. Some modern Ukrainian publications also use the name Siverodonetsk, relying on the same logic as the word "Ukrainian-speaking". Concurrently, the official name was Sieverodonetsk, which would be fair if it applied to a city in Russia, instead, the rule regarding the transliteration of the Russian language into Ukrainian, was illegally applied to a city in Ukraine itself. In the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, the main name of the city is Siverskodonetske, while other spellings are Sieverodonetske and Pivnichnodonetske.

In the normative-legal document "Classification of objects of the administrative-territorial system of Ukraine", the city was classified as Siverodonetsk, and the aforesaid name was used in other official documents in recent years. Until mid-1990, the spelling Sieverodonetsk prevailed on the signs of institutions in the city itself, but Severodonetsk and Sievierodonetsk were also used.

On 3 April 2024, the Committee on the Organization of State Power, Local Self-government, Regional Development, and Urban Planning [uk] in the Verkhovna Rada stated their support for renaming the city to Siverskodonetsk (Сіверськодонецьк). The name was finally approved by the Verkhovna Rada on 19 September 2024.

History

Foundation and the Soviet era

The foundation of modern Sievierodonetsk is closely connected with the beginning of construction of the Lysychansk Nitrogen Fertilizer Plant within the limits of Lysychansk, Donetsian Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union in 1934. Donets itself was already combined with Lysychansk. The first settlement of workers on the construction site was called Lyskhimstroi (Ukrainian: Лисхімстрої, Russian: Лисхимстрой), near Donets. In September 1935, the first school was opened in the settlement, a silicate brick plant started production, and the first three residential two-story houses were built. In 1940, there were 47 houses, a school, a club, a kindergarten, a nursery, and 10 buildings of a chemical combine in Lyskhimstroi.

During the Second World War, Lyskhimstroi and surrounding areas were occupied by German forces on 11 July 1942. On 1 February 1943 it was retaken by the 41st Guards Rifle Division and 110th Tank Brigade of the Red Army. Work to restore and expand the Lysychansk Nitrogen Fertilizer Plant began on 10 December 1943 and by 1946, the pre-war housing stock was completely restored, which amounted to 17,000 square meters. An airfield south of the Lyskhimstroi began operations in May 1948; it underwent major renovations during the early 1960s.

Four new names were proposed for the settlement in 1950: Svetlograd, Komsomolsk-on-Donets, Mendeleevsk and Severodonetsk. It was ultimately renamed the latter, after the Seversky Donets. Severodonetsk would receive the status of an urban settlement the same year. On 1 January 1951, the Lysychansk Nitrogen Fertilizer Plant would produce its first output of ammonium nitrate.

A local newspaper named The Communist Way (Ukrainian: Комуністичний шлях, Russian: Коммунистический путь), later renamed Severodonetsk News (Ukrainian: Сєвєродонецькі вісті, Russian: Северодонецкие вести), was published in the city from 2 April 1965 to early 2019.

Independent Ukraine

War in Donbas

In the war in Donbas, the city was captured in late May 2014 by combined pro-Russian forces, who totaled up to 1,000. The 2014 Ukrainian presidential election was not held in the city as the separatist authorities did not allow voting places to open and much of the Ukrainian Central Election Commission's property was either stolen or destroyed. On 22 July 2014, Ukrainian forces regained control of the city. Heavy fighting continued around the city for a number of days; on 23 July 2014 the National Guard of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Army released a statement that said they were "continuing the cleansing of Sievierodonetsk".

A bridge across Siverskyi Donets river was severely damaged during the war in 2014; it was re-opened in December 2016. The European Union contributed 93.8% of the funding for the bridge's restoration.

In 2016, there was a proposal in the Verkhovna Rada to officially rename the city Siverskodonetsk, changing the Russian exonym to a Ukrainian version with the same meaning, but it was rejected by the committee.

Russian invasion

During the 2022 battle of Donbas in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sievierodonetsk became the center of intense fighting and media attention. In May, Russian forces made Sievierodonetsk its major focus in an attempt to capture Luhansk Oblast. On 31 May, the city's mayor stated that Russian forces had seized control of half of the city. By 14 June, Russian forces had control of 80% of the city and had cut off all escape routes. On 24 June, the Ukrainian government ordered its forces to withdraw from Sievierodonetsk.

On 26 June, Russian Defence Minister Spokesman Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov stated the Luhansk People's Militia and Russian Armed Forces had "completely liberated the cities of Severodonetsk and Borovskoye as well as populated localities Voronovo and Sirotino in the Luhansk People's Republic".

In March 2023, the Ukrainian law "On the Condemnation and Prohibition of Propaganda of Russian Imperial Policy in Ukraine and the Decolonization of Toponymy" was passed, which provides for the derussification of Ukrainian toponymy. Among other elements, the law listed Sievierodonetsk as an example of "geographical features with Russified names" that would need to be either brought in line with Ukrainian spelling, or have a historical name returned. On 19 September 2024, the Verkhovna Rada voted to rename Sievierodonetsk to Siverskodonetsk.

Demographics

The ethnicity of the city's residents as of the 2001 Ukrainian census:

• Ukrainians: 59%
• Russians: 38.7%
• Belarusians: 0.6%
• Other: 1.7%

Economy

Chemical industries formerly active in Sievierdonetsk include:

• "Azot" – one of the largest chemical plants in Europe.
• Khimpostavschik, a private enterprise
• Himexele

Sports

The first Ukrainian championship in bandy was held in Sievierodonetsk in February 2012. Azot Severodonetsk, a bandy club based in the city, emerged victorious in the tournament.

Twin towns – sister cities

Sievierodonetsk is twinned with the following municipalities:

• Jelenia Góra, Poland
• Rivne, Ukraine

Notable people

Notable residents of Sievierodonetsk include:

• Irina Antanasijević (born 1965), Russo-Serbian philologist, literary critic, and translator
• Nikolay Davydenko (born 1981), retired professional tennis player
• Pavel Gubarev (born 1983), former commander of the Donetsk People's Militia and co-founder of the Angry Patriots Club
• Serhiy Haidai (born 1975), entrepreneur and former head of the Luhansk Regional Military–Civil Administration
• Yuriy Hritsyna (born 1971), professional football coach and former player
• Yosip Kurlat (1927–2000), children's writer and translator
• Sergiy Lishchyna (born 1970), Ukrainian businessperson
• Snejana Onopka (born 1986), Ukrainian fashion model
• Valentin Pukhalsky (1887–1981), Soviet sculptor
• Borys Romanov (born 1949), graphic design artist
• Kurt Schmid (born 1942), Austrian conductor and composer
• Dmytro Semenenko (born 1988), Ukrainian powerlifter
• Svitlana Talan (born 1960), novelist

Notes

1. Ukrainian: Сєвєродонецьк, IPA: [ˌsʲɛʋʲerodoˈnɛtsʲk]
2. Russian: Северодонецк, IPA: [sʲɪvʲɪrədɐˈnʲetsk]
3. Ukrainian: Сіверськодонецьк, IPA: [ˌsiwersʲkodoˈnɛtsʲk]
4. Северодоне́цк, IPA: [ˌsʲevʲɪrədɐˈnʲetsk]
5. Сєвєродоне́цьк, IPA: [ˌsʲɛwʲerodoˈnɛtsʲk]
6. Сєверодонецьк, IPA: [ˌsʲɛwerodoˈnɛtsʲk]
7. Сіверодонецьк, IPA: [ˌsiwerodoˈnɛtsʲk]

References

1. Чисельність наявного населення України на 1 січня 2022 [Number of Present Population of Ukraine, as of January 1, 2022] (PDF) (in Ukrainian and English). Kyiv: State Statistics Service of Ukraine. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 July 2022.
2. ^ "Russian, LPR forces liberate Severodonetsk - Russian top brass - Military & Defense - TASS". tass.com. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
3. "Ukrainian forces withdrawing from key city in Donbas mostly under Russian control". 2022-01-06. Retrieved 2023-01-05.
4. Sievierodonetsk Airport (UKCS | SEV) at Great Circle Mapper
5. "Kikhtenko to move Donetsk administration to Kramatorsk and to leave power structures in Mariupol". Dzerkalo Tyzhnia media.
6. "In Severodonetsk, Petro Poroshenko presented Luhansk RSA Head Hennadiy Moskal". President of Ukraine, official website. Archived from the original on 2015-03-18.
7. Ponomarenko, Illia (7 May 2022). "Russia's offensive in Donbas bogs down". The Kyiv Independent. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
8. "Satellite images show scale of destruction in Ukrainian industrial city of Sievierodonetsk", ABC Net, 8 June 2022
9. "Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk now 'completely under Russian occupation' after months of fighting". CNN. 25 June 2022.
10. ^ Ponomarenko, Illia (30 June 2022). "As Ukraine withdraws from Sievierodonetsk, Battle of Donbas enters next phase". Kyiv Independent. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
11. Сессия городского совета: без света, но результативно. Official site of the city council. Archived from the original on 2021-04-22. Retrieved 2021-01-17.
12. Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1958, № 3, p. 68
13. "IV. Правопис власних назв" [IV. Spelling of proper names]. Izbornyk. Archived from the original on 2022-07-13. Retrieved 2023-06-11.
14. Архівована копія. Archived from the original on 2013-06-01. Retrieved 2010-03-26.
15. "Архівована копія". Archived from the original on 26 December 2007. Retrieved 16 December 2007.
16. "Комітет з питань організації державної влади підтримав перейменування низки населених пунктів, назви яких містять символіку російської імперської політики або не відповідають стандартам державної мови" (in Ukrainian). April 4, 2024.
17. "У Раді підтримали перейменування Сєвєродонецька, Краснограда та ще 50 міст і селищ". hromadske.ua (in Ukrainian). 2024-04-03. Retrieved 2024-04-05.
18. Проект Постанови про перейменування окремих населених пунктів та районів [Draft resolution on renaming individual populated places and raions]. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
19. "Severodonetsk city, Ukraine trek". ukrainetrek.com. Archived from the original on 2019-04-17. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
20. № 2910. Коммунистический путь // Летопись периодических и продолжающихся изданий СССР 1986 - 1990. Часть 2. Газеты. М., «Книжная палата», 1994. стр.382
21. "Сєвєродонецьк без вістей". 25 April 2019.
22. "Severodonetsk residents recall occupiers' brutality - Jul. 25, 2014". 24 July 2014.
23. Reuters
24. "Ukrainian National Guard cleansing Severodonetsk, Lysychansk of militants".
25. "Сєвєродонецьк звільнено від терористів".
26. "War-damaged bridge in Severodonetsk reopened after major restructuring". eeas.europa.eu. 6 December 2016.
27. Свобода, Радіо (2016-10-27). "У Раді пропонують перейменувати Сєвєродонецьк на Сіверськодонецьк". Радіо Свобода (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2022-07-03.
28. Проект Постанови про приведення назви міста Сєвєродонецьк Луганської області у відповідність до правил українського правопису [Draft resolution on bringing the name of the city of Sievierodonetsk in Luhansk Oblast to accordance with the rules of the Ukrainian orthography]. Official portal of the parliament of Ukraine (in Ukrainian).
29. "Sievierodonetsk mayor says Russian forces seize half of city". ABC News. Retrieved 2022-06-05.
30. Karmanau, Yuras (June 14, 2022). "Russians control 80% of key Ukraine city, cut escape routes". Associated Press. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
31. Zinets, Natalia; Boumzar, Adelaziz (June 13, 2022). "Amid fierce fighting, Russian forces cut last Sievierodonetsk escape route". Reuters. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
32. "Ukraine war: Kyiv orders forces to withdraw from Severodonetsk". BBC News. 24 June 2022.
33. "Zelenskyy signs law banning place names associated with Russia". Retrieved 2023-12-27.
34. Проект Постанови про перейменування окремих населених пунктів та районів [Draft resolution on renaming individual populated places and raions]. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
35. "Cities & Towns of Ukraine".
36. Дністрянський М. С. Етнополітична географія України. Львів: Літопис, 2006. С.465.
37. "Ukrainian Bandy and Rink bandy Federation".

External links

• (in Ukrainian) Official website, archived from the original on 6 October 2019
• (in Russian) City portal

• Sievierodonetsk
• Cities in Luhansk Oblast
• Populated places destroyed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
• Donets
• Populated places established in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
• Populated places established in 1934
• 1934 establishments in Ukraine
• Territorial disputes of Ukraine
• Cities of regional significance in Ukraine
• Sievierodonetsk Raion