Donetsk

Donetsk ({{lang-ua|???????}}, Donets'k; {{lang-ru|???????}}) is a city in eastern Ukraine on the Kalmius river. Administratively, it is a center of Donetsk Oblast, while historically it is the unofficial capital and largest city of the Donets Basin region, or Donbass. The city's name is often simplified to Donetsk.

History

Donetsk was founded in 1869 when the Welsh businessman John Hughes built a metallurgical plant and several coal mines near a Cossack settlement Alexandrovka. The town initially was given the name Yuzovka ("Yuz" being a phonetic rendering of Hughes). By the beginning of the 20th century Yuzovka had approximately 50,000 inhabitants, and attained the status of a city in 1917. In 1924 it was renamed to Stalino (after Joseph Stalin). The Nazis' invasion during World War II almost completely destroyed the city, which was mostly rebuilt on a large scale at the war's end. After Nikita Khrushchev's denunciation of Stalin in 1956, the name Stalino lost popularity, and in 1961 the city's name was changed to Donetsk, after the Donets river, a tributary of the Don.

Related Topics:
1869 - Welsh - John Hughes - Cossack - 20th century - City - 1917 - 1924 - Joseph Stalin - Nazi - Invasion - World War II - Nikita Khrushchev - Denunciation - 1956 - 1961 - Donets - Tributary - Don

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