Sloviansk ( uk, Слов'янськ, Sloviansk ; russian: Славянск, Slavyansk or ; prior to 1784 – Tor) is a city in the Kramatorsk district of the Donetsk region of Ukraine, the administrative center of the Slovyansk urban community. The city lies in the north of the region, in the valley of the Kazennyi Torets river. As of July 2022, the population of the city was around 24,000.
Sloviansk was one of the focal points in the early stages of the
2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine
From the end of February 2014, demonstrations by pro-Russian and anti-government groups took place in major cities across the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity, which resulted in the succes ...
as it was the first city to be seized by Russia-backed military troops. It was retaken by Ukrainian forces in July 2014. Sloviansk has a population of .
History
The history of Sloviansk dates back to 1645 when Russian Tsar Alexei Romanov founded a border fortress named Tor against the Crimean attacks and slave raids on the southern suburbs of modern Ukraine and Russia.
In 1664, a first salt plant for the extraction of salt was built, and workers settled in the area.
In 1676, a
fortress
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
named Tor was built at the confluence of the Kazenyy Torets and Sukhyy Torets River, where they form the Torets River, a tributary of
Donets River
The Seversky Donets () or Siverskyi Donets (), usually simply called the Donets, is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv, Done ...
. Shortly thereafter, the town of Tor grew up next to the fortress.
As several salt lakes were located close by, the town became a producer of
salt
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...
. During the sixteenth century, salt production was the principal local industry. During the eighteenth century, it became unprofitable and salt production ceased in 1782.
In 1784, the city was renamed Sloviansk. It became a part of the
Kharkov Governorate
The Kharkov Governorate ( pre-reform Russian: , tr. ''Khárkovskaya gubérniya'', IPA: xarʲkəfskəjə ɡʊˈbʲernʲɪjə ) was a governorate of the Russian Empire founded in 1835. It embraced the historical region of Sloboda Ukraine. From ...
of the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
in 1797. A resort was established on the shores of Lake Ropne in 1832.
In April 1918, troops loyal to the
Ukrainian People's Republic
The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR), or Ukrainian National Republic (UNR), was a country in Eastern Europe that existed between 1917 and 1920. It was declared following the February Revolution in Russia by the First Universal. In March 1 ...
took control of Sloviansk.
The city was occupied by the
on 28 October 1941. In December 1941, the SSEinsatzkommando 4b executed more than a thousand Jews who lived in Sloviansk. The
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
temporarily expelled the Nazi occupiers on 17 February 1943. Germans retook it on 1 March 1943. The Red Army retook Sloviansk on 6 September 1943.
2014 clashes
On 12 April 2014, during the ongoing crisis following the
2014 Ukrainian revolution
The Revolution of Dignity ( uk, Революція гідності, translit=Revoliutsiia hidnosti) also known as the Maidan Revolution or the Ukrainian Revolution,
, masked men in army fatigues and bulletproof vests armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles captured the executive committee building, the police department, and the SBU office in Sloviansk. Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov described the gunmen as "terrorists" and vowed to use the Ukrainian special forces to retake the building.
On 13 April 2014, there were reports of fighting between the gunmen and Ukrainian troops, with casualties on both sides. The BBC's David Stern described the pro-Russian forces as carrying Russian weapons and resembling the soldiers that took over Crimean installations at the start of the
2014 Crimean crisis
In February and March 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. This event took place in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity and is part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War.
The Revolution of Dign ...
.
On 29 May 2014, a helicopter carrying fourteen army soldiers, including General Serhiy Kulchytskiy – the head of combat and special training for Ukraine's National Guard, crashed after being shot down by militants near Sloviansk. Ukraine's outgoing President
Olexander Turchynov
Oleksandr Valentynovych Turchynov ( uk, Олександр Валентинович Турчинов; born 31 March 1964) is a Ukrainian politician, screenwriter, Baptist minister and economist. He is the former Secretary of the National Sec ...
described the downing as a "terrorist attack," and blamed pro-Russian militants.
Sloviansk was held by Russian-backed separatists until 5 July 2014. When pressed by the Ukrainian army they retreated from Sloviansk and pulled back to
Donetsk
Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: Names of European cities in different languages (C–D), cities' alternat ...
city.
In 2015, a plaque to the memory of Volodymyr Rybak was placed in the town center.
2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine
During the
2022 Invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
, Sloviansk is a pivotal city on the eastern front, as part of a second phase of the war, following the Russian retreat from
Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
. Russian forces seized the strategic town of Izyum and used it as a staging post to attack Slovyansk, to the south. The town of Slovyansk is thought to be critical to Moscow’s objective of capturing all of eastern Ukraine due to its west-central location in the Donbas "pocket" of remaining Ukrainian forces. On 4 July, ''The Guardian'' reported that after the fall of the Luhansk oblast, that Russian invasion troops would continue their invasion into the adjacent Donetsk oblast to attack the cities of Sloviansk and
Bakhmut
Bakhmut ( uk, Ба́хмут, ) is a city in the Donbas and the administrative centre of Bakhmut Raion in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is located on the Bakhmutka River, about 89 km north of Donetsk city, the administrative center of the o ...
.Sam Jones. "Putin declares victory in Luhansk after fall of Lysychansk". ''The Guardian''. 4 July 2022 /ref>
2001 Ukrainian Census
The Ukrainian Census of 2001 is to date the only census of the population of independent Ukraine. It was conducted by the State Statistics Committee of Ukraine on 5 December 2001, twelve years after the last Soviet Union census in 1989.
humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...
.
Economy
The principal industry of the city concerns machine building:
* The Slovvazhmash heavy-machinery production plant which produces chemical equipment for coke production and use for the businesses in
Lipetsk
Lipetsk ( rus, links=no, Липецк, p=ˈlʲipʲɪtsk), also romanized as Lipeck, is a city and the administrative center of Lipetsk Oblast, Russia, located on the banks of the Voronezh River in the Don basin, southeast of Moscow. Populatio ...
,
Kemerovo
Kemerovo ( rus, Ке́мерово, p=ˈkʲemʲɪrəvə) is an industrial city and the administrative center of Kemerovo Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Iskitimka and Tom Rivers, in the major coal mining region of the Kuznetsk Ba ...
and
Cherepovets
Cherepovets ( rus, Череповец, p=tɕɪrʲɪpɐˈvʲɛts) is a city in Vologda Oblast, Russia, located in the west of the oblast on the banks of the Sheksna River (a tributary of the Volga River) and on the shores of the Rybinsk Reservoir. ...
. Companies in
Mariupol
Mariupol (, ; uk, Маріу́поль ; russian: Мариу́поль) is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius River. Prior to the 2022 Russian i ...
,
Kryvyi Rih
Kryvyi Rih ( uk, Криви́й Ріг , lit. "Curved Bend" or "Crooked Horn"), also known as Krivoy Rog (Russian: Кривой Рог) is the largest city in central Ukraine, the 7th most populous city in Ukraine and the 2nd largest by area. Kr ...
,
Donetsk
Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: Names of European cities in different languages (C–D), cities' alternat ...
, and
Kamianske
Kamianske ( uk, Кам'янське, ), formerly Dniprodzerzhynsk, is an industrial city in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast of Ukraine and a port on the Dnieper. Administratively, it serves as the administrative center of Kamianske Raion. Kamianske hosts ...
use their products.
* The Betonmash machine-building factory which produces concrete mixing plants, spare parts for mining equipment and metal works, parts for coke ovens. The factory provides foundry services for companies across
Donetsk Oblast
The Donetsk Oblast ( ukr, Донецька область, Donetska oblast, ), also referred to as Donechchyna ( ukr, Донеччина, links=no), is an oblast of eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous province, with around 4.1 mill ...
,
Kharkiv Oblast
Kharkiv Oblast ( uk, Харківська́ о́бласть, translit=Kharkivska oblast), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna ( uk, Ха́рківщина), is an oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. The oblast borders Russia to the north, Luhans ...
, and
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast ( uk, Дніпропетро́вська о́бласть, translit=Dnipropetrovska oblast), also referred to as Dnipropetrovshchyna ( uk, Дніпропетро́вщина), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, obla ...
.
* The Sloviansk mechanical plant which employs approximately four hundred people. It produces chemical equipment for coke production as well as overhead cranes and other machinery.
* The Artem Armature-insulator factory.
* A factory producing high-voltage insulators for hydroelectric power stations and thermal power-stations.
Sloviansk is an important health resort, providing spa treatments and mud baths using mud from the bottom of salt lakes located nearby.
Administration
Sloviansk served as the administrative center of the Sloviansk Raion (
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
) until its abolition on 18 July 2020, though it did not belong to the raion.
Transport
Sloviansk is a nexus of a number of railways and roads. There are three railway stations currently in use, one defunct. Three railway lines leave the city in directions of Lozova,
Lyman
Lyman may refer to:
Places Ukraine
* Lyman, Ukraine
United States
* Lyman, Iowa
* Lyman, Maine
* Lyman, Mississippi
* Lyman, Nebraska
* Lyman, New Hampshire
* Lyman, Oklahoma
* Lyman, South Carolina
* Lyman, South Dakota
* Lyman County, South Dak ...
and Kramatorsk.
Ukrainian international highway goes by the edge of Sloviansk. The national highway N-20 leaves from the city toward
Mariupol
Mariupol (, ; uk, Маріу́поль ; russian: Мариу́поль) is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius River. Prior to the 2022 Russian i ...
. The local population is served by a
trolleybus
A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...
network consisting of two permanent routes and one summer route.
Marshrutka
''Marshrutka''
Christian churches:
* Cathedral of New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Orthodox Church
* Church of the Resurrection of Christ
* Church of the
Andrew the Apostle
Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an Apostles in the New Testament, apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He ...
* Church of Oleksandr Nevskyi
* Church of Seraphim Sarovsky
* The "Kind New" Christian Center Church
* Church of Jesus Christ of the Protestant Church of Ukraine
Notable people
*
Mykhaylo Sokolovsky
Mykhaylo Ivanovich Sokolovsky ( uk, Михайло Іванович Соколовский; russian: Михаил Иванович Соколовский; born November 15, 1951) is a Ukrainian professional football coach and a former player. Curr ...
, a Soviet footballer, record holder of the games played for Shakhtar Donetsk
* Maksym Marchenko, Ukrainian colonel, current governor of Odessa Oblast