Toretsk ( uk, Торе́цьк, Toretsk, ; russian: Торецк, Toretsk), formerly Dzerzhynsk ( uk, link=no, Дзержинськ, Dzerzhynsk; russian: link=no, Дзержинск, Dzerzhinsk), is a
city of oblast significance in
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 ...
(
province) of
Ukraine. As of January 2022 its population was approximately
History
The settlement Shcherbynovka was founded in 1806
[Дзержинск // Советский энциклопедический словарь. редколл., гл. ред. А. М. Прохоров. 4-е изд. М., «Советская энциклопедия», 1986. стр.387] in
Russian Empire.
A local newspaper is published here since September 1936.
In October 1938 the
urban-type settlement Shcherbynovka became a city Dzerzhynsk, in honor of the founder of the
Soviet secret police Felix Dzerzhynsky.
In 1989, the population was 50,538 people.
[Дзержинск // Большой энциклопедический словарь (в 2-х тт.). / редколл., гл. ред. А. М. Прохоров. том 1. М., "Советская энциклопедия", 1991. стр.386]
In 2013, the population was 35 296 people.
Starting mid-April 2014
pro-Russian separatists captured several towns in Donetsk Oblast; including former Dzerzhynsk. On 11 July 2014 Ukrainian forces launched strikes against the separatists. On 21 July 2014, Ukrainian forces secured the city from the pro-Russian separatists.
Toretsk is only a few kilometers away from the separatists-controlled
Horlivka.
[
Following the 2015 law on decommunization, the city council has decided on 16 October 2015 to rename the city to Toretsk. The name was approved by the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian parliament) on 4 February 2016.][Decommunisation continues: Rada renames several towns and villages]
UNIAN (4 February 2016)
Because of the War in Donbass the city has had its water supply cut multiple times.
Nikolai Ryzhkov, a former Premier of the Soviet Union, was born in the city in 1929.
Demographics
As of the Ukrainian Census of 2001, the majority of residents identified as ethnic Ukrainians and spoke Russian as their first language:
Ethnicity
* Ukrainians: 61.4%
* Russians: 36.1%
*Belarusians
, native_name_lang = be
, pop = 9.5–10 million
, image =
, caption =
, popplace = 7.99 million
, region1 =
, pop1 = 600,000–768,000
, region2 =
, pop2 ...
: 1%
* Tatars: 0.3%
* Romani people: 0.3%
First language
* Russian: 87.1%
* Ukrainian: 12.2%
*Romani
Romani may refer to:
Ethnicities
* Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia
** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule
* Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...
: 0.2%
*Belarusian
Belarusian may refer to:
* Something of, or related to Belarus
* Belarusians, people from Belarus, or of Belarusian descent
* A citizen of Belarus, see Demographics of Belarus
* Belarusian language
* Belarusian culture
* Belarusian cuisine
* Byelor ...
: 0.1%
* Armenian: 0.1%
Gallery
File:Panoramio - V&A Dudush - Dzerzhynsk.jpg, Town entrance in 2008 when it was called Dzerzhynsk
File:Dzerzhynsk Avanhard Stadium 1.jpg, Toretsk Avanhard Stadium
File:Ukraine Donetsk Oblast Dzerzhynsk IMG 5371 1280.jpg, An apartment block in Toretsk
File:ДК Україна Дзержинськ.JPG, Ukraine Palace of Culture
File:Зимовий сад палацу Україна.JPG, Ukraine Palace of Culture interior
File:ЗАГС Дзержинск.JPG, Buildings in downtown
File:Клуб Дзержинського фенольного заводу.JPG, Toretsk phenol factory club
File:Дзержинський фенольний завод.JPG, Phenol factory building
File:Станция Фенольная.JPG, Toretsk railway station
File:Dz SkorbotnaMati.jpg, Crying mother monument
References
{{Authority control
Cities in Donetsk Oblast
Cities of regional significance in Ukraine
Populated places established in the Russian Empire
City name changes in Ukraine
Former Soviet toponymy in Ukraine
Populated places established in 1806
Bakhmut Raion