Chystiakove ( uk, Чистякове, ), formerly Torez ( uk, Торез), is a
city of regional significance in the
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 ...
in
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...
. The city is a center of the regional coal industry and much of its economy relies on
mining industries, despite a recent drop in the number of employed miners. The city has a population of
Settled in 1778, the city was named Chystiakove in 1868. It was renamed Torez in 1964 for
Maurice Thorez
Maurice Thorez (; 28 April 1900 – 11 July 1964) was a French politician and longtime leader of the French Communist Party (PCF) from 1930 until his death. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister of France from 1946 to 1947.
Pre-War
Thorez, ...
, a leader of the
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European ...
. In 2016, the
Ukrainian parliament
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...
restored the historical name "Chystiakove" due to
Ukrainian decommunization laws
Ukrainian decommunization laws refer to four Ukrainian laws of 2015. These laws relate to decommunization as well as commemoration of Ukrainian history. Such laws have been referred to as " memory laws".
As a result of the law mandating the remov ...
.
Pro-Russian separatists took control of Chystiakove in June 2014.
[Letters From Donbas](_blank)
Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...
(11 December 2014)
History
The region was settled in 1778 at the confluence of the Sevostyanivka and Orlova Rivers (which drain into the
Mius River
The Mius (, ) is a river in Eastern Europe that flows through Ukraine and Russia. It is long, and has a drainage basin of .Миус ...
) by runaway
serf
Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which developed ...
s from southern Russia and Ukraine. By 1800 the settlement, with 225 residents, was known as the
sloboda
A sloboda ( rus, слобода́, p=sləbɐˈda) was a kind of settlement in the history of the Old Russian regions Povolzhye, Central Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. The name is derived from the early Slavic word for "freedom" and may be loosel ...
Oleksiivka after a son of landowner and founder S. Leonov. From 1840 it was named Oleksiieve-Leonove, and from 1868 Chystiakove.
By the 1860s the town, now known as Chystiakove for a merchant and owner of a local manor, was a coal-mining hub. In 1875, two mining companies were founded: Chystiakovs'ke (which operated two coal mines) and Oleksiivs'ke, which was renamed Nadiya in 1907. The mines produced 4.7 million pounds of coal in 1909, and 76.8 million pounds by 1916.
In 1924 the Chystiakove mining industry had 142 settlements, with a total of 44,679 residents. Eight years later the settlements became a town, and the town's ten coal-mining quarries were incorporated into the Chystyakovugol Industrial Trust a year after that.
During the 1940s, the town had three administrative districts:
* Chervona Zirka (Red Star)
* Pivdenna Grupa (Southern Group)
* Chystiakove Station (Railway)
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, Chystiakove was occupied by the
German Army
The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...
from
October 31, 1941 to
September 2, 1943. In 1964 Chystiakove was renamed Torez in honor of
Maurice Thorez
Maurice Thorez (; 28 April 1900 – 11 July 1964) was a French politician and longtime leader of the French Communist Party (PCF) from 1930 until his death. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister of France from 1946 to 1947.
Pre-War
Thorez, ...
, the longtime leader of the
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European ...
who was a coal miner.
In 2012, the city's population was 81,761, down from a 1970 peak of about 120,000.
In mid-April 2014
pro-Russian separatists captured several towns in Donetsk Oblast, including Chystiakove in June 2014.
On 23 May 2014, a pro-Ukrainian militia endorsed by
Oleh Lyashko
Oleh Valeriiovych Liashko ( uk, Олег Валерійович Ляшко; born. 3 December 1972) is a Ukrainian politician, journalist and soldier who was a long time member of the Verkhovna Rada and leader of the Radical Party.
Liashko was ...
killed a pro-Russian separatist and left another badly wounded amidst the separatists' takeover of the city hall.
On 17 July,
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, en route to
Kuala Lumpur
, anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera''
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia
, pushpin_map_caption =
, coordinates =
, sub ...
from
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
, was hit by a Russian
Buk surface-to-air missile
A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...
launched from separatist-controlled territory. The plane crashed near Chystiakove and all 298 people aboard were killed.
Demographics
As of the
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. :
;Ethnicity
* Ukrainians: 50.8%
* Russians: 45.1%
* Belarusians: 1.3%
* Tatars: 1.3%
* Armenians: 0.2%
* Greeks: 0.1%
;Native language
* Russian: 81.83%
* Ukrainian: 17.03%
* Belarusian: 0.18%
* Armenian: 0.11%
* Moldovan: 0.03%
* Bulgarian: 0.01%
* Greek: 0.01%
Transportation
Chystiakove's transport system consists of thirty-one routes served by buses and taxis and links to the cities of
Snizhne
Snizhne or Snezhnoye ( uk, Сніжне́, ; russian: Снежное; until 1864 — Vasylivka — uk, Василівка) is a city in Horlivka Raion, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. The eastern edge of Snizhne is adjacent to administrative border ...
and
Shakhtarsk. The Luhansk-Donetsk Highway runs for nine kilometers through the center of the city. The bus station (''vulytsia Popovycha'') provides service to Donetsk, Kharkiv and other cities in eastern Ukraine. The city has three major railway stations: Torez (''vulytsia Vokzalna''), Rozsypne and Pelahiyivka. Two stations serve electric commuter trains: Dronove in Pelahiyivka and Voskresenska in central Chystiakove.
Economy
Chystiakove's major company is the state-owned Torez Anthracite, which specializes in coal mining. The company controls a number of mines and production facilities, including the Progress Mine, the Lutugin and Volhynian Mine Administrations and the Chystiakove factory. Other employers include the Chystiakove electrical and alloy factories, the Vuhleresurs Company's Terra mine, the State Penal Department and the Chystiakove food-testing factory.
Neighborhoods
Chystiakove's center includes Pionerska, Nikolaeva, Engels, Syzrantsev and 50 Years of the USSR Streets, Gagarin Avenue and Boulevard Illich. Neighborhoods are numbered one through four (Engels Street), 30th Anniversary of Victory, G and Red Star (''Chervona Zirka'').
Central Village ( uk, Cелище центральне in southeastern Chystiakove was one of the first settlements in Chystiakove, which became a city in 1932. It has an acting school and two kindergartens.
Shanghai, a small residential area also in southeastern Chystiakove, was built in 1946 by Hungarian prisoners of war and consists of seven-story apartment buildings. In addition to Chystiakove, its city council governs two towns: Pelahiyivka and Rozsypne.
Gallery
File:Храм-торез.jpg, Orthodox Church
File:Tserkov-torez.jpg, St. Elias Church
File:Стадион-комсомолец.jpg,
File:Цум-торез.jpg,
File:Арт-тема.jpg,
File:Пр. гагарина торез.jpg,
File:Агрофирма.jpg,
File:Площадь торез.jpg, City Hall
References
External links
Unofficial city website
{{Authority control
Cities in Donetsk Oblast
Don Host Oblast
Cities of regional significance in Ukraine
Populated places established in the Russian Empire
City name changes in Ukraine
Mining cities and regions in Ukraine
Horlivka Raion
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17