Sievierodonetsk

Sievierodonetsk Сєвєродонецьк
City
Flag Coat of arms
Sievierodonetsk Location of Severodonetsk Sievierodonetsk Sievierodonetsk (Ukraine)
Coordinates: 48°56′0″N 38°30′0″E
Country	Ukraine
Oblast	Luhansk Oblast
Raion	Sievierodonetsk Raion
Founded	1934
City status	1958
Area
• Total	50 km2 (20 sq mi)
Population  (2021)
• Total	101,135
• Density	2,000/km2 (5,200/sq mi)
Area code(s)	+380 6452(645)
Climate	Dfb
Website	www.sed-rada.gov.ua

Sievierodonetsk (Ukrainian: Сєвєродоне́цьк [ˌsʲеw(j)erodoˈnɛtsʲk]), also known as Siverskodonetsk (Ukrainian: Сіверськодоне́цьк [ˌsʲiwersʲkodoˈnɛtsʲk]) and Severodonetsk (russ.: Северодоне́цк), is a city in the Luhansk Oblast of Ukraine. Sievierodonetsk is the administrative centre of Sievierodonetsk Raion. Prior to 2020, it had the status of a city of regional significance. It is located nearby the Seversky Donets River, approximately 110 km (68 mi) to the north north west from the Oblast capital, Luhansk. Sievierodonetsk is the acting administrative centre of Luhansk Oblast due to Luhansk being controlled by the self-proclaimed "Luhansk People's Republic", which is beyond the control of the Government of Ukraine. Luhansk is still the official administrative centre of the oblast. Sievierodonetsk's population is approximately 101,135 (2021 est.).

Sievierodonetsk has several factories and a significant chemical production centre "Azot" (English translation: Nitrogen). There is a domestic airport 6 km to the south of the city.

History

The town appears on older maps as Donets (Donetz, Donez) after the river Siverskyi Donets.

The foundation of modern Sievierodonetsk is closely connected with the beginning of construction of the Lysychansk Nitrogen Fertilizer Plant within the limits of the city of Lysychansk in 1934. Donets itself was already combined with Lysychansk. The first settlement of workers on the construction site was Liskhimstroi, nearby 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 Liskhimstroi.

During the Second World War, Liskhimstroi was occupied by German troops on July 11, 1942. It was liberated by the Red Army on February 1, 1943. Work to restore and expand the Lysychansk Nitrogen Fertilizer Plant began on December 10, 1943. By 1946, the pre-war housing stock was completely restored, which amounted to 17,000 square meters.

In 1950, four variants of a new name for Liskhimstroi were proposed: Svetlograd, Komsomolsk-on-Donets, Mendeleevsk, and Sievierodonetsk. In the same year, Liskhimstroi was renamed Sievierodonetsk, after the Siverskyi Donets River, and received the status of an urban settlement. January 1, 1951, the chemical plant produced its first output of ammonium nitrate.

A local newspaper is published in the city since April 1965.

2014 clashes

Battle of Sievierodonetsk (2014)

During the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine the town was captured late May 2014 by pro-Russian militants. No Ukrainian presidential election in 2014 was held in the city as the militants did not allow the voting places to open and much of the Election commission 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 Sieverodonetsk".

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 restoration.

2022 clashes

Battle of Sievierodonetsk (2022)

Demographics

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% 1939 5,000 —     1959 33,200 +564.0% 1970 90,000 +171.1%

Year Pop. ±% 1975 107,000 +18.9% 1991 131,000 +22.4% 2009 121,000 −7.6%

Ethnicity of the city's residents as of the 2001 census:

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

Economy

Chemicals

• "Azot" – one of the largest chemical plants in Europe.
• «Khimpostavschik» private enterprise.
• «Himexelen, Ltd.»

Metallurgical

Severodonetsk Chemical and Metallurgical Plant "SHMZ"

The construction of the plant M8 began in 1963 in order to provide the USSR with semiconductor materials of germanium Ge and gallium Ga, which are part of the Lysychansk coal with a Ge content of 50 g/t, independent of exports from England. The design of the M8 production at the site of the Liskhimkombinat was carried out by the Moscow leading industry institute Giredmet under the leadership of the Patriarch of Metallurgy of germanium, Academician Sazhin. Together with Kazniienergetik, Alma-Ata (hand of works Eric Balfanbayev), Department of Heat Engineering of the OPI (assoc. Prizand) Department of TRRE MITHT (Reznik, Alexander Markovich), Department of the Theory of Processes and Devices of the Russian Federation KHPI (prof. Rozkin. assoc Storozhenko) was the first in the world to introduce the method of cyclone melting. The first industrial melting gave a negative result. The initial content of germanium in the raw material was not enough. At the board of the chief editor of the USSR Ministry of Color Metallurgy, the question was raised about the conservation of the completed M8 object with the dismissal of more than 400 employees. The plant's chief engineer, a world-renowned metallurgist scientist, B. T. Pergunov, came to the defense of the plant. He proposed to conduct a trial of melting with mudstones of the Sakhalin deposit. This was sharply opposed by the then ordinary clerk of the central board, Gribov, with the words: "This is an adventure." By the decision of the head of Glavredmet Kostin, the trial melting was carried out and gave an excellent result. Supplies of raw materials were made bypassing Africa by sea due to the closure of Suez and the Arab-Israeli war, sometimes there were fires of coal-containing raw materials in the holds of bulk carriers. But still, from that moment M8-SHMZ fully provided the electronic industry of the USSR with a semiconductor, but then the era of silicon began, and the same Gribov came to the leadership of the central board and the development of advanced metallurgical production was stopped. The problem of germanium was solved, and they made us forget about gallium.

Sports

The first Ukrainian championship in bandy was held in the city 19/2-2012. Azot Severodonetsk became champions.

Notable residents

• Nikolay Davydenko
• Snejana Onopka

Gallery

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  Main square of Sievierodonetsk

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  Sievierodonetsk college

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  Alleys in the city centre

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  Administrative building

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  Sievierodonetsk at night

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  ZiU-9 trolleybus in Sievierodonetsk

External links

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