Syeverodonets'k, Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine

🇺🇦 Sievierodonetsk, or Siverskodonetsk is a city in the Luhansk Oblast of Ukraine. Sievierodonetsk has the status of a city of regional significance, It is located nearby the Seversky Donets River, approximately 110 km to the north north west from the Oblast capital, Luhansk. Sievierodonetsk is the acting administrative centre of Luhansk Oblast due to Luhansk being temporarily controlled by self-proclaimed "Luhansk People's Republic", which is beyond the control of the Government of Ukraine.

Prior to the war, Sievierodonetsk had several factories as well as the Azot chemical plant. There was also an airport six km (3.7 mi) to the south of the city.

Sievierodonetsk served as the administrative centre of Luhansk Oblast from 2014 to 2022, due to the city of Luhansk falling under the control of pro-Russian separatists at the start of the war in Donbas. During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sievierodonetsk came under heavy attack from Russian forces and was the forefront of the battle of Donbas, resulting in extensive destruction to the city, including residential areas. By 25 June 2022, the city was fully captured by Russian and separatist forces, with Ukrainian authorities claiming that the civilian population was approximately 10,000, or ten percent of its pre-war population.

Toponymy According to one of the versions, the city got its name from the Donets. Based on the Russian name of the river (Сѣверный Донецъ, m: Северский Донець), the name of the city in Russian is Severodonetsk. According to another version, the name comes from the location of the city, which is situated to the north of the Donets bank.

The Ukrainian name of the city has a rather complicated history. The decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic dated 27 January 1950, "On the renaming of the urban-type settlement Lyskhimstroi of the Lysychansk Raion of the Voroshilovgrad Oblast" was issued in Russian, and the name of the city was indicated as Severodonetsk, which was later translated into Ukrainian as Sievierodonetsk. However, this spelling is erroneous in the Ukrainian language, and the spelling of the city's name in many sources (dictionaries, maps, and official documents) has been corrected, but it has not been fixed at the official level. At the same time, the name Sieverodonetsk was used in the notification about the assignment of the settlement to the category of cities of district significance.

According to the spelling of 1993 (in Section 108), the name of the city is Siverskodonetsk, which corresponds to the etymology (from the Siverskyi Donets). This name was included in the encyclopedias and reference books of Soviet times. A number of Ukrainian linguists also stand on the same principles. Some modern Ukrainian publications also use the name Siverodonetsk, relying on the same logic as the word "Ukrainian-speaking". Concurrently, the official name was Sieverodonetsk, which would be fair if it applied to a city in Russia, instead, the rule regarding the transliteration of the Russian language into Ukrainian, was illegally applied to a city in Ukraine itself. In the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, the main name of the city is Siverskodonetske, while other spellings are Sieverodonetske and Pivnichnodonetske.

In the normative-legal document "Classification of objects of the administrative-territorial system of Ukraine", the city was classified as Siverodonetsk, and the aforesaid name was used in other official documents in recent years. Until mid-1990, the spelling Sieverodonetsk prevailed on the signs of institutions in the city itself, but Severodonetsk and Sievierodonetsk were also used.

On 3 April 2024, the Committee on the Organization of State Power, Local Self-government, Regional Development, and Urban Planning  in the Verkhovna Rada stated their support for renaming the city to Siverskodonetsk (Сіверськодонецьк). The name was finally approved by the Verkhovna Rada on 19 September 2024.

History The foundation of modern Sievierodonetsk is closely connected with the beginning of construction of the Lysychansk Nitrogen Fertilizer Plant within the limits of Lysychansk, Donetsian Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union in 1934. Donets itself was already combined with Lysychansk. The first settlement of workers on the construction site was called Lyskhimstroi (Ukrainian: Лисхімстрої, Russian: Лисхимстрой), near 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 Lyskhimstroi.

During the Second World War, Lyskhimstroi and surrounding areas were occupied by German forces on 11 July 1942. On 1 February 1943 it was retaken by the 41st Guards Rifle Division and 110th Tank Brigade of the Red Army. Work to restore and expand the Lysychansk Nitrogen Fertilizer Plant began on 10 December 1943 and by 1946, the pre-war housing stock was completely restored, which amounted to 17,000 square meters. An airfield south of the Lyskhimstroi began operations in May 1948; it underwent major renovations during the early 1960s.

Four new names were proposed for the settlement in 1950: Svetlograd, Komsomolsk-on-Donets, Mendeleevsk and Severodonetsk. It was ultimately renamed the latter, after the Seversky Donets. Severodonetsk would receive the status of an urban settlement the same year. On 1 January 1951, the Lysychansk Nitrogen Fertilizer Plant would produce its first output of ammonium nitrate.

A local newspaper named The Communist Way (Ukrainian: Комуністичний шлях, Russian: Коммунистический путь), later renamed Severodonetsk News (Ukrainian: Сєвєродонецькі вісті, Russian: Северодонецкие вести), was published in the city from 2 April 1965 to early 2019.

Independent Ukraine In the war in Donbas, the city was captured in late May 2014 by combined pro-Russian forces, who totaled up to 1,000. The 2014 Ukrainian presidential election was not held in the city as the separatist authorities did not allow voting places to open and much of the Ukrainian Central Election Commission's 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 Sievierodonetsk".

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 bridge's restoration.

In 2016, there was a proposal in the Verkhovna Rada to officially rename the city Siverskodonetsk, changing the Russian exonym to a Ukrainian version with the same meaning, but it was rejected by the committee.

Russian invasion During the 2022 battle of Donbas in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sievierodonetsk became the centre of intense fighting and media attention. In May, Russian forces made Sievierodonetsk its major focus in an attempt to capture Luhansk Oblast. On 31 May, the city's mayor stated that Russian forces had seized control of half of the city. By 14 June, Russian forces had control of 80% of the city and had cut off all escape routes. On 24 June, the Ukrainian government ordered its forces to withdraw from Sievierodonetsk.

On 26 June, Russian Defence Minister Spokesman Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov stated the Luhansk People's Militia and Russian Armed Forces had "completely liberated the cities of Severodonetsk and Borovskoye as well as populated localities Voronovo and Sirotino in the Luhansk People's Republic".

In March 2023, the Ukrainian law "On the Condemnation and Prohibition of Propaganda of Russian Imperial Policy in Ukraine and the Decolonization of Toponymy" was passed, which provides for the derussification of Ukrainian toponymy. Among other elements, the law listed Sievierodonetsk as an example of "geographical features with Russified names" that would need to be either brought in line with Ukrainian spelling, or have a historical name returned. On 19 September 2024, the Verkhovna Rada voted to rename Sievierodonetsk to Siverskodonetsk.

Demographics The ethnicity of the city's residents as of the 2001 Ukrainian census: • Ukrainians: 59% • Russians: 38.7% • Belarusians: 0.6% • Other: 1.7%.

Economy Chemical industries formerly active in Sievierdonetsk include: • "Azot" – one of the largest chemical plants in Europe. • Khimpostavschik, a private enterprise • Himexele

Sport The first Ukrainian championship in bandy was held in Sievierodonetsk in February 2012. Azot Severodonetsk, a bandy club based in the city, emerged victorious in the tournament.