Luhansk (, ; , ), also known as Lugansk (, ; , ), is a city in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. As of 2022, the population was estimated to be making Luhansk the 12th-largest city in Ukraine.

Luhansk served as the administrative center of Luhansk Oblast, before pro-Russian separatists seized control of the city in 2014 and made it the capital of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic. The Ukrainian administration was located in Sievierodonetsk from 2014 to 2022 during the war in Donbas, due to Ukraine not being in control of Luhansk. Sievierodonetsk was captured by Russia in 2022 and Luhansk Oblast was later annexed by Russia in late 2022.

Etymology

The city was founded as a foundry in 1795–1796, following the decree of Empress Catherine II titled On the establishment of a foundry in the Donetsk uyezd by the Lugan River. The settlement that developed around the plant was named Lugansk, deriving its name from the hydronym Lugan, which itself originates from the Russian word lug (meadow). The settlement was granted city status in 1882.

In 1935, the city was renamed Voroshilovgrad in honor of the Soviet political and military figure Kliment Voroshilov. Following the adoption of a 1957 decree by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, which prohibited naming populated places after living political figures, the city's original name, Lugansk, was restored in 1958. However, in 1970, after Voroshilov's death, the city was once again renamed Voroshilovgrad. In 1990, the name Luhansk was reinstated.

History

Founding and early history

thumb|left|upright|Bust of [[Charles Gascoigne]]

The city traces its history to 1797 when the British industrialist Charles Gascoigne, commissioned by the Imperial Russian government in 1795, founded an ammunition and cannon factory for the Black Sea Fleet.

The factory was built in the Donets Basin (or Donbas) at the confluence of the Luhan and rivers. The Russian craftsmen settled upstream, at the settlement of Kamianyi Brid. The name "Luhansk" comes from the Luhan River, which flows through the city. According to folk etymology, the name is also derived to the word "Luh" (Ukrainian: Луг), which means "meadow", referring to the floodplains around the river.

The factory was greatly expanded during the Napoleonic Wars, and again during the Crimean War. By 1880, the factory was a large industrial node, linked by rail to other major cities and to the Azov Sea. In 1882, the Luhansk Factory was merged with Kamianyi Brid into a new settlement named Luhansk, which received city status. In 1897, Luhansk had a population of 20,400, 68.2% of whom were Russians.

Luhansk was economically devastated by the Ukrainian War of Independence. In April 1918, Luhansk was occupied by the Central Powers during their invasion of Ukraine, and passed to the Ukrainian State. Then, it was taken by Anton Denikin's anti-communist Volunteer Army in May 1919, before changing hands several times. It was finally taken by the Red Army in January 1920.

In the Soviet Union

The city's economy was rebuilt, and Luhansk grew rapidly during the interwar period. In March 1942, a grand concert featuring the work of Taras Shevchenko was held in the city to inspire Ukrainians to fight off the invading Nazis. Kliment Voroshilov himself opposed the restoration of the old name in 1958. In January 1970, after the death of Kliment Voroshilov on 2 December 1969, the city's name was changed again to Voroshilovgrad.

The previous demographic trends reversed in independent Ukraine; by 2001, Ukrainians—who increasingly spoke Russian—were 50% of the population and Russians made up 47%. The population as a whole began to decline as the economy stagnated, dropping from 505,000 in 1992 to 424,000 in 2014. These events escalated into the War in Donbas.

In August 2014, Ukrainian government forces completely surrounded rebel-held Luhansk. Heavy shelling caused civilian casualties in the city. On 17 August, Ukrainian soldiers entered the rebel-controlled Luhansk and for a time had control over a police station. A statement released on 22 August by Lithuanian foreign minister Linas Antanas Linkevičius said that the Lithuanian honorary consul in Luhansk, Mykola Zelenec, was abducted by the pro-Russian separatists and murdered. Linkevičius defined the abductors as 'terrorists'. Human Rights Watch reported high civilian casualties in and around the city, recording over 300 civilian deaths caused by explosive weapons between May and September 2014. The temporary administration of Luhansk Oblast was moved to Sievierodonetsk by the government of Ukraine.

On 21 November 2017, armed men in unmarked uniforms took up positions in the center of Luhansk in what appeared to be a power struggle between the head of the republic Igor Plotnitsky and the (sacked by Plotnitsky) LPR appointed interior minister Igor Kornet. Media reports stated that the Donetsk People's Republic, a parallel Russian-backed entity in neighboring Donetsk Oblast, had sent armed troops to Luhansk the following night. The website stated that security minister Leonid Pasechnik had been named acting leader "until the next elections." A record low of was recorded on 8 January 1935.

|source 2 = NOAA (humidity and sun 1991–2020)

|date=June 2012

Administrative divisions

thumb|250px|A map of the [[Urban districts of Ukraine|districts of Luhansk]]

The city of Luhansk is administratively divided into four districts:

  • Zhovtnevyi District (until 1964Oktiabrskyi; de jure since 2026Verhunskyi)

The district includes the settlements of Velyka Vergunka, Mala Vergunka, Krasnyi Yar, and Veselenke. During the Soviet period, these settlements were part of the Vatutynskyi District, which was merged into Zhovtnevyi District in the 1960s.

  • Artemivskyi District (de jure since 2026Vilkhivskyi

In the Ukrainian Census of 2001, 49.6% of the inhabitants declared themselves as ethnically Ukrainians and 47% as Russians. 85.3% of the population spoke Russian as their native language, while 13.7% spoke Ukrainian, 0.2% Armenian and 0.1% Belarusian.

Sport

Luhansk was the home of Zorya Luhansk which plays in the Ukrainian Premier League but due to the Russian invasion and occupation of Luhansk, now plays its matches in Zaporizhzhia. The club won the 1972 Soviet Top League.

Luhansk is also the home of FC Zarya Luhansk which will play in the Russian Second League B Group 1 in the 2026 season. Formed in December 2023, it currently trains in Luhansk but plays home games in Abramovka.

The other football team was Dynamo Luhansk.

Culture

Merheleva Ridge

On 7 September 2006, archaeologists in Ukraine announced that an ancient structure had been discovered near Luhansk, which the press reported as a pyramid antedating those in Egypt by at least 300 years. The stone foundations of the structure were said to resemble Aztec and Mayan pyramids in Mesoamerica. It was later concluded that the site in question was not a pyramid but was still of great interest.

Notable people

thumb|120px|[[Vladimir Dal, 1872]]

thumb|120px|[[Kostiantyn Sytnyk, pre-2012]]

  • Vladislav Anisovich (1908–1969) a Russian and Soviet painter and art educator
  • Vladimir Bobrov (1915–1970) a Soviet fighter pilot and flying ace
  • Nadiya Bychkova (born 1989) a Ukrainian-Slovenian ballroom and Latin American dancer
  • Vladimir Dal (1801–1872), Russian lexicographer and polyglot
  • Dov Feigin (1907–2000) an Israeli sculptor
  • Pavel Luspekayev (1927–1970) a Soviet actor
  • Yulia Malinovsky (born 1975), Israeli politician
  • Mikhail Matusovsky (1915–1990), Soviet poet, songwriter
  • Julia Rysina (born 1989) stage name T-DJ Milana, DJ, composer, dancer and model
  • Leonid Pasechnik (born 1970) leader of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic.
  • Igor Plotnitsky (born 1964) former leader of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic.
  • Andriy Portnov (born 1973) a Ukrainian lawyer and politician.
  • Aleksandr Ptushko (1900–1973) a Soviet animation and fantasy film director
  • Nikolay Shmatko (1943–2020), sculptor, professor and painter
  • Tatyana Snezhina (1972–1995) a Russian poet and singer-songwriter.
  • Kostiantyn Sytnyk (1926–2017) a Ukrainian and Soviet scientist and academician
  • Kliment Voroshilov (1881–1969), Soviet military commander

thumb|120px|[[Sergey Bubka, 2020]]

thumb|120px|[[Irina Kirichenko, 1967]]

thumb|120px|[[Viktor Onopko, 2011]]

Sport

  • Sergey Andreyev (born 1956) a football manager and a former player with 617 club caps and 26 for the Soviet Union
  • Valeriy Brumel (1942–2003), a Soviet high jumper; silver medallist at the 1960 Summer Olympics and gold medallist at the 1964 Summer Olympics
  • Viktor Bryzhin (born 1962) a former sprinter, team gold medallist at the 1988 Summer Olympics.
  • Yelyzaveta Bryzhina (born 1989), sprinter, team bronze medallist at the 2012 Summer Olympics
  • Sergey Bubka (born 1963), Soviet and Ukrainian pole vaulter, former World Record holder, and gold medallist at the 1988 Summer Olympics
  • Vasiliy Bubka (born 1960), Soviet and Ukrainian pole vaulter
  • Fedor Emelianenko (born 1976), Russian heavyweight mixed martial arts and judoka
  • Vyacheslav Glazkov (born 1984) boxer, bronze medallist at the 2008 Summer Olympics
  • Irina Kirichenko (1937–2020) a Soviet sprint cyclist
  • Serhiy Malyi (born 1990) footballer with over 150 club caps and 46 for Kazakhstan
  • Viktor Onopko (born 1969), Russian football player with 462 club caps and 109 for Russia
  • Sergei Semak (born 1976), footballer and manager with 552 club caps and 65 for Russia
  • Andriy Serdinov (born 1982), butterfly swimmer, bronze medallist at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
  • Oleh Shelayev (born 1976), footballer with over 400 club caps and 36 for Ukraine
  • Anton Shoutvin (born 1989), Israeli basketball player
  • Tetyana Skachko (born 1954) long jumper, bronze medallist at the 1980 Summer Olympics
  • Tetyana Tereshchuk-Antipova (born 1969), hurdler, bronze medallist at the 2004 Summer Olympics
  • Sergei Yuran (born 1969), football player with 276 club caps and 25 for Russia
  • Oleksandr Zavarov (born 1961), Soviet and Ukrainian football player and coach with over 450 club caps and 41 for the Soviet Union

International relations

Luhansk is twinned with:

  • Cardiff, United Kingdom
  • Lublin, Poland
  • Székesfehérvár, Hungary
  • Daqing, China
  • Saint-Étienne, France
  • Pernik, Bulgaria