Luhansk

A monument to Charles Gascoigne next to the local museum

One of the Mk V tanks used by the Don Army during the Russian Civil War

The city traces its history to 1795 when the British industrialist Charles Gascoigne founded a metal factory near the Zaporizhian Cossacks settlement Kamianyi Brid. The settlement around the factory was known as Luganskiy Zavod. In 1882 the factory settlement Luganskiy Zavod was merged with the town of Kamianyi Brid into the city of Luhansk (also Luhanske, according to the Kharkiv orthography).

Located in the Donets Basin, Luhansk developed into an important industrial center of Eastern Europe, particularly as a home to the major locomotive-building company Luhanskteplovoz. The city was occupied by Nazi Germany between 14 July 1942 and 14 February 1943.

On 5 November 1935, the city was renamed Voroshilovgrad (Russian: Ворошиловград, romanized: Voroshilovgrad; Ukrainian: Ворошиловград, romanized: Voroshylovhrad) in honour of Soviet military commander and politician Kliment Voroshilov. On 5 March 1958, after Khrushchev's call to not name cities after living people, the old name was reinstated.[2][3]

On 5 January 1970, after the death of Voroshilov on 2 December 1969, the name changed again to Voroshilovgrad. On 4 May 1990, a decree of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR gave the city back its original name.

In 1994 a referendum took place in the Donetsk Oblast and the Luhansk Oblast, with around 90% supporting the Russian language gaining status of an official language alongside Ukrainian, and for the Russian language to be an official language on a regional level. The referendum was annulled by the Ukrainian government.[4]

Pro-Russian unrest in Luhansk, April 2014

During the war in Donbas, separatists seized governmental buildings in the region, proclaiming the Luhansk People's Republic. An independence referendum, unconstitutional under Ukrainian law, was held on 11 May 2014. This referendum was not recognized as legitimate by any government except South Ossetia.[5][6] Ukraine does not recognize the referendum, while the EU and US said the referendums were illegal.[7]

On 25 June 2014, by the separatist government of the Luhansk People's Republic declared Luhansk the capital.[8]

In August 2014, Ukrainian government forces completely surrounded rebel-held Luhansk.[9] Heavy shelling caused civilian casualties in the city.[10][11][12] On 17 August, Ukrainian soldiers entered the rebel-controlled Luhansk and for a time had control over a police station.[13]

After the Ilovaisk counteroffensive, LPR forces regained Lutuhyne and other Luhansk suburbs. Ukrainian forces withdrew from the Luhansk International Airport on 1 September, 2014, after heavy fighting.[14]

Luhansk became the capital and the administrative center of the rebel state of Luhansk People's Republic. The administration of the Luhansk Oblast was moved to Sievierodonetsk by the government of Ukraine.

• Artemivskyi Raion
  • city of Oleksandrivsk
  • urban-type settlement Yuvileine
• Kamiano-Bridskyi Raion
• Zhovtnevyi Raion
• Leninskyi Raion

Some of the more prestigious universities in Ukraine have their home in Luhansk. Luhansk is the location of the main campus of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Luhansk, East Ukrainian Volodymyr Dahl National University and of Luhansk State Medical University.

A map of the Raions of Luhansk

In the Ukrainian Census of 2001,[15] 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.

Luhansk is home to Zorya Luhansk which now plays in the Ukrainian Premier League annual football championship and plays at the Avanhard Stadium. The club won the 1972 Soviet Top League.

The other football team was Dynamo Luhansk.

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.

During 2014 and 2015, Luhansk has been the scene of intense fighting and most of these buildings are damaged to some extent. Some may be destroyed.

• 
  Luhansk University
• 
  Radianska Street at night
• 
  Luhansk Hotel
• 
  St. Volodymyr Cathedral
• 
  Luhansk Railway station
• 
  Soviet buildings in the central city
• 
  City old hospital
• 
  Monument to Vladimir Dal
• 
  Lugansk Drama Theatre
• 
  A consumer electronics and appliance store, heavily damaged as a consequence of the war in Donbas.
• 
  Monument to the Revolution Heroes

Luhansk has a hot summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa). Luhansk has both the highest and lowest temperature recorded in Ukraine. A record high of 42.0 °C (107.6 °F) was recorded on 12 August 2010, which is the highest temperature to have ever been recorded in Ukraine.[16][17] A record low of −41.9 °C (−43.4 °F) was recorded on 8 January 1935.[18]

Sergey Bubka

Anton Shoutvin

• Valeriy Brumel (1942–2003), Soviet olympic champion
• Yelyzaveta Bryzhina (born 1989), Ukrainian sprinter, bronze Medal 4 × 100 m relay at the 2012 Summer Olympics
• Sergey Bubka (born 1963), Soviet and Ukrainian pole vaulter, former World Record holder, and Olympic Champion
• Vasiliy Bubka (born 1960), Soviet and Ukrainian pole vaulter
• Vladimir Dal (1801–1872), Russian lexicographer
• Fedor Emelianenko (born 1976), mixed martial arts champion
• Yulia Malinovsky (born 1975), Israeli politician
• Mikhail Matusovsky (1915–1990), Soviet poet, songwriter
• T-DJ Milana (Julia Igorevna Rysina; born 1989), DJ, composer, dancer and model
• Viktor Onopko, Russian football player
• Sergei Semak, Russian football player
• Andriy Serdinov (born 1982), swimmer
• Nikolay Shmatko (born 1943), sculptor, professor and painter
• Anton Shoutvin (born 1989), Israeli basketball player
• Tetyana Tereshchuk-Antipova (born 1969), 400m hurdler
• Kliment Voroshilov (1881–1969), Soviet military commander
• Sergei Yuran (born 1969), football player
• Oleksandr Zavarov (born 1961), Soviet and Ukrainian football player and coach

Luhansk is twinned with:

• Cardiff, United Kingdom[21][22]
• Lublin, Poland[22][23]
• Székesfehérvár, Hungary[22][24]
• Daqing, China[22][25]
• Saint-Étienne, France[22][26]
• Pernik, Bulgaria[22]

• Luhansk People's Republic
• Luhansk Airlines
• Luhansk Airport
• Luhanskteplovoz
• Merheleva Ridge
• Aviation Technical Museum (Luhansk)

Look up luhansk in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Media related to Luhansk at Wikimedia Commons
• Luhansk travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Official website of the Luhansk city council
• Former website of the Luhansk city council (last updated July 2015)
• Topographic map 1:100 000