Alchevsk#Winter disaster of 2006

File:St. Nicholas Cathedral, Alchevsk, 280520081212.jpg

File:Director house, Alchevsk, 05042008956.jpg

File:Factory clinic, Alchevsk. 010520081143.jpg

Alchevsk was founded in 1895 with the establishment of an iron works and named after the Russian industrialist Oleksiy Alchevsky who founded the Donetsk–Yuryev Metallurgical Society.Pospelov, p. 27

A local newspaper is published in the city since 1930.№ 2903. Огни коммунизма // Летопись периодических и продолжающихся изданий СССР 1986 – 1990. Часть 2. Газеты. М., «Книжная палата», 1994. стр.381

In 1931, Alchevsk was renamed Voroshylovsk, after Kliment Voroshilov, a Soviet military and party figure.

During World War II, in 1942–1943, the German occupiers operated a Gestapo prison in the city.{{cite web|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=806|title=Gestapogefängnis Alcevs'k|website=Bundesarchiv.de|access-date=27 December 2022|language=de}}

As Voroshilov's personality cult was diminishing, the town was renamed Kommunarsk in 1961. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the original name was restored in 1991.

On 22 January 2006, the city's district heating system collapsed, in what Luhansk Governor Gennady Moskal described as "the worst man-made disaster in the history of independent Ukraine" ({{langx|uk|найгіршою антропогенною катастрофою в історії незалежної України}}).{{cite news|url=https://dn.depo.ua/ukr/dn/drugiy-alchevsk-cherez-dnr-avdiyivka-z-25-tisyachami-zhiteliv-na-mezhi-katastrofi-20170130510061|work=DepoДонбас [Donbass Depot]|script-title=uk:Другий Алчевськ: Через "ДНР" Авдіївка з 25 тисячами жителів на межі катастрофи|trans-title=A Second Alchevsk: the "DPR" has brought Avdiyivka, with 25 000 inhabitants, to the brink of disaster|lang=uk|location=Donbass|date=30 Jan 2017}} It has subsequently become a metonym in Ukrainian political discourse for cities without utility services, particularly during Russian infrastructural attacks in the 2020s invasion.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/ukrainian/features-63516119|publisher=BBC Ukraine|script-title=uk:Замерзле місто України. Як це було в Алчевську в 2006-му і може бути цієї зими|trans-title=Ukraine's Frozen City: This winter may be like Alchevsk in 2006 again|lang=uk|author=Kuryshko, Diana [Куришко, Діана]|date=7 Nov 2022}}

The system had already collapsed once before: in 1972, when the sole boiler failed. Contemporary Soviet authorities had authorized a second, back-up boiler, but did not further decentralize the system to preserve economies of scale.{{cite news|url=https://zn.ua/ukr/politcs_archive/alchevsk_lodovikoviy_period.html|work=ZN.UA|script-title=uk:Алчевськ. Льодовиковий період|trans-title=Alchevsk: An ice age|lang=uk|date=3 Feb 2006|author=Aseev, Yuri [Асєєв, Юрій]}}

In 2006, an underground pipe cracked in unusually cold weather (nearly {{val|-30|ul=°C}}), isolating the main boiler from the system. The heat authority delayed draining the working fluid, and water throughout the system froze and burst additional pipes, some inside the walls of residential apartments. Consequently, many apartments could not be heated even after the boilers were restored to working order. Inhabitants turned to electric space heaters to fill the gap, but these overloaded the grid, leading to rolling blackouts. Some attempted to reuse gas ovens as space heaters, accentuating the effects of a Russian gas boycott.{{cite news|url=https://24tv.ua/chim-ukrayini-zapamyatavsya-2006-rik-novini-alchevska_n1707518#%D0%93%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0%20%D0%B2%D1%96%D0%B9%D0%BD%D0%B0%20%D0%A0%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%96%D1%97%20%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%B8%20%D0%A3%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%97%D0%BD%D0%B8|publisher=Channel 24|department=Ukraine at 30|script-title=uk:Газова війна Росії, прем'єрство Януковича й курйози Черновецького: чим запам'ятався 2006 рік|trans-title=Russia's War by Gas, Yanukovych's Premiership, and Chernovetskiy's Experiments: 2006's top hits|lang=uk|date=11 August 2021|author=Konko, Andrei [Андрій Конько]|at=Item 4}} Without liquid tap water, the sewer system also froze and burst a few days later.

The crisis was particularly urgent for the Ukrainian government, because parliament would hold elections in March. The authorities temporarily evacuated schoolchildren from the area to Crimea and Western Ukraine, but struggled to organize an extensive repair effort. Workers imported to repair the apartments found themselves in substandard housing with inconsistent meals. Nevertheless, immediate repair actions were complete by mid-February.

Later that year, President Yushchenko announced a plan to further harden the system against stress with a set of nine distributed boilers.

Starting mid-April 2014, pro-Russian separatists captured and occupied several towns in the Luhansk Oblast,{{Cite magazine|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/117387/putin-accidentally-helping-unite-eastern-and-western-ukraine|title=Vladimir Putin is Accidentally Bringing Eastern and Western Ukraine Together|magazine=The New Republic|date=16 April 2014|last1=Ragozin|first1=Leonid}}{{cite web|url=http://en.itar-tass.com/world/735082|title=Donbass defenders put WWII tank back into service}} including Alchevsk.{{cite web|url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/pro-russian-rebels-release-four-of-eight-osce-monitors-held-hostage-in-eastern-ukraine-353655.html|title=Pro-Russian rebels release four of eight OSCE monitors held hostage in eastern Ukraine – Jun. 27, 2014|date=27 June 2014}} In the following war in Donbas, the city became a part of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic.{{cite web|url=http://www.rferl.org/media/video/ukraine-separatist-funeral-mozgovoi/27040918.html|title = Ukrainian Separatist Leader Laid to Rest| date=28 May 2015 }}{{cite web|url=http://gkslg.info/files/chisl_0915.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160204211939/http://gkslg.info/files/chisl_0915.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 February 2016|script-title=ru:Численность населения по состоянию на 1 октября 2015 года по Луганской Народной Республ ике|publisher=Luhansk People's Republic|language=ru|access-date=21 December 2015}}

In June 2020, as part of the reform of administrative divisions in Ukraine, Alchevsk was made the administrative center of Alchevsk Raion. This new status is not recognized by the pro-Russian occupation authorities.

After the 2022 Russian annexations of Southern and Eastern Ukraine, the city is now claimed by Russia itself.

The main branches of Alchevsk industry – metallurgical and chemical. Electromechanical, light and food industry is also developed. Currently the city has 17 industrial enterprises.

{{historical populations|3=1926|4=16018|5=1939|6=54531|7=1959|8=97561|9=1970|10=122818|11=1979|12=119756|13=1989|14=125502|15=2001|16=119193|17=2011|18=113002|19=2022|20=106062|align=right|cols=1|source={{cite web|title=Cities & Towns of Ukraine|url=http://pop-stat.mashke.org/ukraine-cities.htm}}}}As of the Ukrainian Census of 2001:{{cite web | url=https://datatowel.in.ua/pop-composition/ethnic-cities | title=Національний склад міст }}{{cite web | url=https://socialdata.org.ua/projects/mova-2001/ | title=Рідні мови в об'єднаних територіальних громадах України }}

{{bar box|title=Ethnic groups in Alchevsk|titlebar=#ddd|left1=|right1=percent|bars={{bar percent|Ukrainians|dodgerblue|51.57}}

{{bar percent|Russians|purple|44.69}}

{{bar percent|Belarusians|red|1.10}}}}

{{bar box|title=Native languages in Alchevsk|titlebar=#ddd|left1=|right1=percent|bars={{bar percent|Russian|purple|83.6}}

{{bar percent|Ukrainian|dodgerblue|15.3}}

{{bar percent|Armenian|brown|0.1}}

{{bar percent|Belarusian|red|0.1}}

{{bar percent|Romani|black|0.1}}}}

The Donbas State Technical University, founded in 1957, is located in Alchevsk.

File:Стадіон «Сталь» (Алчевськ).jpg

Alchevsk is home to the football team FC Stal Alchevsk which currently participates in the Ukrainian First League, the second tier of national football competitions.

{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Ukraine}}

Alchevsk is twinned with:

• {{flagicon|POL}} Dąbrowa Górnicza, Poland
• {{flagicon|HUN}} Dunaújváros, Hungary

• Oleksandr Babych (born 1979), Ukrainian football player and manager
• Yevhen Koshovyi (born 1983), Ukrainian TV presenter
• Krystyna Sankova (born 1996), Ukrainian artistic gymnast
• Andriy Tsvik (born 1971), Ukrainian football player
• Anatoliy Volobuyev (born 1953), Ukrainian football player and coach

{{Reflist}}

• Ye. M. Pospelov. "Имена городов: вчера и сегодня (1917–1992). Топонимический словарь." (City Names: Yesterday and Today (1917–1992). Toponymic Dictionary.) Москва, "Русские словари", 1993.

• [http://alchevsk.su/ Official site of town authorities]
• [http://alchevsk.osp-ua.info Unofficial town page]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20050407171223/http://www.alchevsk.org.ua/ Another unofficial town page]
• [http://www.frozenalchevsk.narod.ru Alchevsk winter disaster page]
• [http://maps.discountrip.com/city-map.php?lang=en&ind=alchevsk Map of Alchevsk] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120326010946/http://maps.discountrip.com/city-map.php?lang=en&ind=alchevsk |date=2012-03-26 }}

{{Luhansk Oblast}}

{{Cities in Ukraine}}

{{2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Alchevsk Raion

Category:Cities in Luhansk Oblast

Category:Populated places established in 1895

Category:Yekaterinoslav Governorate

Category:Cities of regional significance in Ukraine

Category:1895 establishments in the Russian Empire

Category:Populated places established in the Russian Empire

Category:Former Soviet toponymy in Ukraine

Category:Alchevsk urban hromada