Sloviansk

Sloviansk (Ukrainian: Слов'я́нськ, romanized: Sloviansk [slou̯ˈjɑnʲsʲk]; Russian: Славя́нск, romanized: Slavyansk[2] [slɐˈvʲansk] or Сла́вянск [ˈslavʲɪnsk]; prior to 1784 - Tor[3]) is a city of oblast significance in Donetsk Oblast, eastern part of Ukraine. It was founded in 1676.

For other uses, see Slavyansk (disambiguation).

Sloviansk
Слов'янськ
City
Flag
Coat of arms
Sloviansk
Sloviansk
Coordinates: 48°51′12″N 37°37′30″E
Country Ukraine
Oblast Donetsk Oblast
Founded1645
Government
 • MayorVadym Liakh[1] (Opposition Bloc[1])
Area
 • Total58.9 km2 (22.7 sq mi)
Population
 (2021)
 • Total106,972
ClimateDfb
Websitehttp://www.slavrada.gov.ua/

Sloviansk was one of the focal points in the early stages of the 2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine as it was the first city to be seized by Russia-backed military troops.[4][5] It was retaken by Ukrainian forces in July 2014. Sloviansk has a population of 106,972 (2021 est.)[6].

History
Sloviansk train station, 1917 postcard.

The history of Sloviansk dates back to 1645 when Russian Tsar Alexei Romanov founded a border fortress named Tor[7] against the Crimean attacks and slave raids on the southern suburbs of modern Ukraine and Russia.[8] In 1664 a first salt plant for the extraction of salt was built, and workers settled in the area.[9]

In 1676, a fortress named Tor was built at the confluence of the Kazenyy Torets and Sukhyy Torets Rivers, where they form the Torets River, a tributary of Donets River.[10] Shortly thereafter, the town of Tor grew up next to the fortress.[8]

As several salt lakes were located close by, the town became a producer of salt. During the sixteenth century, salt production was the principal local industry. During the eighteenth century, it became unprofitable and salt production ceased in 1782.

In 1784, the city was renamed Sloviansk. It became a part of the Kharkov Governorate of the Russian Empire in 1797. A resort was established on the shores of Lake Ropne in 1832.

In April 1918 troops loyal to the Ukrainian People's Republic took control of Sloviansk.[11]

The city was occupied by the Germans on 28 October 1941. In December 1941, the SS Einsatzkommando 4b executed more than a thousand Jews who lived in Sloviansk.[12] The Red Army temporarily expelled the Nazi occupiers on 17 February 1943. Germans retook it on 1 March 1943. The Red Army retook Sloviansk on 6 September 1943.

2014 clashes
Main articles: 2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine and Siege of Sloviansk

On 12 April 2014, during the ongoing crisis following the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, masked men in army fatigues and bulletproof vests armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles captured the executive committee building, the police department, and the SBU office in Sloviansk.[13] Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov described the gunmen as "terrorists" and vowed to use the Ukrainian special forces to retake the building.[14][15]

On 13 April 2014, there were reports of fighting between the gunmen and Ukrainian troops, with casualties on both sides.[16][17] The BBC's David Stern described the pro-Russian forces as carrying Russian weapons and resembling the soldiers that took over Crimean installations at the start of the 2014 Crimean crisis.[16]

On 29 May 2014, a helicopter carrying fourteen army soldiers, including General Serhiy Kulchytskiy - the head of combat and special training for Ukraine's National Guard, crashed after being shot down by militants near Sloviansk. Ukraine's outgoing President Olexander Turchynov described the downing as a "terrorist attack," and blamed pro-Russian militants.[18]

Sloviansk was held by Russian-backed separatists[19] until 5 July 2014. When pressed by the Ukrainian army they retreated from Sloviansk and pulled back to Donetsk city.[20]

In 2015 a plaque to the memory of Volodymyr Rybak was placed in the town center.[21]

2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Main article: Eastern Ukraine offensive

During the 2022 invasion of Ukraine Sloviansk was a pivotal city in the eastern front, as part of a second phase of the war, following the Russian retreated from Kyiv. Russian forces have recently seized the strategic town of Izyum and used it as a staging post to attack Slovyansk, to the south. The town of Slovyansk is thought to be critical to Moscow’s objective of capturing all of eastern Ukraine.[22]

Demographics

According to the 2001 Ukrainian Census:[23]

Ethnicity
Ukrainians 104,423 73.1%
Russians 33,649 23.6%
Turks 829 0.6%
Belarusians 766 0.5%
Armenians 592 0.4%
Greeks 320 0.2%
Roma people 279 0.2%
Azerbaijanis 208 0.1%

Total population: 141,066

Climate

The climate in Sloviansk is a mild to warm summer subtype (Köppen: Dfb) of the humid continental climate.

Climate data for Sloviansk
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Daily mean °C (°F) −5.9
(21.4)		 −5.4
(22.3)		 −0.2
(31.6)		 9.4
(48.9)		 16.2
(61.2)		 20.0
(68.0)		 21.7
(71.1)		 20.8
(69.4)		 15.5
(59.9)		 8.4
(47.1)		 1.8
(35.2)		 −2.5
(27.5)		 8.3
(46.9)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 45
(1.8)		 34
(1.3)		 27
(1.1)		 39
(1.5)		 42
(1.7)		 57
(2.2)		 51
(2.0)		 40
(1.6)		 39
(1.5)		 30
(1.2)		 42
(1.7)		 44
(1.7)		 490
(19.3)
Source: Climate-Data.org[24]

Economy
The Sloviansk Balneological Institute

The principal industry of the city concerns machine building:

  • The Slovvazhmash heavy-machinery production plant which produces chemical equipment for coke production and use for the businesses in Lipetsk, Kemerovo and Cherepovets. Companies in Mariupol, Kryvyi Rih, Donetsk, and Kamianske use their products.
  • The Betonmash machine-building factory which produces concrete mixing plants, spare parts for mining equipment and metal works, parts for coke ovens. The factory provides foundry services for companies across Donetsk Oblast, Kharkiv Oblast, and Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
  • The Sloviansk mechanical plant which employs approximately four hundred people. It produces chemical equipment for coke production as well as overhead cranes and other machinery.
  • The Artem Armature-insulator factory.
  • A factory producing high-voltage insulators for hydroelectric power stations and thermal power-stations.

Sloviansk is an important health resort, providing spa treatments and mud baths using mud from the bottom of salt lakes located nearby.

Administration

Sloviansk served as the administrative center of the Sloviansk Raion (district) until its abolition on 18 July 2020, though it did not belong to the raion.

Transport
Sloviansk Railway Station

Sloviansk is a nexus of a number of railways and roads. There are three railway stations currently in use, one defunct. Three railway lines leave the city in directions of Lozova, Lyman and Kramatorsk.

Ukrainian international highway M03 goes by the edge of Sloviansk. The national highway N-20 leaves from the city toward Mariupol. The local population is served by a trolleybus network consisting of two permanent routes and one summer route. Marshrutkas are widely used.

Religious organizations
The Church of the Resurrection of Christ

Christian churches:

  • Cathedral of New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Orthodox Church
  • Church of the Resurrection of Christ
  • Church of the Andrew the Apostle
  • Church of Oleksandr Nevskyi
  • Church of Seraphim Sarovsky
  • The "Kind New" Christian Center Church
  • Church of Jesus Christ of the Protestant Church of Ukraine

Notable people

See also

References
  1. CEC names winners of mayoral elections in Uzhgorod, Berdiansk, Sloviansk, Interfax-Ukraine (23 November 2020)
  2. "Slavyansk: Ukraine". Geographical Names. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  3. "СЛОВ'ЯНСЬК , МІСТО ДОНЕЦЬКОЇ ОБЛ". resource.history.org.ua. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  4. "'Casualties' in Ukraine gun battles". BBC News. 13 April 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  5. "Семнадцать километров мы шли маршем через границу". Svpressa. Archived from the original on 16 July 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2032. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  6. Чисельність наявного населення України на 1 січня 2021 / Number of Present Population of Ukraine, as of January 1, 2021 (PDF) (in Ukrainian and English). Kyiv: State Statistics Service of Ukraine.
  7. Горбунов-Посадов, М.М. (2020). "БОЛЬШАЯ СОЮЗНАЯ ЭНЦИКЛОПЕДИЯ". Проектирование цифрового будущего. Научные подходы. АО "РИЦ "ТЕХНОСФЕРА". doi:10.22184/978.5.94836.575.6.82.87.
  8. "Города и области Украины. Справочник по Украине". Ukrainian.SU. Archived from the original on 16 August 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
  9. "Славянск - город Тор, курорт и воин". sotok.net. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  10. "Slov'yansk (Ukraine) - Encyclopædia Britannica". Britannica.com. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  11. (in Ukrainian) 100 years ago Bakhmut and the rest of Donbass liberated, Ukrayinska Pravda (18 April 2018)
  12. "Yahad - in Unum".
  13. Rachkevych, Mark (12 April 2014). "Armed pro-Russian extremists launch coordinated attacks in Donetsk Oblast, seize buildings and set up checkpoints". Kyiv Post.
  14. "Armed men seize police department in east Ukraine: minister". Reuters. 12 April 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
  15. "Gunmen seize Ukraine police station in Sloviansk". BBC News. 12 April 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
  16. "Ukraine crisis: Casualties in Sloviansk gun battles". BBC News. 13 April 2014.
  17. "Ukraine Army Launches 'Anti-Terror' Operation". Sky News via Yahoo! News. 13 April 2014.
  18. "General, 13 soldiers killed as militants down military helicopter". Russia Herald. Archived from the original on 31 May 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  19. "Obama: Ukraine 'Vulnerable' To Russian 'Military Domination'". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  20. "Ukraine President Poroshenko hails 'turning point'". BBC. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
  21. "Remembering Volodymyr Rybak: a year since the murder". EMPR: Russia - Ukraine war news, latest Ukraine updates. 18 April 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  22. Rob Picheta. "The fight for Sloviansk may be 'the next pivotal battle' of Russia's war in Ukraine". CNN. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  23. Національний склад та рідна мова населення Донецької області [Ethnic and linguistic composition of Donetsk Oblast] (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 8 July 2012.
  24. "Climate: Sloviansk". Climate-Data.org. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
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