Alchevsk
Encyclopedia
Alchevsk is a town
in the Luhansk Oblast
(province
) of eastern Ukraine
. It is separate administrative unit, and is located approximately 45 km from the oblast capital, Luhansk
, and right next to the district capital of Perevalsk
.
The current estimated population is 120,000 (as of 2004).
Alchevsk is one of the largest industrial centers in the Donbas, and comprises a quarter of the entire oblast's production. The city economy depends on OJSC "Alchevsk Iron
& Steel
Works" and "Alchevsk Coke
-Chemical Plant" companies.
The city was known as Voroshylovsk from 1931 to 1961, and then Komunarsk until 1991.
(there is no concrete evidence) the town was renamed into Voroshylovsk. Between 1957 and 1961 the town's name was changing between Alchevsk and Voroshylovsk several times as the Volroshylov
's personality cult was diminishing. Finally, it was decided to name the town as Kommunarsk in honor of the Paris Commune
. With the fall of the Soviet Union, the city resumed its former name of Alchevsk in 1991.
system of the city almost entirely collapsed after an underground heat pipe
line cracked in unusually cold weather (nearly -40 C). As a result, heating equipment in the majority of Alchevsk's buildings was frozen and ruptured, leaving about 60,000 residents with only the protection of individual electric heaters. A few days later the sewage
system also froze due to a lack of warm tap water.
An investigation revealed the massive, long-time negligence of the city authorities. The whole heating system was designed in a hyper-centralized way, depending on only two boiler
s and few main pipelines. Moreover, the housing
company failed to react to the pipe incident properly: the water from the system wasn't immediately dumped to prevent further freezing.
The Ukrainian government took massive emergency actions to protect Alchevsk residents from freezing. Engineering teams sent by cities and industrial companies from other regions of the country were gradually restoring heating appliances in every apartment affected. Hundreds of children together with their schoolteachers were evacuated to the resorts and hotels in the warmer regions of Ukraine. According to the governor of Luhansk Oblast G. Moskal, it has been the worst human-made disaster in the history of independent Ukraine.
The economic consequences of the disaster for the city are unclear—including the central government's subsidization of the total replacement of the heating system in every apartment.
founded in 1957 is located in Alchevsk.
football team FC Stal Alchevsk
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
in the Luhansk Oblast
Luhansk Oblast
Luhansk Oblast ) is the easternmost oblast of Ukraine. Its administrative center is Luhansk. The oblast was established in 1938 and bore the name Voroshilovgrad Oblast in honor of Kliment Voroshilov....
(province
Oblast
Oblast is a type of administrative division in Slavic countries, including some countries of the former Soviet Union. The word "oblast" is a loanword in English, but it is nevertheless often translated as "area", "zone", "province", or "region"...
) of eastern Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. It is separate administrative unit, and is located approximately 45 km from the oblast capital, Luhansk
Luhansk
Luhansk also known as Lugansk is a city in southeastern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Luhansk Oblast . The city itself is also designated as its own separate municipality within the oblast...
, and right next to the district capital of Perevalsk
Perevalsk
Perevalsk is a city in the southwestern part of the Luhansk Oblast of Ukraine. Population is 29,665 .Perevalsk was founded in 1889 as Seleznyovsky Mine. In 1938 it was renamed to Parkommuna, and in 1964to its present name...
.
The current estimated population is 120,000 (as of 2004).
Alchevsk is one of the largest industrial centers in the Donbas, and comprises a quarter of the entire oblast's production. The city economy depends on OJSC "Alchevsk Iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
& Steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
Works" and "Alchevsk Coke
Coke (fuel)
Coke is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made.- History :...
-Chemical Plant" companies.
The city was known as Voroshylovsk from 1931 to 1961, and then Komunarsk until 1991.
History
Alchevsk was founded in 1895 with the establishment of an iron works as the railroad station Yuryivka. However, soon in 1903 it was renamed into Alchevsk in honor of the local Russian oligarch of Ukrainian descent Aleksey Alchevsky who died just prior to that. He was famous for the financial and industrial development of the eastern part of Ukraine and particularly the Donbas region. Later his children as well as his wife have made enormous contribution in the development of the Ukrainian culture through poetry and music. After the establishment of the Soviet regime sometime around the time of HolodomorHolodomor
The Holodomor was a man-made famine in the Ukrainian SSR between 1932 and 1933. During the famine, which is also known as the "terror-famine in Ukraine" and "famine-genocide in Ukraine", millions of Ukrainians died of starvation in a peacetime catastrophe unprecedented in the history of...
(there is no concrete evidence) the town was renamed into Voroshylovsk. Between 1957 and 1961 the town's name was changing between Alchevsk and Voroshylovsk several times as the Volroshylov
Kliment Voroshilov
Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov , popularly known as Klim Voroshilov was a Soviet military officer, politician, and statesman...
's personality cult was diminishing. Finally, it was decided to name the town as Kommunarsk in honor of the Paris Commune
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune was a government that briefly ruled Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871. It existed before the split between anarchists and Marxists had taken place, and it is hailed by both groups as the first assumption of power by the working class during the Industrial Revolution...
. With the fall of the Soviet Union, the city resumed its former name of Alchevsk in 1991.
Winter disaster of 2006
On January 22, 2006, the district heatingDistrict heating
District heating is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location for residential and commercial heating requirements such as space heating and water heating...
system of the city almost entirely collapsed after an underground heat pipe
Heat pipe
A heat pipe or heat pin is a heat-transfer device that combines the principles of both thermal conductivity and phase transition to efficiently manage the transfer of heat between two solid interfaces....
line cracked in unusually cold weather (nearly -40 C). As a result, heating equipment in the majority of Alchevsk's buildings was frozen and ruptured, leaving about 60,000 residents with only the protection of individual electric heaters. A few days later the sewage
Sewage
Sewage is water-carried waste, in solution or suspension, that is intended to be removed from a community. Also known as wastewater, it is more than 99% water and is characterized by volume or rate of flow, physical condition, chemical constituents and the bacteriological organisms that it contains...
system also froze due to a lack of warm tap water.
An investigation revealed the massive, long-time negligence of the city authorities. The whole heating system was designed in a hyper-centralized way, depending on only two boiler
Boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...
s and few main pipelines. Moreover, the housing
House
A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...
company failed to react to the pipe incident properly: the water from the system wasn't immediately dumped to prevent further freezing.
The Ukrainian government took massive emergency actions to protect Alchevsk residents from freezing. Engineering teams sent by cities and industrial companies from other regions of the country were gradually restoring heating appliances in every apartment affected. Hundreds of children together with their schoolteachers were evacuated to the resorts and hotels in the warmer regions of Ukraine. According to the governor of Luhansk Oblast G. Moskal, it has been the worst human-made disaster in the history of independent Ukraine.
The economic consequences of the disaster for the city are unclear—including the central government's subsidization of the total replacement of the heating system in every apartment.
Education
The Donbas State Technical UniversityDonbas State Technical University
Donbas State Technical University is the university located in Alchevsk. It is a large centre of technical education and science in Ukraine.- History :The Donbas State Technical University was formed on October 12, 1957...
founded in 1957 is located in Alchevsk.
Sports
Alchevsk is home to the premier leagueUkrainian Premier League
The Ukrainian Premier League is the highest division of Ukrainian annual football championship. As the Supreme League it was founded in 1991 after the fold of the Soviet Union's Vysshaya Liga. In 2008 it was reformed into a more autonomous entity of the Football Federation of Ukraine and changed...
football team FC Stal Alchevsk
FC Stal Alchevsk
FC Stal Alchevsk is a Ukrainian professional football team of the Ukrainian First League that is based in Alchevsk. "Stal" is the Russian for "steel". The name was chosen as the pride for the heavily industrialized region of the country....