Welcome to Donetsk

How to get from Airport to the city center by a car

2011-02-14T11:51:00.001+02:00

English Speaking Club in Donetsk

2011-02-10T14:04:00.002+02:00

Are you going to visit Donetsk? You can find new friends in this city by donating your time to the local residents who are learning English.

If you desire to join any of the clubs and share your ideas or experience in any subject, just send me an e-mail about your schedule at andrew@dta.org.ua and I'll repy with any possible opportunities for you.

If English is not you mother tongue, please mention your language in your e-mail.

Sincerely,
Andrew

Does your business speak English?

2010-12-15T18:57:00.004+02:00

You reside in Donetsk and your business speaks English? That's great! Kindly send us as much information about yourself as possible and we will publish it on this blog.

E-mail us at donetsk@wtu.org.ua

Sports

2009-04-15T16:48:00.000+03:00

Three major professional football clubs play in the city, which include two in the Ukrainian Premier League and one in the Ukrainian Second League: Shakhtar Donetsk, which plays at the RSK Olimpiyskyi Stadium, Metalurh Donetsk, which plays at the Shakhtar Stadium, and FC Olimpik Donetsk

The MFC Shakhtar Donetsk won the Ukrainian futsal championship five times.

The VC Shakhtar Donetsk were the last team to win the Soviet Volleyball Championship, in 1992.

The city also has a team in the Ukrainian Basketball Super League, BC Donetsk.

In Donetsk, the USSR Tennis Championship took place within the city in 1978, 1979, and 1980 near the Donetsk Railroad tennis courts. Some tennis matches of the Davis Cup took place in Donetsk in 2005.

In Donetsk, the Soviet Championship on Light Athletics in Youth took place in 1978, 1979, 1980, and 1984. A monument to famous pole vault athlete Serhiy Bubka is installed in the city.

In the city, sailboat championships take place on the city's Kalmius river.

When the joint bid for the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship was won by Poland and Ukraine, Donetsk's future Shakhtar Stadium was chosen as the location for 3 Group Matches, Quarter-Final, and Semi-Final matches. The RSK Olimpiyskyi Stadium was chosen as a reserve stadium.

History

2009-04-15T16:46:00.000+03:00

During the Russian Revolution, Donetsk became a major town of the short-lived Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic, which was later to be incorporated into the Ukrainian SSR. In 1924, under the Soviet rule, the city's name was changed to Stalino. In July 1933, the city became the administrative centre of the Donetsk Oblast of the Ukrainian SSR.

In the beginning of World War II, the population of Stalino consisted of 507,000, and after the war - only 175,000. The Nazi invasion during World War II almost completely destroyed the city, which was mostly rebuilt on a large scale at the war's end.

The territory of Donetsk in the Great Patriotic War consisted mainly of a Jewish ghetto, in which 3,000 Jews died, and a concentration camp in which 92,000 people were killed. During the war, a collective responsibility system was enforced. For every killed German soldier, 100 inhabitants were killed, and one for every killed policeman.

During Nikita Khrushchev's second wave of destalinization in November 1961, all Soviet cities named after Joseph Stalin were renamed, even though Stalino was named after its steel industry rather than Stalin himself, the name was changed to Donetsk, after the Seversky Donets river, a tributary of the Don.

In 1965, the Donetsk Academy of Sciences was established as part of the Academy of Science of the Ukrainian SSR. In 1970, Donetsk was recognized by UNESCO as the cleanest industrial town of the world. Donesk was granted the Order of Lenin in 1979.

Residents of the city tend to be pro-Russian in their political beliefs. This has been massively exploited during 2004 presidential election, in which the city mostly voted for candidate Viktor Yanukovych, which had been announced as the winner of the election by the Central Election Commission. The vote was later proven to have been falsified, with many of the falsified votes coming from the surrounding region. This led to an election re-run, thus making Yanukovych lose the election. During the 2006 Ukrainian parliamentary elections, the Yanukovych-led Party of Regions also won most of the votes from the region.

Geography

2009-04-15T16:42:00.000+03:00

Donetsk is located in the steppe landscape of Ukraine, surrounded by scattered woodland, slag heaps, rivers, and lakes. The northern outskirts of the city are mainly used for agriculture. The Azov Sea, 95 km south of Donetsk, is a popular recreational area.

The city stretches 28 km from the North to South and 55 km from the East to West.

The city contains 125 slag heaps.

Donetsk's climate is moderate continental. The average temperatures are −5 °C (23 °F) in January and +18 °C (66 °F) in June. The average number of rainfall per year totals 162 days and up to 556 millimetres per year.

Brief Overview of Donetsk

2009-04-15T16:26:00.003+03:00

Donetsk is a large city in Eastern Ukraine on the Kalmius river. This is a center of Donetsk Oblast, and at the same time it is the unofficial capital and largest city of the economic and cultural region called Donbass (Donets Basin).

The city was founded in 1869 by a Welsh businessman, John Hughes, who constructed a steel plant and several coal mines in the region; the town was thus named Yuzovka in recognition of his role in its founding. During Soviet times, the city's steel industry was expanded and since 1924 it was renamed Stalino, after Joseph Stalin, and hence renamed after 1961, during the De-Stalinisation to its modern name after the Seversky Donets river.

Today, the city still remains an important industrial centre for coal and steel in Ukraine, and houses the "Donetsk" special economic zone, established in 1998.

During a 2- to 3-day stay in Donetsk you can get to know this unique city of miners, metal workers and builders. The city has a local lore museum, an art gallery and many industrial enterprises.

In the evening you can learn more of Ukrainian art by visiting the Opera and Ballet Theatre, the Ukrainian Music and Drama Theatre, the Regional Philharmonic, or go to the cinema.

The city is currently home to two major professional football teams in Ukraine: Shakhtar Donetsk and Metalurh Donetsk, both of which currently play in the Ukrainian Premier League. Important attractions of the city include the Cathedral Transfiguration of Jesus, the Donetsk National University, and others.

Donetsk currently has a population of over 1,100,000 inhabitants.