Alchevsk

The city originally started off as a workers' settlement built around the Alchevsk Metallurgical Complex in 1895 in Imperial Russia, known briefly as Yuryevka and then as Alchevsk. After the October Revolution, it was claimed by the Soviet Union. In 1931, it was renamed to Voroshylovsk after Kliment Voroshilov. After World War II, it remained a key hub for metallurgy and rapidly grew under the five-year plans implemented. It was renamed to Kommunarsk in 1961 due to the dismantling of personality cults following de-Stalinization, with the name remaining until 1991. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the city became part of Ukraine, and it was then renamed back to Alchevsk in 1991. In 2014, during the War in the Donbas, the city came under the control of pro-Russian separatists, who incorporated it into the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic. After a highly disputed referendum, the region was annexed by Russia in 2022.