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Founding
Founding of Sloviansk
city in Kramatorsk Raion, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine
- 1645
- Europe
Founding
city in Kramatorsk Raion, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine
Fetching the article from Wikipedia…
Sloviansk is a city in Donetsk Oblast, northern part of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. The city was known as Tor until 1784. While it did not actually belong to the raion itself, Sloviansk served as the administrative center of the Sloviansk Raion (district) until its abolition on 18 July 2020.
Sloviansk was one of the focal points in the early stages of the war in Donbas, in 2014, as it was one of the first cities to be seized and controlled by Russian-backed rebels (separatists), in mid-April 2014. Ukrainian forces then retook control of the city in July 2014, and since then, Sloviansk has been under Ukrainian control.
The 2001 population of Sloviansk was 141,066. Largely due to the ongoing war in Donbas, by early 2022 this was down to 105,141. Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the city's population fell markedly, to around 24,000 by July 2022, due to shelling, and ongoing war, according to Ukrainian authorities. In April 2023, The Financial Times estimated the population to have recovered to 40–50,000.
People lived in the territory of modern-day Sloviansk and its surrounding suburbs as early as the 4th millennium BC, as confirmed by a Neolithic settlement that was excavated. Two settlements and several burial mounds dating back to the Bronze Age – 2nd millennium BC have also been discovered. The following archaeological sites date back to later periods: three Sarmatian burials (2nd century BC – 1st century AD), a catacomb burial ground of the Saltov culture (8th century – 10th century), and nomadic burials of the 9th – 13th centuries.
Salt was mined at the Tor salt lakes by seasonal traders as early as the late 16th century. At that time, this territory belonged to the Wild Field. The history of Sloviansk dates back to 1645 when Russian Tsar Alexei Romanov founded a border fortress named Tor against the Crimean attacks and slave raids on the southern suburbs of modern Ukraine and Russia. The new Mayatsky Fortress, which laid the foundation for the future city, began construction in 1645 near Lake Mayatskoye. The fort was built as a full-fledged border fortification. The first wooden Orthodox church in honor of Nikolai the Wonderworker was also laid at that time. Three years later, in 1648, the church was burned down during another Crimean Tatar raid.
In 1663, the first attempts to build a city on Tor were made. Plans were drawn up. However, due to the lack of good drinking water and the long distance to the forest, this project was never realized. In 1664, the first salt plant for the extraction of salt was built, and workers began to settle in the area. Saltworks and barns were built, and workers' housing—kurens and dugouts—appeared. The construction of the factory facilitated an influx of settlers, primarily Ukrainians fleeing the Ruin from the western territories. During the salt production season, up to 5,000–10,000 people could be present. A permanent population began to form. It was also then that the name "Tor" was first used to refer to the settlement, after the nearby river. In 1676, by decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, a fortress named Tor was built at the confluence of the Kazennyi Torets and Sukhyy Torets River, where they form the Torets River, a tributary of Donets River. Shortly thereafter, the town of Tor grew up next to the fortress. This year is considered by some researchers to be the official birth year of the future city of Slavyansk. By the beginning of 1677, 245 families already lived there.
From its founding, the Tor Fortress was located on the territory of the Kharkiv Regiment of the Sloboda Ukraine. In 1685, Tor became a small town (township), which formed the Tor Hundred. After the Izyum Sloboda Cossack Regiment separated from it in 1688, the Tor Fortress was assigned to the latter. In 1696, the wooden fortress was almost completely destroyed by fire, but was rebuilt. And the following year, 1697, Tor was devastated by the Tatars. In 1708, the rebuilt Tor fortress withstood a siege by participants in the Bulavin Uprising—a detachment of Cossacks led by Ataman Semyon Alekseevich Drany—who were soon routed near the fortress by the arriving Tsarist detachment.
On December 18, 1708, when the Russian Empire was divided into eight provinces, the town of Tor was assigned to the Azov Province (1708–1725) and, in 1718, to the Kiev Province. In the same year of 1718, a new wooden Nikolaevskaya Church in the name of Saint Nicholas was built. In 1732, the church had a parishioner population of 203 households. By the Imperial Manifesto on the abolition of the Cossack system in Sloboda Ukraine of February 28, 1765, the Cossacks were abolished, and the Cossack regiments were organized into lancers and hussars which became part of the Imperial Army. Regimental and sotnia forms of civil government were formally abolished. On the territory of the Izyum Regiment, the Izyum Province was created, which became part of the Slobodsko-Ukrainian Governorate. In 1774, the foundation of the wooden Holy Resurrection Church was laid on the shore of Lake Veisovo. The church was consecrated in 1775 upon completion. By an imperial decree of October 20, 1775, the Tor fortress was annexed to the jurisdiction of the Bakhmut Province of the newly created Azov Governorate.
The following year, 1776, the Church of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos (Slavyansk) was built. The Church of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos was located behind the fortress wall, in the central square. Both churches belonged to the Belgorod Diocese. Salt production on the Tor Lakes was becoming unprofitable due to the cheaper Astrakhan salt. In 1782, following the annexation of Crimea to the Russian Empire of Grigory Potemkin, it became clear that Crimean salt would create additional competition for Tor salt. On December 21, 1782, the Azov authorities issued a decree to cease salt extraction and deforestation (for its extraction) at the Tor saltworks.
As several salt lakes were located close by, the town soon became a major producer of salt. During the sixteenth century, salt production was the principal local industry. On March 30, 1783, by Imperial decree of Catherine II, the Yekaterinoslav Viceroyalty was formed. It included the territories of the abolished Novorossiysk Governorate and Azov Governorate (1775–1783). In 1784, the city was renamed Slovenske, and a decade later, Sloviansk (Slavyansk). On November 22, 1793, at the request of the merchant society, a town hall was established.
In 1796, after the death of Empress Catherine II, in accordance with the Decree of Paul I "On the New Division of the State into Governorates," issued to the Senate on December 12, Sloboda-Ukrainian Governorate was restored within the viceroyalty, with a territorial change: the town returned to the Sloboda-Ukrainian Governorate and was completely incorporated into the Izyumsky Uyezd. Slavyansk became a provincial town of the Slavyanskaya volost of the Izyumsky uezd. In 1802, the old Vvedenskaya Church was dismantled and moved along with its furnishings to the old city cemetery.
In 1827, military doctor A. Yakovlev was the first to use mud treatment and bathing in Lake Ropne to treat sick soldiers. Four years later, in 1832, a branch of the Chuguev Military Hospital (with 200 beds) was opened near the lake, where mud therapy was used. In 1832, the first resort was established on the shores of Lake Ropne. With the construction of a railway line in 1869, the town grew rapidly, from a population of 5,900 in 1847 to 15,700 by 1897.
Belonged to Sloboda Ukraine Governorate in years 1765–1835 and to Kharkov Governorate in years 1835–1919, the city was transferred to newly created Donets Governorate in 1919.
In April 1918, troops loyal to the Ukrainian People's Republic briefly took control of Sloviansk. Sloviansk was then, along with the rest of Ukraine, incorporated into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.
In World War II, the city was occupied by Nazi Germans on 28 October 1941. In December 1941, the SS Einsatzkommando 4b murdered more than a thousand Jews who lived in Sloviansk. The Red Army temporarily expelled the Nazi occupiers on 17 February 1943. Germans retook it on 1 March 1943. The Red Army finally liberated Sloviansk on 6 September 1943.
Salt extraction in Sloviansk in turn gave rise to salt refining and packaging, soda and other chemical manufacturing. By 1972 there were 18 related enterprises in the city, including plastics and the making of vinyl records. Sloviansk reached its peak population of 143,000 in 1987. Sloviansk would remain as part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic until its dissolution in 1991, after which the city became part of an independent Ukraine.
The 2014 Ukrainian revolution for the most part passed Sloviansk by, with no large-scale gatherings or events in the city, and polls showing people in the east of Ukraine to be largely opposed to the Maidan movement in Kyiv. However, Sloviansk would quickly become the epicentre of events following the fallout of the revolution. On 12 April 2014, in the crisis and chaos which gripped the country following the revolution's installing of the First Yatsenyuk government, a reported 55 armed men, led by Russian military veteran Igor Girkin, known as 'Igor Strelkov' stormed Sloviansk, quickly capturing the executive committee building, the police department, and the SBU office of the city. Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov described the gunmen as "terrorists" and vowed to use the Ukrainian special forces to retake the buildings. On 13 April 2014, there were reports of fighting between the gunmen and Ukrainian troops, with casualties reported on both sides. 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.
Initially, the pro-Russia rebels enjoyed strong support, with the New York Times reporting: "Thousands of residents thronged a large square in front of City Hall to welcome the pro-Russian putsch, chanting "Russia, Russia" and posing for photographs with gunmen they hailed as their saviors from the fascists who had seized power in Kiev with the February ouster of President Victor F. Yanukovych, a Russian-speaker from Donetsk."
Elected mayor of Sloviansk Nelya Shtepa gave a series of contradictory statements on her support for the pro-Russia side, and was then taken captive by the pro-Russia side. Shtepa would be one of several high-profile detainments during rebel control of Sloviansk. On 14 April the pro-Russia side installed their own 'people's mayor' Vyacheslav Ponomarev, to deal with civilian matters, and press, while Strelkov / Girkin took charge of military matters. Throughout April, and May, Ponomarev would hold near daily press conferences in the city's administrative building. On 9 May, Victory Day, there was a parade, and large gathering of people in the central Square of Sloviansk. Nelya Shtepa appeared, the first time she had been seen in public since mid-April, and gave a pro-Russian speech on stage, urging people to vote in the referendum scheduled for 11 May. Recently freed rebel leader Pavel Gubarev also appeared on stage. Referendums went ahead across Donbas on 11 May, including Sloviansk, with the pro-Russia side reporting a turnout of near 75%, with over 90% voting for self rule as part of the Donetsk/Luhansk People's Republics. However, the referendums were not monitored, or endorsed, by any international observers, or organisations, and their results almost universally unrecognised in the west. Russia issued a statement saying they 'respected' the results of the referendums, but stopped short of recognising them.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Sloviansk”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.