Lysychansk

48.9° N

38.4° E

Donetsk Metallurgical Plant

Industrial

In 1869, the British engineer and entrepreneur John Hughes began the construction of a metallurgical plant and a railway. During Yuz's time, the city was divided into two parts: Factory, "English Colony" - a place where workers who came to Yuzivka from Great Britain lived, and "New World" - an area where local workers lived. The creation of the plant was the cause of mass migration of workers from Wales to the future Donetsk.

Type: Settlement
Region: Donbas
Country: UA
Coordinates: 48.8883, 38.4357

Known as the "Cradle of Donbas," Lysychansk is one of the region's oldest industrial cities, famous for hosting the first Donbas coal mine and a rich 19th-century Belgian architectural heritage.

Founded in 1710 along the high banks of the Siverskyi Donets River, Lysychansk holds a singular place in Ukrainian history as the "Cradle of Donbas." It was here in the 1720s that the region's vast coal deposits were first discovered, leading to the establishment of the Donets Basin's very first industrial coal mine in 1795.

By the late 19th century, the city transformed into a thriving multicultural hub driven by heavy European investment. Belgian industrialist Ernest Solvay established a major soda plant in Lysychansk, alongside which European investors constructed dozens of red-brick public buildings, schools, and hospitals—earning Lysychansk recognition for holding the largest Belgian architectural heritage outside Belgium. Throughout the 20th century, the city expanded its industrial footprint to include glass production and one of Ukraine’s largest oil refineries.

Located in Luhansk Oblast, Lysychansk and its twin city, Sievierodonetsk, suffered catastrophic damage during the Russo-Ukrainian War. Following intense bombardment that destroyed much of its historic European architecture and modern infrastructure, the city fell under Russian military occupation in July 2022.