Donbas

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.

«Donetsk Soda Plant» was founded in 1892 by the Belgian industrialist Ernest Solve. More than 30 objects of Belgian architectural heritage were found around Donsoda. Near the factory at the beginning of the 19th century. a small town was built with all the infrastructure, part of the buildings remained at the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion.

Founded in 1897 by Belgian industrial interests, the "Russian Providence" metallurgical plant in Mariupol was a modern European enterprise that was later nationalized by the Soviets and merged into the iconic Ilyich Steel and Iron Works.

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.

Situated on the Sea of Azov, the port city of Mariupol grew into a global metallurgical powerhouse in the late 19th century through state-of-the-art American machinery and Belgian-backed industrial enterprises.

Founded in 1889 by German Mennonites, the town of New-York (later renamed Novhorodske by Soviet authorities) grew into a bustling industrial agricultural settlement famous for advanced machinery plants, brick factories, and iconic structures like Peter Dick's steam mill.

One of the largest steam mills in the German Mennonite colony that existed in the Donetsk region at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Built in 1903, it served as the mill of the village of New York and its surrounding area for decades.

Built in 1911 in the Art Nouveau style by architect Yuliy Tsaune, the historic Lysychansk soda factory hospital—a red-brick landmark of the city's European heritage—now stands abandoned and rapidly deteriorating despite efforts by local activists to save it.

Founded in 1869 by Welsh businessman John Hughes, the workers' settlement was initially named Yuzove or Yuzivka after him. It was later renamed Stalino in 1924, before finally being named Donetsk in 1961.