Popasna Raion

Popasna Raion (Ukrainian: Попаснянський район, romanized: Popasnianskyi raion; Russian: Попаснянский район, romanized: Popasnyanskiy rayon) was a raion (district) in Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine until its abolition in 2020. The administrative center was the town of Popasna. The last estimate of the raion population was 74,028 (2020 est.).^[1]

Popasnianskyi Raion Попаснянський район
Raion
Flag Coat of arms
Coordinates: 48°41′43″N 38°25′6″E
Country	Ukraine
Region	Luhansk Oblast
Established	7 March 1923
Disestablished	18 July 2020
Admin. center	Popasna
Subdivisions	List   1 — city councils   7 — settlement councils 3 — rural councils Number of localities:   1 — cities   7 — urban-type settlements 17 — villages   10 — rural settlements
Area
• Total	1,325 km2 (512 sq mi)
Population  (2020)
• Total	74,028
• Density	56/km2 (140/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+02:00 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+03:00 (EEST)
Postal index	93300—93354
Area code	+380 6474
Website	http://pps.loga.gov.ua

History

20th century

On 7 March 1923, the raion was originally created as Komyshuvakha Raion,^{[lower-alpha 1]} with its administrative center in Komyshuvakha. It was subordinated to Bakhmut Okruha within Donets Governorate.^[2] In December 1924, the administrative center was moved to Popasna, and the raion was renamed to Popasna Raion accordingly.^[3] On 15 September 1930, all the okruhas of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic were abolished, so Popasna Raion became directly subordinated to the Ukrainian SSR.^[4] In February 1932, Popasna Raion was abolished, in connection with the establishment of the oblasts of Ukraine. The constituent local councils of Popasna Raion were divided between Artemivsk Raion and Kadiivka Raion.^[5]

In June 1936, the raion was re-created as Kahanovych Raion^{[lower-alpha 2]} within Donetsk Oblast, with its center in Popasna - which, at the time, was renamed after Lazar Kaganovich.^[6] On 3 June 1938, a large portion of Donetsk Oblast,^{[lower-alpha 3]} including Kahanovych Raion, was split off to create Voroshilovhrad Oblast (now Luhansk Oblast)^[7] On 12 June 1944, Kahanovych Raion was renamed to Popasna Raion.^[8]

On 30 December 1962, the raion was abolished again, and its territory transferred to Lysychansk Raion,^{[lower-alpha 4]} which had its center in Lysychansk.^[9] On 30 December 1977, Lysychansk Raion was renamed to Popasna Raion, when its seat was moved from Lysychansk to Popasna.^[10]

21st century

During the war in Donbas that began in 2014, the Ukrainian authorities lost control over parts of Popasna Raion to the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), an unrecognized, Russia-backed breakaway state.^[11][12] On 7 October 2014, to facilitate the governance of partially-occupied Luhansk Oblast, the Verkhovna Rada made some changes in its administrative divisions, so that the localities in the government-controlled areas were grouped into districts. In particular, the urban-type settlement of Chornukhyne was transferred to Popasna Raion from Perevalsk Raion, the urban-type settlement of Novotoshkivske from Kirovsk Municipality, and the settlements Hirske, Zolote, Nyzhnie and Toshkivka from Pervomaisk Municipality. This resulted in the area of the raion increasing by 14,174 hectares.^[13] The part of Popasna Raion under control of the Luhansk People's Republic were transferred to other administrative units as well.^{[citation needed]}

The Ukrainian raion was abolished for a third and final time on 18 July 2020 as part of the decentralizing administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Luhansk Oblast to eight, of which only four were controlled by the government.^[14][15]

The unrecognized Luhansk People's Republic continued to use Popasna Raion as a nominal administrative division for the next few years, despite not controlling Popasna. In 2022, during the battle of Popasna of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Popasna was completely destroyed by Russia and the LPR, who began an occupation of what remained of the city. In March 2023, legal documents of the Luhansk People's Republic - which by that point had been explicitly annexed by Russia - stopped using Popasna Raion as an administrative unit, due to the extreme level of destruction of the city and its surroundings.^[16]

Demographics

Population history

Year Pop. ±% 1970 41,077[17] —     1979 71,867[17] +75.0% 1989 66,295[17] −7.8%

Year Pop. ±% 2001 50,559[17] −23.7% 2013 40,620[18] −19.7% 2020 74,028[1] +82.2%

As of the 2001 Ukrainian census, the population of Popasna Raion was 50,559.^[17] The self-reported ethnic distribution of the raion was:^[19]

• Ukrainians: 81.1%
• Russians: 17.5%
• Belarusians: 0.5%

By 2013, the population had shrunk to 40,620. Of that number, 31,180 (76.76%) lived in urban areas, and 9,440 (23.24%) lived in rural areas.^[18]

Notes

1. Ukrainian: Комишевахський район
2. Ukrainian: Кагановичський район
3. At the time, Donetsk Oblast was known as Stalino Oblast, after Joseph Stalin.
4. Ukrainian: Лисичанський район, romanized: Lysychanskyi raion; Russian: Лисичанский район, romanized: Lisichanskiy rayon

References

1. Чисельність наявного населення України на 1 січня 2020 року / Population of Ukraine Number of Existing as of January 1, 2020 (PDF) (in Ukrainian and English). Kyiv: State Statistics Service of Ukraine. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 September 2023.
2. ЗУРРСУУ/1923/1/18-19/Про адміністративно-територіяльний поділ Донеччини  (in Ukrainian) – via Wikisource.
3. ЗУРРСУУ/1924/1/49/Про зміни в адміністраційно-територіяльному поділі Донеччини  (in Ukrainian) – via Wikisource.
4. ЗЗРРСУУ/1930/1/23/Про ліквідацію округ та перехід на двоступневу систему управління  (in Ukrainian) – via Wikisource.
5. ЗЗРРСУУ/1932/5/Про утворення областей на території УСРР  (in Ukrainian) – via Wikisource.
6. ЗЗРРСУУ/1936/34/Про утворення Боково-Антрацитівського, Дзержинського, Кагановичського, Сніжнянського та Харцизького районів Донецької обл…  (in Ukrainian) – via Wikisource.
7. Указ Президиума ВС СССР от 03.06.1938 о разделении Донецкой области УССР на Сталинскую и Ворошиловградскую области  (in Russian) – via Wikisource.
8. Указ ПВР УРСР від 12.6.1944 «Про перейменування Кагановичського району, Ворошиловградської області та Орджонікідзевського району…»  (in Ukrainian) – via Wikisource.
9. Указ Президії Верховної Ради УРСР від 30.12.1962 «Про укрупнення сільських районів Української РСР»  (in Ukrainian) – via Wikisource.
10. Указ Президії Верховної Ради №2882-IX от 30.12.1977, Про перенесення центру Лисичанського району Ворошиловградської області в місто Попасну і перейменування району на Попаснянський. [Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet No. 2882-IX dated 30 December 1977, On the transfer of the centre of Lysychansk Raion of Voroshilovgrad Oblast to the city of Popasna and the renaming of the district to Popasnyanskyi.]. search.ligazakon.ua. Archived from the original on 2019-08-14. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
11. "Head of Zolote in Donbas: Gray zone shrinks with liberated village". UNIAN. 2 July 2018.
12. "Без крыши над головой: как помогают, оставшимся без дома жителям Луганщины". tribun.com.ua (in Russian). Retrieved 2017-08-05.
13. "Про зміни в адміністративно-територіальному устрої Луганської області, зміну і встановлення меж Перевальського і Попаснянського районів Луганської області". Офіційний вебпортал парламенту України (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2023-12-15.
14. "Про утворення та ліквідацію районів. Постанова Верховної Ради України № 807-ІХ". Голос України (in Ukrainian). 2020-07-18. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
15. "Нові райони: карти + склад" (in Ukrainian). Міністерство розвитку громад та територій України. 17 July 2020.
16. Kuzmenko, Svitlana; Schreck, Carl (2023-06-11). "The Ukrainian Cities Obliterated In Russia's Self-Proclaimed 'Liberation'". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
17. "Division of Ukraine". Retrieved 15 December 2023.
18. "станом на 1 квітня 2013 року". Archived from the original on 6 October 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
19. "Home". ukrcensus.gov.ua.