Dovzhansk Raion

This article is about a subdivision of Luhansk Oblast in eastern Ukraine. For other similar subdivisions elsewhere, see Sverdlovsky District.

Dovzhansk Raion (Ukrainian: Довжанський район; Russian: Должанский район) or Sverdlovsk Raion (Ukrainian: Свердловський район) is a raion (district) in Luhansk Oblast in eastern Ukraine. The administrative center of the raion is the city of Sverdlovsk,^[3][4] Population: 205,465 (2022 estimate).^[2] which is incorporated separately as a city of oblast significance and does not belong to the raion. The last estimates of the population of the raion, reported by the Ukrainian government, were 11,644 (2020 est.);^[5] 12,039 (2013 est.).^[6]

Dovzhansk Raion Довжанський район
Raion
Flag Coat of arms
Country	Ukraine
Oblast	Luhansk Oblast
Established	2020
Admin. center	Dovzhansk (Sverdlovsk)
Subdivisions	2 hromadas
Area [1]
• Total	2,139 km2 (826 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]
• Total	205,465
• Density	96/km2 (250/sq mi)

Sverdlovsk Municipal District Свердловский муниципальный округ
District
Other transcription(s)
• Ukrainian	Свердловський район
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Sverdlovsk District in the Luhansk People's Republic
Coordinates: 48°12′32.155″N 39°41′54.971″E
Country	Russia
Federal subject	Luhansk People's Republic
Established	1938
Administrative center	Sverdlovsk
Area
• Total	2,139 km2 (826 sq mi)
Website	https://admsvk.ru

The area of the raion is controlled by Russia, which continues to use the pre-2020 administrative divisions of Ukraine.^{[citation needed]}

History

Sverdlovsk Raion was created in 1938, soon after the founding of Sverdlovsk itself by the amalgamation of several local mining villages.^[7] In 1962, Sverdlovsk was designated as a city of oblast significance; while it still served as the administrative center of Sverdlovsk Raion, it was no longer part of it, and was instead subordinated directly to Luhansk Oblast. Portions of the raion were also split off and transferred to Krasnodon Raion and Antratsyt Raion.^[8]

Territories of Luhansk Oblast have been the subject of fighting by Russian and Russian-controlled militias since 2014. In 2015 a more-or-less stable line of contact was established after the Minsk II ceasefire agreement and conclusion of the battle of Debaltseve, placing the raion on the Russian side (as part of the Luhansk People's Republic), and then directly after the 2022 annexation of four partially occupied Ukrainian oblasts.

In 2016, the Verkhovna Rada renamed Sverdlovsk to Dovzhansk and Sverdlovsk Raion to Dovzhansk Raion, in accordance with the decommunization law, prohibiting the names of Communist origin.^{[citation needed]} On 18 July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Luhansk Oblast to eight, the raion was abolished and reformed as a new Dovzhansk Raion, with its territory significantly extended.^[9][10] Russia continues to use the old name and the old area of the raion.^{[citation needed]}

Population

Demographics

As of the 2001 Ukrainian census:^[11]

Ethnicity

• Ukrainians: 69.9%
• Russians: 25.9%
• Belarusians: 0.6%

Subdivisions

The raion contains two hromadas:

• Dovzhansk urban hromada, with its center in the city Sverdlovsk (Dovzhansk)
• Sorokyne urban hromada, with its center in the city Krasnodon (Sorokyne)