Pokrovsk, Ukraine

For other uses, see Pokrovsk.

Pokrovsk Покровськ
City
The Saint Michael the Angel Orthodox Church of Pokrovsk, photographed in 2012
Flag Coat of arms
Pokrovsk Pokrovsk shown within Donetsk Pokrovsk Pokrovsk shown within Ukraine
Coordinates: 48°16′58″N 37°10′58″E
Country	Ukraine
Oblast	Donetsk Oblast
Raion	Pokrovsk Raion
Hromada	Pokrovsk urban hromada
Established	c. 1880
City status	1938
Area
• Total	29.57 km2 (11.42 sq mi)
Elevation	181 m (594 ft)
Population  (1 January 2022)
• Total	60,127
• Density	2,000/km2 (5,300/sq mi)
Postal code	85300—85309
Area code	+380-6239
Climate	Warm summer subtype
KOATUU	1413200000
KATETTO	UA14160210010099403
Website	pokrovsk-rada.gov.ua

Pokrovsk (Ukrainian: Покровськ, IPA: [poˈkrɔu̯sʲk] ; Russian: Покровск), formerly known as Krasnoarmiisk (until 2016) and Grishino (until 1934), is a city and the administrative center of Pokrovsk Raion in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is located 56 kilometres (35 mi) northwest of Donetsk. Prior to 2020, it was incorporated as a city of oblast significance. Its population was approximately 60,127 (2022 estimate).

Names

• 2016–present: Pokrovsk (Ukrainian: Покровськ; Russian: Покровск)
• 1964–2016: Krasnoarmiisk (Ukrainian: Красноармійськ) or Krasnoarmeysk (Russian: Красноармейск)
• 1938–1964: Krasnoarmeyskoye (Russian: Красноармейское) or Krasnoarmiiske (Ukrainian: Красноармійське)
• 1934–1938: Postyshevo (Russian: Постышево) or Postysheve (Ukrainian: Постишеве)
• 1884–1934: Grishino (Russian: Гришино) or Hryshyne (Ukrainian: Гришине)

History

Railway station at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries

Pokrovsk was founded as Grishino in 1875 by a decision of the Ministry of Railways of the Russian Empire authorizing a railway station. The village had two thousand inhabitants.

In 1881, a locomotive depot which became one of the main locomotive repair companies, Ekaterinoslavskaya railway, was built in the town. Two years later, in 1883, there was an enlargement to the station building; the central portion survives to this day. In May 1884, trains finally began transiting the rail station in Grishino.

With the development of the railway station, Grishino grew and there were new businesses, in particular for exploitation of underground minerals, starting with coal. By 1913, the population around Grishino station had more than doubled to about 4.5 thousand people.

After the Russian Civil War ravaged Russia as a whole, Grishino station continued its growth and by 1925 had a locomotive depot, a brick factory, and six mines. The name of the station was changed to Postyshevo in 1934 to honor Pavel Postyshev, and in 1938, the name of the city became Krasnoarmeyskoe, commemorating the Soviet Red Army, after Postyshev was repressed during the Great Purge.

World War II heavily impacted the population of the city. The first Axis forces to arrive were Italians, followed by the Germans who occupied it on 19 October 1941. German forces proceeded to forcibly transfer many civilians by train to labor camps in Austria. Many residents defended their hometown. 8295 Soviet soldiers perished on the battlefield, and 4788 residents of the town were killed in World War II. The city witnessed an atrocity when its remaining Jewish community was massacred by the German Nazi army in midwinter 1942. Furthermore, in February 1943, the Red Army perpetrated the Massacre of Grischino, in which 508 POWs and 88 civilians were massacred, mainly Germans and Italians, but also Romanians, Ukrainians, Hungarians and Danes. On 7 September 1943, the town was liberated for good by Red Army troops.

In the 1950s, in the post-war period, the city renewed its industrial and residential construction.

Russo-Ukrainian War

War in Donbas

In the War in Donbas, starting in the spring of 2014, the city was near the frontline with the separatist Donetsk People's Republic.

In May 2016, the city was renamed to Pokrovsk as a result of decommunization laws, honoring the Intercession of the Theotokos known as Pokrova in Ukrainian.

Russian invasion of Ukraine

See also: Pokrovsk offensive

Residential building in Pokrovsk after Russian rocket strike on 15 February 2023

On 7 August 2023 during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian missiles struck the city twice, killing nine people.

In July 2024, Russia renewed efforts to reach and capture Pokrovsk in a new offensive. On 15 August, Serhii Dobriak, the head of the Pokrovsk City Military Administration, reported that Russian forces were only 10 km from the city, and urged all citizens, especially the elderly and families with young children, to evacuate. On 19 August, Ukrainian officials announced that families with children living in Pokrovsk and surrounding villages would be forced to leave. The population reportedly had decreased to 36,000 by 1 September. On 5 September, the train station closed for civilian evacuation due to a deterioating security situation, using buses and the train station in Pavlohrad instead. According to Donetsk Oblast Governor Vadym Filashkin, 26,000 people, including 1,076 children, were still remaining in the city.

Education

Donetsk National Technical University in Pokrovsk in November 2014

Following the loss of Ukrainian government control over Donetsk in 2014 during the war in Donbas, the Donetsk National Technical University was evacuated to Pokrovsk.

Demographics

The population of Pokrovsk as of 1 August 2017 was 75,205 people.

According to 2001 census data, the breakdown by ethnicity is:

	Population	Percentage, %
Ukrainian	62,158	75.0
Russian	18,299	22.1
Belarusian	558	0.7
Armenian	307	0.4
Azerbaijani	215	0.3

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% 1923 8,203 —     1926 11,335 +38.2% 1939 29,617 +161.3% 1959 47,974 +62.0% 1970 55,044 +14.7%	Year Pop. ±% 1979 59,864 +8.8% 1989 72,859 +21.7% 2001 69,154 −5.1% 2011 65,447 −5.4% 2022 60,127 −8.1%
Source:

Native language per 2001 Ukrainian census:

• Russian 59.8%
• Ukrainian 39.4%
• Armenian 0.2%
• Belarusian 0.1%

Gallery

• 
  Pokrovsk railway station in 2016
• 
  Street in Pokrovsk in 2012
• 
  Mass grave of Soviet soldiers who died during World War II, Sobornyi square, Pokrovsk
• 
  Monument to Ukrainian-born Soviet Marshal Kirill Moskalenko in Pokrovsk, 2017

Bibliography

• Cohen, Saul Bernard (1998). The Columbia Gazetteer of the World: H to O. Columbia University Press. p. 1615. ISBN 978-0-231-11040-2.