Pokrovsk, Ukraine

For other uses, see Pokrovsk.

Pokrovsk Покровськ
City
Downtown Pokrovsk
Flag Seal
Pokrovsk Pokrovsk
Coordinates: 48°16′58″N 37°10′58″E
Country	Ukraine
Oblast	Donetsk
Founded	1880
Area
• Total	29.7 km2 (11.5 sq mi)
Population  (2013)
• Total	64,895
Climate	Dfb
Website	http://pokrovsk-rada.gov.ua

Pokrovsk (Ukrainian: Покровськ, Russian: Покровск; until 2016: Krasnoarmiisk Ukrainian: Красноармі́йськ, Russian: Красноармейск; until 1938: Grishino Russian: Гришино; Ukrainian: Гришине, translit. Hryshyne) is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. Administratively, it is incorporated as a city of oblast significance. It serves as the administrative center of the Pokrovsk Raion, though it is not part of the raion. Its population is approximately 63,437 (2017 est.).

Since May 2016, the official name of the city in Ukraine is Pokrovsk (Покровськ). It was renamed according to the Ukrainian decommunization process. Formerly it was known as Krasnoarmiisk which was derived from the Russian words for "Red Army".

History

Pokrovsk railway station

Apartment blocks in Pokrovsk

A grove in central Pokrovsk

Pokrovsk church

Pokrovsk was founded as Grishino in 1875 by a decision of the Ministry of Railways of the Russian Empire for 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, increased the station building, the central portion of which survives to this day. In May 1884, trains finally began to go through the rail station in Grishino.

With the development of the railway station and Grishino grew, there were new businesses, and in particular began to develop deposits of underground minerals, starting with coal. By 1913, the population Grishino station has more than doubled and amounted to about 4.5 thousand people.

After the Russian Civil War ravaged Russia as a whole, Grishino station continued to build momentum 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 of Pavel Postyshev, and in 1938, the name of the city became Krasnoarmeyskoe, after Postyshev was repressed during the Great Purge.

World War II placed a heavy burden on the shoulders of the population of the city. The first axis forces to arrive were Italians, followed by the Germans. The Soviet commanders had retreated prior to the arrival of these forces, having executed many young men in order to "avoid handing them over to the enemy" . The German forces proceeded to extract and transfer many civilians by train to forced 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. In February 1943 there happened the Massacre of Grischino.

In the 1950s, in the post-war period, the city saw a large industrial and residential construction.

In the War in Donbass (that started in the spring of 2014) the city is near the frontline with the separatists Donetsk People's Republic.

Demographics

The population of Pokrovsk as of August 1, 2017 was 75205 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% 2014 64,533 −6.7%
Source:

Native language per Ukrainian Census of 2001:

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