Shchastia

City in Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine

City in Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine

Shchastia

Щастя

City

Shchastia

Coat of arms

Shchastia

Show map of Ukraine

Shchastia

Show map of Luhansk Oblast

Coordinates: 48°44′00″N 39°14′00″E﻿ / ﻿48.7333°N 39.2333°E﻿ / 48.7333; 39.2333
Country|  Ukraine
Oblast| Luhansk Oblast
Raion| Shchastia Raion
Hromada| Shchastia urban hromada
Founded| 1754
City Status| 1963
Control| Russia[1]
Population

(2022)

• Total

| 11,411
Area code| (+380)
Vehicle registration| BB / 13
Climate| Dfa

Shchastia (Ukrainian: Щастя, pronounced [ˈʃtʃɑsʲtʲɐ] ⓘ, lit. 'Happiness'; Russian: Счастье, romanized: Schastye) is a city, the former de jure administrative center of Shchastia Raion in the Luhansk Oblast (province) of Ukraine. Its population was reported as 11,411 (2022 estimate).[2]

The Luhansk power station, a large power plant built in the 1950s, is located north of Shchastia. The town of Shchastia is situated on the Donets river. During the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, the city became a key site of fighting, but remained under government control until the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. After declaring its annexation of the region in 2022, Russia has claimed the city.

## History

[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2024)

|

### Imperial Russian and Soviet rule

[edit]

City on the map of Luhansk is identified by number "1".

The village of Shchastia was founded in 1754.

In 1953, construction began on the Luhansk power station. Shchastia received town status in 1963.

### Russo-Ukrainian War

[edit]

#### War in Donbas

[edit]

In 2014, Shchastia was controlled by the separatist Luhansk People's Republic from late April 2014 until the Ukrainian Army retook the city on 14 June 2014.[3] It was mainly retaken by the volunteer fighters of the Aidar Battalion who, according to Amnesty International, then with "virtually no oversight or control" committed acts of violent abuse towards civilians in Shchastia and nearby cities, as did the separatist forces.[4] According to Shchastia residents, this behaviour continued until Aidar was incorporated into the Ukrainian Army in spring 2015.[4]

On 5 August 2014, a monument of Vladimir Lenin was removed from the city of Shchastia.

To facilitate the governance of Luhansk Oblast during the war in Donbas, the Verkhovna Rada on 7 October 2014 made some changes in the administrative divisions so that the localities in the government-controlled areas were grouped into districts. In particular, Shchastia was transferred from Luhansk Municipality to Novoaidar Raion.[citation needed]

In July 2020, as part of the reform of administrative divisions in Ukraine, Novoaidar Raion was absorbed into the newly created Shchastia Raion. Shchastia was made the administrative center of the new raion, although Novoaidar served as the de facto administrative center because it was located farther from the line of contact in the Donbas War. By 2022, the town's population had halved to 7,000 in comparison to pre-war numbers.[5]

#### Full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine

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In the days before the invasion, the town was shelled and fired upon by Russian-backed forces more than 900 times with incoming munitions from tanks, artillery, mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, and small arms. The strikes mostly targeted Ukrainian military installations on the outskirts of Shchastia and the Luhansk Power Plant, damaging buildings, water and electrical lines.[5]

On 24 February 2022, the first day of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Shchastia came under attack by Russian forces and was quickly occupied.[6] On the second day of the war, the governor Serhiy Haidai said that 80% of the town has been destroyed in the invasion.[7] According to locals 90% of all houses were destroyed by shelling.[8]

## Demographics

[edit]

Ethnic groups as of the 2001 Ukrainian census:[9]

| Ethnic groups in Shchastia

|  | percent
Russians |

| 49.32%
Ukrainians |

| 48.29%
Belarusians |

| 0.58%
Moldovans |

| 0.11%
Armenians |

| 0.10%
Jews |

| 0.10%

Native language as of the Ukrainian Census of 2001:[10]

| Native languages in Shchastia

|  | percent
Russian |

| 88.0%
Ukrainian |

| 11.2%
others |

| 0.8%

## Gallery

[edit]

* Shchastia cathedral

* Cranes monument

* Horse monument

* WW2 monument in Shchastia

* Mertvy Donets River near Shchastia

* Luhansk thermal power plant

## References

[edit]

1. ^ ""Майже знищені". Щастя та Станиця Луганська на межі гуманітарної катастрофи — голова Луганської ОДА".
2. ^ Чисельність наявного населення України на 1 січня 2022 [Number of Present Population of Ukraine, as of January 1, 2022] (PDF) (in Ukrainian and English). Kyiv: State Statistics Service of Ukraine. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 July 2022.
3. ^ "Терористи почали обстріл Луганська із "Граду" - джерело". Ukrainska Pravda (in Ukrainian). 16 June 2014.
4. ^ a b Koshiw, Isobel; Vlasova, Anastasia (31 July 2017). "Growing up apolitical in Ukraine's war zone". openDemocracy.
5. ^ a b Kramer, Andrew E. (2022-02-23). "The Potentially Grim Fate of a Ukrainian Town Called 'Happiness'". The New York Times.
6. ^ "Battles against Russian occupiers ongoing near Shchastia, Sumy, Hostomel Airport". Ukrinform. 24 February 2022.
7. ^ "Щастя знищене на 80 відсотків – голова ОДА". Gazeta.ua (in Ukrainian). 25 February 2022.
8. ^ Graham-Harrison, Emma; Koshiw, Isobel (4 March 2022). "'90% of houses are damaged': Russia's Syria-honed tactics lay waste Ukraine towns". The Guardian.
9. ^ "Національний склад міст".
10. ^ "Home". ukrcensus.gov.ua.

## External links

[edit]

* Map of the town.

* v
* t
* e

Administrative divisions of Luhansk Oblast

Administrative center: Luhansk

Raions|

* Alchevsk
* Dovzhansk
* Luhansk
* Rovenky
* Shchastia
* Sievierodonetsk
* Starobilsk
* Svatove

Hromadas|

* Alchevsk
* Antratsyt
* Bilokurakyne
* Bilolutsk
* Bilovodsk
* Chmyrivka
* Dovzhansk
* Hirske
* Kadiivka
* Khrustalnyi
* Kolomyichykha
* Krasnorichenske
* Kreminna
* Lozno-Oleksandrivka
* Luhansk
* Lutuhyne
* Lysychansk
* Markivka
* Milove
* Molodohvardiisk
* Novoaidar
* Novopskov
* Nyzhnia Duvanka
* Nyzhnioteple
* Popasna
* Rovenky
* Rubizhne
* Shchastia
* Shulhynka
* Shyrokyi
* Sievierodonetsk
* Sorokyne
* Stanytsia Luhanska
* Starobilsk
* Svatove
* Troitske
* Zymohiria

Cities|

* Almazna
* Alchevsk
* Antratsyt
* Brianka
* Hirske
* Irmino
* Kadiivka
* Khrustalnyi
* Kirovsk
* Krasnodon
* Kreminna
* Kypuche
* Luhansk
* Lutuhyne
* Lysychansk
* Miusynsk
* Molodohvardiisk
* Novodruzhesk
* Oleksandrivsk
* Perevalsk
* Pervomaisk
* Petrovske
* Popasna
* Pryvillia
* Rovenky
* Rubizhne
* Shchastia
* Sievierodonetsk
* Starobilsk
* Sukhodilsk
* Svatove
* Sverdlovsk
* Vakhrusheve
* Voznesenivka
* Zolote
* Zorynsk
* Zymohiria

* v
* t
* e

War in Donbas (2014–2022)

* Part of the Russo-Ukrainian War
* Followed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine

General
topics|

* Aircraft losses
* Humanitarian situation
* International reactions
* Sanctions
* Sanctioned people
* OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine
* Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine
* Civil volunteer movement
* Little green men
* Joint Forces Operation
* Civil–military administrations

Timeline|

* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022

Battles|

* Donetsk
* Artemivsk
* Sloviansk
* Kramatorsk
* 1st Mariupol
* Sievierodonetsk
* Karlivka
* 1st Donetsk Airport
* Luhansk border base
* Krasnyi Lyman
* Shakhtarsk Raion
* 95th Brigade raid
* Horlivka
* Yasynuvata
* Ilovaisk
* Novoazovsk
* 2nd Mariupol
* 2nd Donetsk Airport
* Debaltseve
* Shyrokyne
* Marinka
* Svitlodarsk
* Avdiivka

Airstrikes|

| Military|

* Ukrainian Air Force Il-76 shootdown
* 2014 Russian cross-border shelling of Ukraine
* Zelenopillia strike

|

Civilian|

* Shelling of Donetsk, Rostov Oblast
* MH17 shoot-down
* reactions
* Novosvitlivka convoy strike
* Volnovakha bus attack
* Mariupol rocket attack
* Kramatorsk rocket attack
* Kharkiv bombing
* Stanytsia Luhanska kindergarten bombing

Reactions|

| Ukrainian|

* No to capitulation!

|

(Pro-) Russian|

* Pro-Russian unrest
* Donbas referendums
* 2014 Donbas elections
* 2018 Donbas elections

International|

* UNSC Resolution 2166
* NATO summit in Wales
* Minsk Protocol
* 2014 G20 Brisbane summit
* Minsk II agreement

Self-proclaimed
states|

* Donetsk People's Republic (April 2014 – September 2022)
* Luhansk People's Republic (April 2014 – September 2022)
* Novorossiya (May 2014 – May 2015)
* International recognition of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic

(Pro-)
Russian|

| Organizations|

* Russian Armed Forces
* Wagner Group
* Separatist forces
* List of equipment
* Army of the South-East
* DPR Republican Guard
* Russian Orthodox Army
* Vostok Battalion
* Kalmius Brigade
* Odessa Brigade
* Sparta Battalion
* Somalia Battalion
* Prizrak Brigade
* Pyatnashka Brigade
* Tsar's Wolves
* Interbrigades
* Rusich Group
* Redut
* Union of Donbass Volunteers

* Political parties and movements
* Donetsk Republic
* New Russia Party
* Communist Party of DPR
* Peace to Luhanshchina
* Borotba
* Antifascist Committee of Ukraine
* Ukrainian Choice
* The Other Russia of E. V. Limonov
* Eurasian Youth Union
* Night Wolves
* Don Cossacks
* Internet Research Agency
* Russian Imperial Movement

|

Lead figures|

* Russian
* Vladimir Putin
* Dmitry Medvedev
* Vladislav Surkov
* Sergei Shoigu
* Crimean
* Sergey Aksyonov
* Vladimir Konstantinov
* Natalia Poklonskaya
* Donetsk
* Vladimir Antyufeyev
* Eduard Basurin
* Fyodor Berezin
* Igor Bezler
* Alexander Borodai
* Mikhail Chumachenko
* Igor Girkin
* Pavel Gubarev
* Ekaterina Gubareva
* Igor Khakimzyanov
* Alexander Khodakovsky
* Vladimir Kononov
* Arsen Pavlov†
* Vyacheslav Ponomarev
* Andrei Purgin
* Denis Pushilin
* Mikhail Tolstykh†
* Alexander Zakharchenko†
* Sergei Zhurikov
* Luhansk
* Alexander Bednov†
* Valery Bolotov†
* Aleksey Karyakin
* Aleksandr Kharitonov
* Arsen Klinchaev
* Sergey Kozlov
* Aleksey Mozgovoy†
* Leonid Pasechnik
* Igor Plotnitsky
* Gennadiy Tsypkalov†
* Kharkiv
* Yevhen Zhylin†
* Others
* Aleksandr Dugin
* Nelya Shtepa
* Oleg Tsaryov

Ukrainian|

| Organizations|

* Government of Ukraine
* 1st Yatsenyuk
* 2nd Yatsenyuk
* Groysman
* Ministry of Internal Affairs
* National Guard
* Azov
* Donbas
* Patrol Police
* Dnipro-1
* Armed Forces of Ukraine
* Ukrainian Ground Forces
* Territorial defense battalions
* Aidar
* Dnipro-2
* Kryvbas
* Rukh Oporu
* Ukrainian Air Force
* Ukrainian Air Assault Forces
* Security Service of Ukraine
* Alpha Group
* Euromaidan Press
* State Border Guard Service of Ukraine
* Volunteer battalions
* Right Sector

|

Lead figures|

* Petro Poroshenko
* Oleksandr Turchynov
* Arseniy Yatsenyuk
* Volodymyr Groysman
* Andriy Parubiy
* Arsen Avakov
* Vitali Klitschko
* Oleh Tyahnybok
* Yuriy Lutsenko
* Valentyn Nalyvaichenko
* Valeriy Heletey
* Stepan Poltorak
* Mykhailo Koval
* Mykhailo Kutsyn
* Oleh Makhnitskyi
* Viktor Muzhenko
* Vitaly Yarema
* Oleh Liashko
* Dmytro Yarosh
* Rinat Akhmetov
* Ihor Kolomoyskyi
* Serhiy Taruta
* Ihor Baluta
* Semen Semenchenko
* Hennadiy Moskal
* Nadiya Savchenko
* George Tuka
* Pavlo Zhebrivskyi

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