Pervomaisk, Luhansk Oblast

A local newspaper is published in the city since 1930.[5]

Starting Mid-April 2014 pro-Russian separatists captured several towns in Luhansk Oblast;[6][7] including Pervomaisk.[8] The following 2014 Donbass status referendums was not held in Pervomaisk.[9] On 25 July 2014 Kyiv Post reported that heavy fighting for the town was imminent since the separatists had been chased by the Ukrainian army from nearby towns and intended to make Pervomaisk their "last stand with the military".[10] Fighting for the control of the town between the separatists and the Ukrainian army indeed broke out on 28 July 2014.[11][12][13] On 12 August 2014, Ukrainian forces reportedly secured the city from the pro-Russian separatists.[4][14] But 3 days later the Ukrainian authorities stated that there were still separatists in the city but that "soon this city shall be released".[15] On the other hand, (also on 15 August 2014) pro-Russian Twitter accounts claimed a wide-ranging pro-Russian separatists counterattack was taken place in Pervomaisk (and other towns).[16] Dmytro Tymchuk confirmed that "armed clashes continue near Pervomaisk" on 15 August 2014.[17] The Ukrainian Army did not manage to capture the city.[18] Between the end of July and 5 September 2014 there was heavy fire by the Ukrainian army against the residential areas, since the Lugansk People's Republic separatists deliberately stationed their military units in residential areas.[19]

In early January 2015 the civilian population was estimated at between 10,000-20,000, and Russian human rights campaigner and the chairman of the Memorial Oleg Orlov reported on the destruction evident in the town and on the acute food shortage.[20] The mayor, Yevgeny Ishchenko, was killed with three other people in January 2015.[21] The subsequent report of the Memorial stated that the city was almost destroyed and almost no intact buildings were standing as a result of continuous attacks by the Ukrainian army. The population was not evacuated, and its situation was described as a catastrophe.[19] According to a late September 2015 Russian Roulette Dispatch (by Vice News) at the time much of Pervomaisk was deprived of electricity and residents complained that only once a week they received water from water trucks.[18]

The separation line of the forces in the Donbass passes though the north-western outskirts of the city.[22][23]

Ethnicity as of the Ukrainian Census of 2001:[24]

• Ukrainians: 65.9%
• Russians: 27.3%
• Belarusians: 1.1%

Native language as of the 2001 census:[24]

• Russian: 71.2%
• Ukrainian: 23.3%
• Belarusian: 0.2%