Soledar

View of the lakes and the landscape near Soledar

There is a system of lakes on the edge of Soledar, some with a diameter of 100 metres (330 ft). Some of them have an "abnormally warm temperature" that can reach up to 40 °C (104 °F). Some are freshwater, while other parts are salty to the point that a person cannot dive deep, and gets pushed upwards.[6]

In 2021, a schoolgirl from Zhytomyr Oblast did an experiment on the properties of the lake, and concluded that it could be possible to use it for energy production.[7]

The salt extraction company Artemsil, which is based in the settlement, has said that the salt deposits of Soledar are "almost inexhaustible", and that in 300 years of exploitation, the salt reserves have only decreased by one percent.[6]

The Sil railway station

Sil (Ukrainian: Сіль; Russian: Соль, romanized: Sol, both literally translated as "Salt") is a settlement about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) northwest of Soledar proper.[8] Formerly an urban-type settlement of its own, in 1999, the Verkhovna Rada officially declared it administratively subordinate to Soledar.[9] It is most notable for its large railway station, which serves as an essential hub station for shipping out Soledar's salt.[10]

The Dekonska (Ukrainian: Деконська) railway station is another formerly separate settlement, and is located 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from Soledar proper,[11] in the southern outskirts of Soledar's administrative territory.[12] In 1926, its population included over 200 Volga Germans.[13]

During the second half of the 17th century, the Don Cossacks settled in the region of Donbas.[14] They built a village at the site of Soledar and named it Brіantsіvka (Ukrainian: Брянцівка, Russian: Брянцовка).[6] Salt mining on an industrial scale began in the settlement in 1881,[15] by which time it was part of the Russian Empire.[1] Over the following years, the scale increased, and hundreds of workers worked in the mines.[6]

In 1925, during the Soviet period, several mining villages in the area were administratively merged into a new village, named Karlo-Libknekhtovsk[16] after the German socialist Karl Liebknecht.[17][18] During World War II, Karlo-Libnekhtovsk was occupied by Nazi Germany starting in October 1941. Soviet partisans sabotaged the mines and factories as to not let the Nazis take advantage of them. The village was eventually liberated in September 1943.[16] The salt mines were later restored and returned to functionality.[6] In 1965, Karlo-Libknekhtovsk received the status of urban-type settlement.[1]

In July 1991, Karlo-Libknekhtovsk changed its name to Soledar.[6] This name literally means "a gift of salt" in the Russian language,[1] reflecting its prominent salt-mining industry.[19] In 2000, a Ukrainian scientist proposed to use Soledar's salt mines as a nuclear waste disposal site, believing that the inert environment would be useful. Residents of Soledar and neighboring Bakhmut had a negative response to the proposal. They held rallies and wrote letters to authorities, and eventually, regional authorities said that the plan would not be implemented.[6]

In February 2014, removal of pro-Russian Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych during the Ukrainian Revolution caused backlash in southern and eastern Ukraine. In mid-April 2014, local pro-Russian militias that refused to recognise the new government captured several settlements in the Donetsk Oblast (including Soledar),[20] which they wanted to separate from Ukraine as the Donetsk People's Republic. On 21 July 2014, Ukrainian forces recaptured the settlement from the militants.[20][21]

On 2 August 2014, Soledar was used as the base for the identification team and OSCE observers dealing with the MH17 plane crash due to its proximity to the site.[22][23][24]

On 14 January 2015, the body of Ivan Reznichenko was found. Reznichenko had been a deputy of the local council missing since June of the previous year, when Soledar was under the control of pro-Russia separatists. The press service of the political party Batkivshchyna said the criminals who killed him, who were now in custody, had been ordered to do so by the pro-Russian separatists.[25]

A ruined building in Soledar in September 2022

During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, on 28 May 2022, it was reported that a Russian missile had hit the Artemsil salt plant in the settlement.[26] By the end of the month, Artemsil was forced to stop production due to constant Russian shelling.[6]

The Battle of Soledar began in early August, with Russian forces capturing much of the eastern half of Soledar by September, although being stalled afterward.[27] Starting on 27 December 2022, the Russian Wagner Group began a breakthrough attempt to take the settlement and return it to the control of the Donetsk People Republic, which by then had been annexed by Russia.[28][29] The battle descended into heavy attritional fighting,[3] and was called the "most bloody battle" of the war at the time.[4] In early January 2023, after days of uncertainty as to whether Russia controlled the settlement, it was reported that Russia had definitively secured control of Soledar.[30]

By the end of the fighting, the settlement was largely destroyed, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky saying that "barely any walls in Soledar remain[ed] standing".[31] According to Donetsk Oblast governor Pavlo Kyrylenko, of the pre-invasion population of 10,490,[32] only "559 civilians including 15 children" remained in the settlement by 13 January.[31]

Salt mine entrance

A package of Artemsil salt

The main enterprises of the settlement are related to the mining and processing industries.[33] The state enterprise Artemsil owns the Soledar Salt Mine,[34] the largest salt mine in Europe.[35][36]

In 2021, the mine provided 95% of Ukraine's salt.[2] Outside of Ukraine, the company has exported salt to 22 countries, mostly in the former Soviet sphere.[37] Russia used to be an important export destination in particular, with it making up a third of Artemsil's market value,[38] and Artemsil having a 24% share of the Russian salt market until January 2015,[37] when Russia abruptly suspended imports from the company.[38]

There is also an abundance of gypsum that is mined, which is useful for construction materials.[39] The Germany-based company Knauf Gips Donbas owns a factory in Soledar that produces plasterboard, and has invested tens of millions of dollars into the enterprise.[40]