Bunhe, also Bunge (Ukrainian: Бунге/Бунґе; Russian: Бунге, romanizedBunge), also known as Yunokomunarivsk (Ukrainian: Юнокомунарівськ; Russian: Юнокоммунаровск), is a city in Yenakiieve urban hromada, Horlivka Raion, Donetsk Oblast (province) of Ukraine. Population: 13,495 (2022 estimate)[1], 14,154 (2013 est.)[2], 17,813 (2001).

Bunhe/Bunge
Бунге/Бунґе
Yunokomunarivsk
City
Bunhe/Bunge is located in Donetsk Oblast
Bunhe/Bunge
Bunhe/Bunge
Location of Bunhe in Donetsk Oblast
Bunhe/Bunge is located in Ukraine
Bunhe/Bunge
Bunhe/Bunge
Bunhe/Bunge (Ukraine)
Coordinates: 48°13′14″N 38°16′26″E / 48.22056°N 38.27389°E / 48.22056; 38.27389
Country Ukraine
OblastDonetsk Oblast
RaionHorlivka Raion
HromadaYenakiieve urban hromada
Founded1908
City rights1965
Population
 (2022)
 • Total
13,495
ClimateDfb
Map

Geography

edit

Bunge is located near the Yenakiieve railway station on the Bulavynka River [uk] (tributary of Krynka, Mius Basin). The surface is wavy, dissected by ravines and gullies. The elevation is up to 200 meters.[3]

History

edit

It was founded in 1908 when the Russian-Belgium Metallurgical Association founded Bunge mine to supply coal to Petrovskiy steelworks (now Yenakiieve Iron and Steel Works). The name Bunhe or Bunge comes from the German surname Bunge.[citation needed]

In 1924 mine was named "Yunkom" ("Yuny communar" [Ukrainian: Young communist]) and the settlement was named "Yunokomunarivsk". In 1965 it received urban-type settlement status. On 16 September 1979, in the mine "Yuny Communar" there was one of the Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy—an object "Klivazh". In 2002 the mine was closed as non-perspective and ecologists worried about the danger of filling the mine with water. It might cause radioactive pollution of the underground water, so pumps continue to pump water out of the abandoned mine.[4][5]

During the war in Donbas the city was captured by the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), a Russian puppet state. On 21 September 2014 Ukrainian forces left Yunokomunarivsk.[6]

On 12 May 2016, the Verkhovna Rada renamed Yunokomunarivsk back to its original name Bunhe (Ukrainian: Бунге or Бунґе) to conform to the law prohibiting names of Communist origin.[7]

In 2018 the administration of the DPR decided to flood the «Yunkom» mine. The drainage required maintenance of water pumps, which stopped along with the region's general infrastructure degradation after the Russian military occupation.[8][9] The information was confirmed by OSCE Monitoring Mission.[10] In April 2018 the DPR removed water pumps from the «Yunkom» mine, so it is gradually flooded by the natural waters. The radiological contamination was viewed as potentially spreading to the Mius River and then to the Azov Sea, threatening drinking and irrigation water supplies.[11]

Demographics

edit

As of the Ukrainian national census in 2001, the settlement counted a population of 17,828 people. In terms of ethnicity, 55% of the population claimed to have an ethnic Russian background, which is the highest percentage recorded in any major settlement in the entire Donetsk Oblast. The second-largest group were Ukrainians, follwed by Belarusians, Tatars and Azerbaijanis. The exact ethnic compsition was as follows:[12]

Ethnic groups in Bunhe
percent
Russians
54.99%
Ukrainians
41.59%
Belarusians
1.21%
Tatars
0.31%
Azerbaijanis
0.29%
Moldovans
0.20%
Armenians
0.19%
Georgians
0.12%
Ukrainian Greeks
0.10%

Native language as of the Ukrainian Census of 2001:[13]

First languages in Bunhe
percent
Russian
88.45%
Ukrainian
10.84%
Belarusian
0.13%
Armenian
0.04%
Moldovan
0.02%
Polish
0.02%
German
0.01%
Hungarian
0.01%
Bulgarian
0.01%
others
0.00%

Notes

edit
  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ Чисельність наявного населення України [Actual population of Ukraine] (in Ukrainian). State Statistics Service of Ukraine. Archived from the original on 2014-02-02. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  3. ^ Юнокомунарівськ (in Ukrainian). Географічна енциклопедія України. 1993. p. 456.
  4. ^ "An environmental disaster looms in war-torn Ukraine". NBC News. 2021-05-16. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  5. ^ Про заходи щодо розв'язання еколого-гідрогеологічних проблем, які виникають унаслідок закриття гірничо-видобувних підприємств, шахт і розрізів. За матеріалами доповіді Міністра екобезпеки Василя Шевчука на засіданні Кабінету міністрів України 11 січня 1999 року
  6. ^ "Кабмін назвав міста Донбасу, підконтрольні сепаратистам". Korrespondent.net (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2023-10-05.
  7. ^ "ВР перейменувала низку населених пунктів у зоні АТО на непідконтрольній Україні території Донбасу у рамках декомунізації". Інтерфакс-Україна (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2020-06-21.
  8. ^ ""ДНР" збирається затопити шахту, де СРСР провів ядерний вибух". Главком (in Ukrainian). 2018-03-24. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  9. ^ "Держдеп США стурбований інформаціією про наміри бойовиків затопити "ядерну" шахту на Донбасі". Український тиждень (in Ukrainian). 2018-04-14. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  10. ^ "Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 11 April 2018". OSCE. 2018-04-11. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  11. ^ "Тема дня. Из-за шахты Юнком Азовское море может стать мертвым". LIGA (in Russian). 2018-04-24. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  12. ^ "Національний склад міст".
  13. ^ "Офіційна сторінка Всеукраїнського перепису населення". Ukrcensus.gov.ua. Retrieved 2022-03-16.

References

edit
edit