Bakhmut

Bakhmut (Ukrainian: Бахмут), formerly called Artemivsk (Ukrainian: Артемівськ), is a city of an oblast significance in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. On 4 February 2016 the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine confirmed the name change of the city by returning to the original one. The city serves as an administrative center of Bakhmut Raion although it does not belong to the raion. It is located on the Bakhmutka River about 89 km away from the administrative center of the Donetsk Oblast, Donetsk. Population: 77,620 (2013 est.).

History

There is evidence of prior settlement in 1556. However, officially it was founded in 1571 and named as Bakhmut fort after the river Bakhmutka (a tributary of the Seversky Donets) on which it is situated. The settlement initially began as a border point and was later turned into a fortification. The name derived from Tatar name Mahmud or Mahmet. In 1701, Peter I ordered to build a fort and rename the town from Bahmut to Bakhmut. The fort was completed in 1703. In 1704 Peter the Great issued a ukase permitting Cossacks to settle in Bakhmut.