When Donetsk was the most British city in Ukraine: dozens of archive photos of Yuzivka “came to life”

July 19, 2026

The video collects and animates 50 rare archival photos of Donetsk (formerly the city was called Yuzivka) from the late 19th and early 20th centuries to see the true past of the Ukrainian Donbass.

The corresponding video appeared on the YouTube channel “Stories of Yura Martynovich”.

“Forget about the myths of Soviet propaganda. During the time of entrepreneur John Hughes, Donetsk was a progressive city where British technology and Ukrainian hard work intersected. In this video you will see: the family of John Hughes and English specialists; the leisure of the elite: playing tennis and golf in the steppes of Donbas; the daily life and families of local Ukrainians; the industrial breakthrough: the mines and factories of that time from the inside; the architecture of Yuzivka, shops, the specific layout of streets and churches that were erased by the Soviet occupiers,” the video description says.

In a commentary for Espresso, the video’s author, journalist Yura Martynovych, noted that over a hundred years ago, Donetsk, then still called Yuzivka, was perhaps the most British city in modern-day Ukraine. Hundreds of engineers and workers with families from Great Britain worked and lived here, who, together with locals, built factories and created the history of one of the most important industrial centers in Europe.

“Yuzivka was almost the main center of the British industrial colony in the territory of modern Ukraine. It was here that the largest and most influential British community in Ukraine at that time was formed. Thanks to the animated photos, you can better feel and understand the atmosphere of life at that time,” the author of the video added.