Luhansk, formerly known as Voroshilovgrad (1935-1958 and 1970-1990), is a city in eastern Ukraine near the border of western Russia.

The city traces its history to 1795 when the British industrialist Charles Gascoigne founded a metal factory near the Zaporizhian Cossacks settlement Kamianyi Brid. The settlement around the factory was known as Luganskiy Zavod. In 1882 the factory settlement Luganskiy Zavod was merged with the town of Kamianyi Brid into the city of Luhansk. Located in the Donets Basin, Luhansk developed into an important industrial center of Eastern Europe, particularly as a home to the major locomotive-building company Luhanskteplovoz. The city was occupied by Nazi Germany between 14 July 1942 and 14 February 1943.

On 5 November 1935, the city was renamed Voroshilovgrad in honour of Soviet military commander and politician Kliment Voroshilov. On 5 March 1958, with the call of Khrushchev not to give names of living people to cities, the old name was reinstated. On 5 January 1970, after the death of Voroshilov on 2 December 1969, the name changed again to Voroshilovgrad. Finally, on 4 May 1990, a decree of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR gave the city back its original name.

In 1994 a referendum took place in the Donetsk Oblast and the Luhansk Oblast, with around 90% supporting the Russian language gaining status of an official language alongside Ukrainian, and for the Russian language to be an official language on a regional level; however, the referendum was annulled by the Ukrainian government.

During the 2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine, separatists seized governmental buildings in the region, proclaiming the Luhansk People's Republic. An independence referendum, unconstitutional under the Ukrainian law, was held on 11 May 2014. This referendum was not recognized as legitimate by any government except South Ossetia. Ukraine does not recognize the referendum, while the EU and US said the polls were illegal. The Republic of South Ossetia, a state with very limited international recognition, considered the referendum legitimate and recognized its outcome.

On 25 June 2014, Luhansk was officially pronounced as the capital of the Luhansk People's Republic by the government of the separatist republic.

In August 2014, Ukrainian government forces completely surrounded rebel-held Luhansk. Heavy shelling caused civilian casualties in the city. On 17 August, Ukrainian soldiers entered the rebel-controlled Luhansk and for a time had control over a police station.

After the Ilovaisk counteroffensive, LPR forces regained Lutuhyne and other Luhansk suburbs. Ukrainian forces withdrew from the Luhansk International Airport on 1 September after heavy fighting.

Luhansk became the capital and the administrative center of the rebel state of Luhansk People's Republic. The administration of the Luhansk Oblast was moved to Sievierodonetsk by the government of Ukraine.