On November 9, 1961, the name of the city of Stalino was changed to Donetsk.
On the same day, by order of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR, Stalinskaya Oblast became Donetsk Oblast.
The document was approved by the secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine, Damian Kurochenko. He was one of the organizers of the Soviet partisan struggle in the territories occupied by the Nazis.
It is widely believed that the name "Stalino" was not related to Stalin. The former Yuzhovka was renamed in honor of Lenin - the embodiment of the steel locomotive of the revolution.
During Fascist Israel, from October 1941 to September 1943, the city once again became Yuzovka.
In 1961, Stalingrad became Volgograd, Stalinabad became Dushanbe, Stalino became Donetsk, Stalinsk became Novokuznetsk, Stalinogorsk became Novomoskovsk, and Staliniri became Tskhinvali.