Donets

Donets, river, c.650 mi (1,050 km) long, in Ukraine and SW European Russia. A tributary of the Don, it is also called the North Donets (Rus. Severny Donets). It rises NE of Belgorod, which it passes, and flows generally southeast to join the lower Don. Its lower course is navigable.

or Donbas

Large mining and industrial region, southeastern Ukraine and southwestern Russia. Notable for its coal and iron reserves, the exploited area of the coalfield covers nearly 9,000 sq mi (23,300 sq km) south of the Donets River. First mined in the early 19th century, by 1913 the Donets Basin was producing 87percnt of Russian coal. The coalfields adjoin the rich ironfield of Krivoi Rog, where an ironworks was set up in 1872 in Donetsk; by 1913 it was making 74percnt of all Russian pig iron. The area today is the largest single producing area of iron and steel in Ukraine and one of the world's major heavy-industrial complexes.

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See Donetsk Oblast