News

Cardiff politicians in Kyiv, remembering the Welsh founded Donetsk – for talks

Published

4 years ago

February 19, 2022

THE CITY founded by the Welsh as Hughesovka, known now as Donetsk, is at the centre of the conflict between the Ukraine and Russia, and the conflict which started in 2014 now looks likely to escalate into a larger war.

In 1869, one hundred people from South Wales, led by John Hughes from Merthyr Tydfil founded a city now home to a million people. This is part of the reason that a delegation arrived in Ukraine today (Feb 19), led by two members of the Welsh Senedd: Mick Antoniw MS and Adam Price MS, leader of Plaid Cymru.

The aim of the delegation, which includes prominent UK trade union leaders, academics and journalists, is to do what no politicians visiting the country have so far done: to express direct, cross-border solidarity from the UK working class to the Ukrainian working class.

Pro-Russian militants on the roof of the international airport Donetsk in 2014. (Photo: Alexander Khudoteply)

With the threat of war rising, there is a concerted campaign of disinformation against Ukraine in the West, some of it aimed at influencing the progressive movements who have traditionally, and correctly, opposed Western military adventures in the Middle East.

To separate truth from propaganda, the delegation will hear evidence from workers from the Donbas in the East of Ukraine, independent trade unions and progressive civil society groups in Kyiv, as well as MPs, academics and territorial defence units training to resist aggression.

The delegation also includes ASLEF general secretary Mick Whelan, NUM general secretary Chris Kitchen, former Labour MEP Julie Ward, journalist Paul Mason, and Greenwich University economist Yuliya Yurchenko.

Mr Antoniw said: “In too many of the discussions about the situation in Ukraine it is the people themselves who are being bypassed. We want to listen to what the Ukrainian people say and to show our solidarity with them. We stand by them and their right to determine their own future and to defend their country from Russian aggression and imperialism.”

Adam Price said: “The more the Ukrainian people are threatened by Russian aggression and imperialism the more urgent it becomes for socialists, democrats and internationalists to stand shoulder to shoulder in solidarity with them – in defence of their right to national self determination and in defiance of Putin’s warmongering.
“They shall not pass ! вони не пройдуть !”

Chaotic scenes after an explosion in the city, 2015 (Photo :AP)

After President Yanukovych fled Ukraine to seek asylum in Russia, Russian-backed defenders took over the Oblast State Administration, the main government building, in the city. According to Russian reports, the police did not offer resistance.

On 7 April 2014, pro-Russian activists announced that they had seized control of Donetsk and declared the “Donetsk People’s Republic”

But what is the Welsh link, and why was the city founded. And why are Welsh politicians now heading to the Ukraine?

THE FOUNDING OF A CITY

In 1868, the Millwall Iron Works Company received an order from the Imperial Russian Government for the plating of a naval fortress being built at Kronstadt on the Baltic Sea

Hughes accepted a concession from the Imperial Russian Government to develop metal works in the region, and in 1869 acquired a piece of land to the north of the Azov Sea from Russian statesman Sergei Kochubey

He formed the ‘New Russia Company Ltd.’ to raise capital, and in the summer of 1870, at the age of 55, he moved to Russia. He sailed with eight ships, with not only all the equipment necessary to establish a metal works, but also much of the skilled labour; a group of about a hundred ironworkers and miners mostly from South Wales

He immediately started to build metal works close to the river Kalmius, at a site near the village of Alexandrovka. The state-of-the-art works had eight blast furnaces and was capable of a full production cycle, with the first pig iron cast in 1872. During the 1870s, collieries and iron ore mines were sunk, and brickworks and other facilities were established to make the isolated works a self-sufficient industrial complex. He further built a railway line-producing factory. All of Hughes’ facilities were held under the ‘Novorussian society for coal, iron and rails production.’

Donetsk (Hughesovka) ironworks in the Ukraine, pictured in 1888 (Image File)

The Hughes factory gave its name to the settlement which grew in its shadow, and the town of Hughesovka (Yuzovka) grew rapidly. Hughes personally provided a hospital, schools, bath houses, tea rooms, a fire brigade and an Anglican church dedicated to the patron saints St George and St David. The land around the metalworks quickly grew to become an industrial and cultural centre in the region; the population of the city founded by Hughes now exceeds one million. Hughes died on 17 June 1889.

By the end of the nineteenth century, the works was the largest in the Russian Empire, producing 74% of Russian iron in 1913. A period of relative decline in the early years of the twentieth century was followed by expansion during World War I. Many of the men who accompanied John Hughes settled in Hughesovka and brought their wives and families. Over the years, although a Russian workforce was trained by the company, skilled workers from the United Kingdom continued to be employed, and many technical, engineering and managerial positions were filled by British immigrants; who were overwhelmingly Welsh. A thriving expatriate community was established, living in good quality company housing, and provided with an English school and an Anglican church. Despite the cold winters, hot summers and occasional cholera epidemics, some families remained in Hughesovka for many years.

The Bolshevik revolution of 1917 ended the Hughes family’s connection to the works. The Hughes brothers and almost all their foreign employees returned to Britain. The works were nationalised by the Bolsheviks in 1919. The town of Hughesovka was renamed “Stalino” in 1924, and then the present name “Donetsk” in 1961. The works survived and prospered despite regime and socio-economic change, and Donetsk remains a major metallurgical industries centre today.

In March 2014, following the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, a humorous campaign advocated that Donetsk join the United Kingdom because of the city’s connection to Hughes. Shortly afterwards, the Ukrainian government lost control of Donetsk to militants of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic, who declared the city to be independent of Ukraine and advocated integration with Russia.

DID YOU KNOW

In 2014, an instrumental song on the Manic Street Preachers’ album Futurology paid homage to John Hughes, referring to Donetsk by its former name Hughesovka

Health

Resident doctors in Wales vote to accept new contract

Published

2 hours ago

December 18, 2025

Tom Sinclair

RESIDENT doctors across Wales have voted to accept a new contract, with 83% of those who took part in a referendum backing the agreement, according to BMA Cymru Wales.

The contract includes a four per cent additional investment in the resident doctor workforce and introduces a range of reforms aimed at improving training conditions, wellbeing and long-term workforce sustainability within NHS Wales. The BMA says the deal also supports progress towards pay restoration, which remains a central issue for doctors.

Key changes include new safeguards to limit the most fatiguing working patterns, measures intended to address medical unemployment and career progression concerns, and reforms to study budgets and study leave to improve access to training opportunities.

Negotiations between the BMA’s Welsh Resident Doctors Committee, NHS Wales Employers and the Welsh Government concluded earlier this year. Following a consultation period, a referendum of resident doctors and final-year medical students in Wales was held, resulting in a clear majority in favour of the proposals.

Welsh Resident Doctors Committee chair Dr Oba Babs Osibodu said the agreement marked a significant step forward for doctors working in Wales.

He said: “We’re proud to have negotiated this contract, which offers our colleagues and the future generation of doctors safer terms of service, fairer pay, and better prospects so that they can grow and develop their careers in Wales.

“This contract will help to retain the doctors already in training, and also attract more doctors to work in Wales, where they can offer their expertise and benefit patients.”

Dr Osibodu added that the BMA remains committed to achieving full pay restoration and acknowledged that challenges remain for some doctors.

“Whilst this contract sets the foundations for a brighter future for resident doctors in Wales, we recognise that there are still doctors who are struggling to develop their careers and secure permanent work,” he said. “We need to work with the Welsh Government and NHS employers to address training bottlenecks and underemployment.”

The Welsh Government has previously said it recognises the pressures facing resident doctors and the importance of improving recruitment and retention across NHS Wales, while also highlighting the need to balance pay agreements with wider NHS funding pressures and patient demand.

The new contract is expected to be phased in from August 2026. It will initially apply to doctors in foundation programmes, those in specialty training with unbanded rotas, and new starters, before being rolled out to all resident doctors across Wales.

Crime

Swansea man jailed for online child sex offence dies in prison

Published

2 hours ago

December 18, 2025

Tom Sinclair

A SWANSEA man who was jailed earlier this year for attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child has died while in custody.

Gareth Davies, aged 59, of the Maritime Quarter, was serving an 18-month prison sentence after being convicted in May of sending sexually explicit messages to what he believed was a 14-year-old girl. The account was in fact a decoy used as part of an online safeguarding operation.

The court heard that Davies began communicating with the decoy between November and December 2024 and persistently pursued the individual, later attempting to arrange a face-to-face meeting. He was arrested after being confronted by the decoy operators.

Davies had pleaded not guilty but was convicted following a trial. At the time of sentencing, police described the messages as extremely concerning and said his imprisonment was necessary to protect children.

It has now been confirmed that Davies died at HMP Parc on Wednesday (Nov 27) while serving his sentence.

The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman has launched an independent investigation into the death, which is standard procedure in all cases where someone dies in custody. No cause of death has been released at this stage.

A coroner will determine the circumstances in due course.

Farming

Welsh Conservatives warn climate plans could mean fewer livestock on Welsh farms

Published

2 hours ago

December 18, 2025

Tom Sinclair

THE WELSH CONSERVATIVES have challenged the Welsh Government over climate change policies they say could lead to reductions in livestock numbers across Wales, raising concerns about the future of Welsh farming.

The row follows the Welsh Government’s decision, alongside Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Liberal Democrats, to support the UK Climate Change Committee’s Fourth Carbon Budget, which sets out the pathway towards Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

The Carbon Budget, produced by the independent Climate Change Committee (CCC), states that meeting Net Zero targets will require a reduction in agricultural emissions, including changes to land use and, in some scenarios, a reduction in livestock numbers.

During questioning in the Senedd, the Welsh Conservatives pressed the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs on whether the Welsh Government supports reducing livestock numbers as part of its climate strategy.

Speaking after the exchange, Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Samuel Kurtz MS, said the Welsh Government could not distance itself from the implications of the policy it had backed.

Mr Kurtz said: “By voting in favour of these climate change regulations, Labour, Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats have signed up to the UK Climate Change Committee’s call to cut livestock numbers in Wales, and they cannot dodge that reality.

“The Deputy First Minister’s smoke-and-mirrors answers only confirm what farmers already fear: that Labour, along with their budget bedfellows in Plaid and the Lib Dems, are prepared to sacrifice Welsh agriculture in pursuit of climate targets.”

He added that the issue came at a time of growing pressure on the farming sector, pointing to uncertainty over the proposed Sustainable Farming Scheme, the ongoing failure to eradicate bovine TB, nitrogen pollution regulations under the Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs), and proposed changes to inheritance tax rules affecting family farms.

The Welsh Government has repeatedly said it does not have a target to forcibly reduce livestock numbers and has argued that future emissions reductions will come through a combination of improved farming practices, environmental land management, and changes in land use agreed with farmers.

Ministers have also said the Sustainable Farming Scheme, which is due to replace the Basic Payment Scheme, is intended to reward farmers for food production alongside environmental outcomes, rather than remove land from agriculture.

The UK Climate Change Committee, which advises governments across the UK, has stressed that its pathways are based on modelling rather than fixed quotas, and that devolved governments have flexibility in how targets are met.

However, farming unions and rural groups in Wales have warned that policies focused on emissions reduction risk undermining the viability of livestock farming, particularly in upland and marginal areas where alternatives to grazing are limited.

The debate highlights the growing tension between climate targets and food production in Wales, with livestock farming remaining a central part of the rural economy and Welsh cultural identity.

As discussions continue over the final shape of the Sustainable Farming Scheme and Wales’ long-term climate plans, pressure is mounting on the Welsh Government to reassure farmers that climate policy will not come at the expense of the sector’s survival.