Getting Around Luhansk: A Practical Guide
Luhansk is a city in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. Visitors should be aware that the city has been under the control of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic since 2014, and that the practical realities of travel here differ considerably from most Ukrainian cities. The guidance below is drawn from traveller-oriented source material and focuses on what actually exists on the ground.
Orienting Yourself
The city is built around two main centres, the old centre and the new centre, which are the focus of most visitor activity. The city's main street is Sovetskaya. Luhansk sits at the confluence of the Luhan and Olkhova rivers, and the street layout is organised around a few main arteries, which is useful to keep in mind when planning journeys.
Trams and Trolleybuses
Luhansk once had an extensive tram and trolleybus network, but this is no longer a viable way for a visitor to get around. The networks were closed in 2014, briefly reopened with only a small number of trolleybus routes, and then closed completely in 2022. Wires and rails are being dismantled in various parts of the city, and depots have been closed or converted to bus depots. In practice, you should not plan any journey around trams or trolleybuses.
Buses and Marshrutkas
Buses and marshrutkas (minibuses) are the primary means of transport in the city, and the network is quite extensive. It is organised around three main arteries:
- West–east: from Gaevogo kvartal through Sovetskaya street, the new town of Zavod OR, Lomonosov street, and on to the Eastern kvartals.
- North–south: along Oboronnaya street, past the bus station (Avtovokzal), and out to Ostraya Mogila, which is on the road toward Krasnodon and the airport.
- The old "access to the plants" route through the old centre: from the railway station along Karl Marx street and Oktyabrskaya street (west-bound buses and marshrutkas only), and Shevchenko and Frunze streets (east-bound buses and marshrutkas), past the main entrance to Zavod OR, and on to the new town of Zavod OR.
Note that some of these arteries have roads in better condition than the rest of the city, which is worth knowing if you are sensitive to a bumpy ride. The first two arteries are also the routes formerly shared with trolleybuses.
Local Trains
Some parts of the city, mostly the remote ones, are served infrequently by local diesel trains, and there are also west-bound electric trains. East-bound diesels reach the former Lenin plant, the Zavod OR plant and the adjacent KamBrod area, and then Vergunka. West-bound trains offer an alternative route to the satellite town of Alexandrovsk. A south-bound diesel to Izvarino runs daily along the border of the Leninskii and Artyomovskii districts. These services are infrequent, so check times before relying on them.
Walking
The new and old centres are in principle walkable. A leisurely walk through both centres, visiting museums along the way, can be completed within a day, though you may end up a bit winded. A sensible approach is to start from the most southerly place of interest in the centre, the open-air museum of stone women statues on the grounds of the pedagogical institute near the "Ukraine" cinema, and then work your way downtown, which saves energy.
Arriving by Air
The airports in Luhansk and Donetsk were destroyed, so there is no working airport serving the city. The nearest airport in operation is in Volgograd, from where numerous informal buses and marshrutkas run to Luhansk. If you are approaching from the south of Russia, you can also change to a bus in Rostov-on-Don.
Arriving by Train
The railway station is at V.Pyatyorkina, 6. The railway has been electrified only in the western direction. The formerly notorious four-hour diesel train to Donetsk has been replaced by an elektrichka that now runs only as far as Yasinuvata. Routes and timetables are published on the official website in Russian. Since 2019 the railway station has also doubled as the central bus station.
If you are looking for a connection from Russia, one option is to reach Luhansk via Kamenka station on the Moscow–Rostov-on-the-Don railroad. From there, minibus 307 runs from the railway station to the centre of Donetsk (in the Russian Federation) every 30 minutes between 06:30 and 18:30, and then minibus 1 continues to the border. Alternatively, if you are closer to that area, you can take a bus to Donetsk from the bus station on the M4 highway, of which there are about eight a day. Consult the bus timetable directly, as internet information is unreliable; this may require speaking Russian. The border can be crossed on foot, a walk of about 1.5 km in total.
Be aware of the current border arrangements. As of October 2022, all customs and border services on the Luhansk side were closed. There is only a passport and security check from the Russian side, though they will still check your luggage and any permits required. From the Russian viewpoint you are entering another region of Russia, albeit one where security procedures are not yet synced with the Russian ones and a war state has been announced, so prepare accordingly. The border atmosphere is still present in practice. On the Luhansk side, from Izvarino there are minibuses to Krasnodon and Luhansk until 18:00.
Arriving by Bus
There are three main bus facilities in the city:
- Republican vokzal complex (RVK), at V.Pyatyorkina, 6. Since 2019 the train station has doubled as the central bus station, and almost all regional and international bus routes start or pass here. Ticket offices are on the second floor, and buses stop on the adjacent overpass on the same level. Regional and interregional timetables are published online in Russian.
- Bus station #1, at Oboronnaya str., 28. This is a large Soviet-era building with a futuristic interior. Most interregional services are run by private companies, and routes and timetables are on the official website in Russian. It serves the LPR and many destinations in Russia, with Rostov-on-Don, Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Crimea being the most popular, plus a number of other destinations in Ukraine via the Rostov region. Since the RVK opened, this station is now an intermediate stop for south-bound buses, which includes all or almost all interregional services, since they pass into the Rostov region only through Izvarino, Gukovo or Dolzhansky.
- Bus station #3, in kvartal 60-letiya Oktyabrya. It has no building, but does have a ticket office. It serves local buses to the north-east of the region, both those originating here and those from the central station.
Arriving by Car
Luhansk lies on the transit E-40 highway from Kharkiv and Debalcevo to Krasnodon and on to the international crossing into the Russian Federation at Donetsk, Kamensk-Shahtinskii and Volgograd. Road quality varies from recently repaved to quite poor, and is mostly poor on other highways. Access from Russia is also possible via the E-50 through the international border crossing at Dolzhanskyy, then changing to T-1305 toward Sverdlovsk, T-1322 to Krasnodon, and then the E-40.
Other approaches to Luhansk go through areas controlled by the LPR only since 2022: the P272 (RU) and P22 (UA) connection road from the M4 highway from Millerovo, where you should expect several kilometres of rather extreme road quality on the Russian side until the international border crossing at Krasnaya Talovka; and the north–south local road H-21 from Starobelsk through Luhansk, Lutugino, Torez and Donetsk. As of October 2022, access to these parts may require additional permits from LPR authorities.
Taxis and Ride-Hailing
Visitors should expect to rely on buses, marshrutkas and local trains for getting around, and should make local enquiries on arrival if they need a taxi.
A Note on Conditions
Travel to and within Luhansk is affected by the ongoing war in the region. Infrastructure has been damaged or closed, services have been reduced or suspended, and border and permit arrangements have changed over time. Verify current conditions, timetables and entry requirements before travelling, and treat any information here as a starting point rather than a guarantee.