“Donbas dictionary”: kopanka, Olkhovka, Luhanka, Stanytsia

kopanka (копанка, pl. kopanki ‘dug pit/hole‘)

1. small makeshift illegal coal mine in the Donbas, south of Luhansk region and north of Donetsk region
2. shallow water well or hole for collecting water (usable in this meaning all over Ukraine in both Russian and Ukrainian)

Luhanka (Луганка)

Local name for Luhan river Luhansk city’s name is derived from, Luhan flows through Luhansk, ‘official’ name Luhan is normally never used. Transliterated Russian version for Луганка is Luganka, but it is pronounced by most of Luhanskers as Luhanka

Olkhovka (Ольховка)

Local name for Vilkhivka river, which flows through Luhansk, both ‘official’ Russian name Olkhovaya (Ольховая) and Ukrainian Vilkhivka (Вільхівка) are normally never used

Stanitsa or Stanytsia (Станица/Станиця)

short name for Stanytsia Luhanska, a settlement not far from Luhansk on the opponent bank of Donets river. In Russia the word stanitsa (станица) stands for ‘Cossack village’ and is often used as a common noun in geographic names like hamlet, village, town, settlement etc. In Ukraine Stanytsia is unique, so Russian journalists make typical mistake using “stanitsa Luganskaya” (станица Луганская) in their pieces instead of correct Stanytsia Luhanska (Станиця Луганська in Ukraininan or Станица Луганская in Russian)