Shakhty (Russian: Шахты, IPA: [ˈʂaxtɨ]) is a city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the southeastern spur of the Donetsk mountain ridge, 75 kilometers (47 mi) northeast of Rostov-on-Don.

[2] In the beginning of the 19th century[2] sergeant-major Popov founded[citation needed] on the Grushevka River a Cossack stanitsa of Alexandro-Grushevskaya (Александро-Грушевская).

[2] In 1867, it was granted town status and renamed Gornoye Grushevskoye Poseleniye (Горное Грушевское Поселение).

The population was poor, but the town had rail, telegraph and telephone networks, electricity and plumbing as well as libraries, hospitals and a post office.

1917 saw the city change hands three times, until it was taken on April 28, 1919, by the Don Army, under General Aleksandr Fitskhelaurov [ru].

In 1941, an independent Cossack republic had been declared in Shakhty although this was suppressed by the NKVD before the Russian invasion.

Perestroika proved devastating for the city, as mines were privatized and shut down, causing massive unemployment, which led to a severe rise in crime and drug abuse.

Viewed from the back, there is a brief biographical note on the ruler—"Emperor Alexander II abolished serfdom in Russia in 1861 and freed millions of peasants from centuries of slavery, conducted military and judicial reforms, introduced the system of local self-government, city dumas and local administrations, brought to an end the long-lasting Caucasian War, and liberated the Slavic peoples from the Ottoman yoke.