[5] In contrast to most of the Donbas region, which is largely flat open landscape, Sviatohirsk is set among hills and forests - providing some natural defences - making it harder for an army to manoeuvre with artillery and tanks.

[7] Following the start of the 2022 Russo-Ukrainian war, the press service of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) reported the deaths of two monks and a nun of the city's monastery as a result of shelling on 1 June 2022.

[9] Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed Russian forces for the resulting burning of the temple and mourned the victims, while calling for Russia's expulsion from UNESCO over it.

[17] Later that day, Denis Pushilin, head of the Donetsk People's Republic, stated that Sviatohirsk was almost cleared of Ukrainian forces, except for an unnamed height somewhere in the city.

[4] Sviatohirsk includes the Holy Dormition Sviatohirsk Lavra, the Holy Mountains National Park, an historical and architectural reserve, as well as a resort of national importance; thirty objects, among them a monumental sculpture of Communist leader Artem (Fyodor Sergeyev) and a World War II memorial (opened on the day of 40th anniversary of victory) are included in the historic monuments complex of the reserve.

The town has been visited by well-known cultural figures, including Hryhorii Skovoroda, Fyodor Tyutchev, Ivan Bunin, Anton Chekhov, Maxim Gorky, Marina Tsvetaeva, and Ilya Repin.

On 15 May 2015, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko signed a bill into law that started a six months period for the removal of communist monuments and the mandatory renaming of settlements with a name related to Communism.

Sviatohirsk also offers the Siverskyi Donets River, chalk mountains, coniferous and mixed forests, centuries-old oak trees, and clean air.