Debaltseve (Ukrainian: Дебальцеве, IPA: [deˈbɑlʲtsewe] ^ⓘ) or Debaltsevo (Russian: Дебальцево), is a city in Horlivka Raion, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, currently occupied by Russia as part of the Donetsk People's Republic. The city is situated on the eastern edge of Donetsk Oblast, and borders Luhansk Oblast. Population: 24,209 (2022 estimate).

On 18 February 2015, after the Battle of Debaltseve, the town was captured by the Russian separatist forces.

Distance from Donetsk: by road - 74 km, by air – 58 km. Distance from Kyiv: by road - 803 km, by rail - 797 km. The administrative boundary between the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts lies along with the eastern limits of the city.

The city is located on a hill from which many Donbas rivers originate. The river Bulavin (a tributary of the river Krynka, Mius basin) originates in the southern outskirts of the city, the river Lozova (a tributary of the river Luhan, Siverskyi Donets basin) in the north-east, the river Sanzharivka (a tributary of the river Luhan) in the north, the river Skelevaya (a tributary of the river Lugan) in the north-west, and the river Karapulka [uk] (a tributary of the river Luhan) in the western outskirts.

Debaltseve city was founded in 1878 as a railway station due to the construction of the Catherine Railway (special government railway of Russian empire built in 1882–1904). Though at that time this station was well-equipped, it had a number of disadvantages: lack of office buildings, nowhere to place inspectors, a railway hospital was a room with eight beds in a paramedic's apartment. On 1 December 1878, regular train traffic commenced at the Donetsk coal line. The station has been built by landless peasants and poor people from surrounding villages. By 1897, 2048 people inhabited the village close by the railway station. From 25–27 November 1898, a first strike at the station took place. 60 pointsmen were not working demanding reduction of a 16-hour duty shift.

Originally, "Debaltseve" is associated with the neighbouring village Illinka which in the 19th century was given to the State Counselor Ilya Deboltsov (born in 1747 - buried in 1827) for taking part in the suppression of the uprising of the Decembrists in 1825. After a while, Illinka got its second informal name - Deboltsovka. That's how it was shown on maps of the 19th century, and the station which is based on the northern borders of the estate Deboltsova was named Debaltsevo.

In 1894, close to the station, a mechanical factory was built that produced building trusses, spans of railway bridges, trolleys for the narrow-gauge railway. On 1 May 1899, the first strike took place at the mechanical factory. First of all the strikers demanded to reduce the working day from 10 hours 30 minutes to 10 hours, secondly announce 1 May a non-working day, and lastly put an end to the arbitrariness of masters and improve living conditions. After assuring strikers to fulfill their demands, the administration failed to keep to its promises. As a result, on 3 May workers left the factory half an hour earlier. With the support of local authorities and the police, businessmen suppressed the strike, completely rejecting the workers' demands. On the eve of the Revolution in 1905 Social Democratic party was created. Mechanics T.E. Batyschenko, A.I. Vaschaev, A.F. Svistunov, S.P. Fedoseyev and locomotive drivers G.G. Larkin, L.G. Martynenko joined the party. Debaltseve workers took an active part in the first Russian revolution.

At the beginning of February 1905 in protest against the crackdown on the peaceful rally of workers in St. Petersburg employees of Debaltseve mechanical factory stopped working for a few days. On 1 May together with the railway workers, they arranged Mayovka in the forest.