Donetsk Oblast (Donetska oblast, doˈnɛtsjkɐ ˈɔblɐsjtj), also referred to as Donechchyna (Донеччина, doˈnɛtʃːɪnɐ), is an oblast in eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous province, with around 4.1 million residents. Its administrative centre is Donetsk, though due to the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War, the regional administration was moved to Kramatorsk. Historically, the region has been an important part of the Donbas region. From its creation in 1938 until November 1961, it bore the name Stalino Oblast as Donetsk was then named "Stalino", in honour of Joseph Stalin. As part of the de-Stalinization process, it was renamed after the Siversky Donets river, the main artery of Eastern Ukraine. Its population is estimated at
The oblast is known for its urban sprawl of Donetsk–Makiivka and Horlivka–Yenakiieve and it is often associated with the coal mining industry.
In 2014, parts of the oblast, including Donetsk, came under the control of Russian-backed separatists who declared the Donetsk People's Republic, leading to a war against government forces; the de facto administrative center was subsequently moved to Mariupol and then Kramatorsk. During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the oblast again became the site of heavy fighting, and Russia later declared the annexation of the entirety of the oblast as well as three other regions, though the annexation remains internationally unrecognized and only about half of the oblast is under Russian military occupation.
Before the establishment of the Donetsk Oblast, three districts (okruhas) existed on its territory from 1923 to 1930. The Donets Governorate was terminated in 1925. As part of Soviet Ukraine, the Donetsk Oblast was established on 2 July 1932 out of the Kharkiv Oblast, the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and a number of raions that were under the direct administration of Kharkiv (then-capital of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic). Artemivsk (today Bakhmut) served as the oblast's administrative center for two weeks until 16 July 1932, when the city of Stalino (today Donetsk) took on the role.