List of Famous people born in Donetsk, Ukraine

Alexander Vladimirovich Zakharchenko was a separatist leader who was the head of state and Prime Minister of the Donetsk People's Republic, a self-proclaimed state and rebel group which declared independence from Ukraine on 11 May 2014. Zakharchenko was appointed Prime Minister in August 2014 after his predecessor, Alexander Borodai, resigned, and went on to win the early November 2014 election for the position.

Oleg Yuriyovych Vernyayev is a Ukrainian artistic gymnast. He is the 2016 Olympic parallel bars champion and individual all-around silver medalist. Vernyayev is also the 2014 World parallel bars champion, the 2015 European individual all-around champion and the 2017 European individual all-around champion.

Denis Alexandrovich Shaforostov, also known by his stage name Denis Stoff, is a Ukrainian musician best known for his work as a guitarist and vocalist of the Ukrainian metalcore group Make Me Famous and as the ex-lead vocalist of the British rock band Asking Alexandria during original singer Danny Worsnop's 18-month hiatus from the band.

Natan Sharansky is an Israeli politician, human rights activist, and author who, as a refusenik in the Soviet Union during the 1970s and 1980s, spent nine years in Soviet prisons. He served as Chair of the Executive of the Jewish Agency from June 2009 to August 2018. Natan Sharansky currently serves as the Chairman of the Institute of the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) (www.isgap.org).

Volodymyr Rybak (Ukrainian: Володимир Васильович Рибáк; born on 3 October 1946 in Donetsk is a Ukrainian politician. He was the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada from 13 December 2012 to 22 February 2014. Volodymyr Rybak is also the original leader of the predecessor of the Party of Regions, the Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine. He is a Merited Builder of Ukraine.

Sergei Sergeevich Bubka is a Ukrainian former professional tennis player. He was a member of the Ukraine Davis Cup team and was coached by Tibor Toth, who is also the former coach of Sergiy Stakhovsky. Bubka is the son of pole vaulter Sergey Bubka.

Olha Saladuha is a Ukrainian triple jumper. Since the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election she is a member of the Ukrainian parliament.

Rinat Leonidovych Akhmetov is a Ukrainian billionaire businessman, and oligarch. He is the founder and president of System Capital Management (SCM), and ranked among the wealthiest men in Ukraine. As of 2019, he was listed as the 272nd richest man in the world with an estimated net worth of US 6.4 billion. Some sources have claimed that Akhmetov has been involved in organized crime, but Akhmetov has never been charged with a crime, his lawyers successfully refuted these accusations. Akhmetov is the owner and president of the Ukrainian football club Shakhtar Donetsk. In 2006–2007 and 2007–2012, Akhmetov was a member of the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada (parliament) for the Party of Regions. Akhmetov also made numerous statements, since March 2014, appealing for integrity of Ukraine and finding peaceful solutions of the crisis.

Petro Mykolayovych Symonenko is a Ukrainian politician and the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine. Symonenko was the Communist Party's candidate in the 1999 and 2004, 2010 and until his withdrawal, the 2014 presidential election. The Central Election Commission of Ukraine prohibited his candidacy for the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election due to the fact that the statute, name and symbolism of the Communist Party of Ukraine did not comply with 2015 decommunization laws.