Prokopyevsk

City in Kemerovo oblast (region) of the Russian Federation, in southwestern Siberia, 30 km/19 mi northwest of Novokuznetsk; population (2002) 224,600. Situated on the Aba River and on the South Siberian Railway, it is one of the principal coalmining and coking centres of the Kuznetsk Basin. Industries include the manufacture of mining equipment and ballbearings, chemical works, and food-processing plants.

Prokopyevsk was founded in 1918 as a coal-mining settlement. It became a town in 1931, and has grown thereafter by absorbing neighbouring settlements.