Krasnodon () or Sorokyne (; ) is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

in Dovzhansk Raion (

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

) of

Luhansk Oblast Luhansk Oblast (; ), also referred to as Luhanshchyna (), is the easternmost Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Luhansk. The oblast was established in 1938 and bore the n ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. Residence of Sorokyne urban hromada. Its population is approximately Krasnodon came under control of pro-Russian separatists in early 2014, and was incorporated into the

Luhansk People's Republic The Luhansk People's Republic (LPR; , ) is a disputed territory administered as a republic of Russia in the occupied parts of eastern Ukraine's Luhansk Oblast, with its capital in Luhansk. The LPR was proclaimed by Russian-backed paramilitar ...

(LNR). Since then, it has been continually controlled by the LNR, and since 2022, explicitly by

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

History

20th century

In the early 1910s, rich coal deposits were discovered in the area of the

Donbas The Donbas (, ; ) or Donbass ( ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. The majority of the Donbas is occupied by Russia as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War. The word ''Donbas'' is a portmanteau formed fr ...

around modern Krasnodon. Entrepreneurs flocked to the area, and a number of

coal mines Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

were dug. A settlement began to grow along the left bank of the Velyka Kamianka, a tributary of the

Donets River The Seversky Donets () or Siverskyi Donets (), usually simply called the Donets (), is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv ...

, known as Sorokyne. In 1914, the first coal was actually mined. This year is usually considered to be the official date of the founding of the settlement, Sorokyne. In 1916, 3,105 people lived in Sorokyne, and 776 miners worked at the mines. Sorokyne saw fighting during the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

, and changed hands several times. The intense fighting destroyed the mines and most of the settlement. Eventually, it was captured by the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

in December 1919, who established stable control over Ukraine and established the communist

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

on much of the former territory of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. The Soviet regime restored and modernized the destroyed mines, and began construction on new mines. A local newspaper has been published in the city since September 1930. Sorokyne became a major center of

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

in the Donbas. On 28 October 1938, by a decision of the

Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (), referred to between 1991 and 1996 as the Presidium of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine () was the permanent body of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR then of the ...

, the mining settlement of Sorokyne was renamed to Krasnodon and given city status. By 1939, 22,220 people lived in Krasnodon. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Krasnodon was occupied by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

from 20 July 1942 to 14 February 1943. The Germans operated a Nazi prison in the town. The Soviet resistance organization Young Guard operated in the city during the occupation. The Nazis would capture the Young Guardsmen and massacre them by throwing them down mineshafts. Fifty-eight guardsmen in total are known to have been killed. After the end of the war, ''Young Guard'' have been commemorated with monuments and a

memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects such as home ...

complex in Krasnodon. On 27 September 1942, according to Soviet sources, the Nazis committed a particularly brutal massacre by burying alive 32 patriotic Soviet miners in the city park. The Jewish community of Krasnodon was also massacred by the Germans. The Nazis also attempted to use the coal mines of Krasnodon, bringing in machines to harvest its natural resources. After the liberation of the city by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

, the mines were once again reconstructed.

21st century

Since 2014, Krasnodon has been controlled by the

(LNR), a Russian puppet state, and not the Ukrainian authorities.

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

released satellite data from 21 August 2014 and confirmed it showed a large column of armoured vehicles crossing into Ukraine from Russia through Krasnodon. In 2016, the city was renamed Sorokyne by Ukraine as part of

decommunization Decommunization in former communist states is the process of purging former communist high officials and eliminating communist symbols. It is sometimes referred to as political cleansing. Although the term has been occasionally used during t ...

reforms. However, the name change was largely symbolic due to Ukraine not controlling the city. Since 2022, Russia has claimed the city as part of the LNR, a federal subject of Russia, following its declared annexation of the region. In February 2023, LNR Head

Leonid Pasechnik Leonid Ivanovich Pasechnik (; ; born 15 March 1970) is a Russian politician who has served as head of the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) since 2017. He holds the position in acting capacity ever since the Russian annexation of Donetsk, Kherson ...

and Russian-installed mayor of Sorokyne Sergey Kozenko, and head of

Krasnoyarsk Krasnoyarsk is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yenisey, Yenisey River, and is the second-largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk, with a p ...

Vladislav Loginov signed an agreement establishing Sorokyne (referred to in the documents as Krasnodon) and Krasnoyarsk as

sister cities A sister city or a twin town relationship is International relations, a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there ar ...

. Pasechnik said that the relationship will include "youth exchanges, infrastructure restoration, urban development, and sports development". Analysts see this as part of "wider government initiatives to erase Ukrainian identity among youth". The "youth exchanges" may be related to Russia's so-called "youth camps", in which Ukrainian children are "indoctrinate with Russian political ideology". On 25 September 2023, it was reported by both Ukrainian and Russian military sources that Ukrainian forces struck industrial facilities in Sorokyne.

Economy

Krasnodon has historically been important for the mining of

bituminous coal Bituminous coal, or black coal, is a type of coal containing a tar-like substance called bitumen or asphalt. Its coloration can be black or sometimes dark brown; often there are well-defined bands of bright and dull material within the coal seam, ...

. There is also a meat processing plant and a sewing factory today.

Demographics

The population of Krasnodon was 70,400 in 1972, 53,000 in 1989, and 49,921 in 2001. As of the Ukrainian Census of 2001, the city was majority (66.3%)

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

, with a large minority (33.2%) of

Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...

and small minorities of

Belarusians Belarusians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Belarus. They natively speak Belarusian language, Belarusian, an East Slavic language. More than 9 million people proclaim Belarusian ethnicity worldwide. Nearly 7.99&n ...

(1.3%) and other ethnic groups (2.2%). Linguistically, the city is overwhelmingly

Russophone This article details the geographical distribution of Russian-speakers. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the status of the Russian language often became a matter of controversy. Some Post-Soviet states adopted policies of Derus ...

, with 90.75% natively speaking the

Russian language Russian is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is ...

. The largest linguistic minority are native Ukrainian speakers, who make up 8.46% of the population. There are then several small linguistic minorities, with 0.17% natively speaking Romani, 0.15% speaking

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

, and 0.12 speaking Belarusian.

Gallery

File:Bolshaya Kamenka.jpg, Velyka Kamyanka River in Krasnodon File:Krasnodon-ZiU-9-032-01.jpg, A trolleybus in Krasnodon

Notable people

* Denys Berinchyk (born 1988), Ukrainian boxer and WBO lightweight champion

External links

Official city page

References

{{Authority control Cities in Luhansk Oblast Populated places established in 1914 Cities of regional significance in Ukraine Populated places established in the Russian Empire 1914 establishments in the Russian Empire Sorokyne urban hromada