Krasnohvardiiske, also known as Krasnogvardeyskoye or Kurman, is an

urban-type settlement Urban-type settlement, abbreviated: ; , abbreviated: ; ; ; ; . is an official designation for lesser urbanized settlements, used in several Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern European countries. The term was primarily used in the So ...

in the

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

, a territory recognized by a majority of countries as part of

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 ...

and

annexed Annexation, in international law, is the forcible acquisition and assertion of legal title over one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. In current international law, it is generally held to ...

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 ...

. The town also serves as the administrative center of

Krasnohvardiiske Raion Krasnohvardiiske Raion (), known by Ukrainian authorities as Kurman Raion (, ) is one of the 25 regions of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, a territory recognised by a majority of countries as part of Ukraine and annexed by Russia. The administr ...

(

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 ...

) - also known as Kurman Raion - and houses the district's local administration buildings. Its population is The former Veseloye air base is located nearby.

History

Early history

The exact date of foundation of the settlement is unknown. It is first mentioned in written sources in 1865 under its original name, Kurman-Kemelchi (; ). This name, which comes from a Crimean Tatar-language phrase literally meaning "not-drying", is a reference to the swampy, wet conditions of the area around the village. At this time, it was part of

Perekopsky Uyezd Perekopsky Uyezd (''Перекопский уезд'') was one of the subdivisions of the Taurida Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the central part of the governorate, in northeastern Crimea. Its administrative centre was Perek ...

Taurida Governorate Taurida Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire. It included the territory of the Crimean Peninsula and the mainland between the lower Dnieper River with the coasts of the Black Sea and Sea o ...

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 ...

. In the 1870s, a railway station was built nearby, spurring the growth of the village and making it a hub for wheat sales. In 1905, Kurman-Kemelchi had a population of 48 people, all of whom were

Crimean Tatars Crimean Tatars (), or simply Crimeans (), are an Eastern European Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group and nation indigenous to Crimea. Their ethnogenesis lasted thousands of years in Crimea and the northern regions along the coast of the Blac ...

, the indigenous people of

. In 1908, a church was built in the village. By 1913, the population had grown to 72.

Soviet period

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 ...

that began in 1918, Kurman-Kemelchi changed hands between the warring sides multiple times. In 1921, the village was designated a selyshche (rural-type settlement), and became the center of within the

Crimean ASSR Several different governments controlled the Crimean Peninsula during the period of the Soviet Union, from the 1920s to 1991. The government of Crimea from 1921 to 1936 was the Crimean Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic, which was an Autonomo ...

. In 1926, Kurman-Kemelchi had a population of 811 people, of whom 617 were

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 ...

, 74

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, 61

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

, 24

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 ...

, eight

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

, five Crimean Tatars, and five Greeks. In 1935, Kurman-Kemelchi became the center of a national raion for the ethnic German minority, named after Ernst Thalmann. By 1939, the village had a population of 1,754 people. 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 ...

, Kurman-Kemelchi 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 ...

. In either 1941 or 1942, around 60

from Kurman-Kemelchi and surrounding villages were imprisoned in a building in the village by the Nazis for days, before being murdered at a brickworks by a yet-unidentified Nazi SS unit. On 21 August 1945, after the end of fighting in Crimea, the village was renamed ''Krasnohvardiiske'' by the Soviet government. That same year, the German national raion it was in was renamed to

. By 1946, the population had fallen to 1,612 people. Krasnohvardiiske received urban-type settlement status in September 1957. The population had grown rapidly, reaching around 4,200 by 1959. It continued to grow throughout the remainder of the 20th century, reaching 7,600 by 1970 and 9,100 people by 1979.

21st century

In 2014, Russia invaded and

the entire Crimean peninsula from Ukraine, including Krasnohvardiiske, beginning an ongoing occupation. Krasnohvardiiske has been the site of repressions against

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...

, a religious minority group that is persecuted in Russia. During the full-scale

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

that began in 2022, Ukraine has retaliated by repeatedly attacking Russian assets in Crimea. On 22 July 2023, Russia-installed governor of Crimea

Sergey Aksyonov Sergey Valeryevich Aksyonov (; ; ; born 26 November 1972) is a Russian politician serving as the head of the Republic of Crimea since 9 October 2014, a territory internationally recognised as part of Ukraine. Biography Sergey Aksyonov was ...

reported there had been an explosion at an ammunition depot in Krasnohvardiiske, attributing it to a Ukrainian drone strike. The authorities evacuated all civilians in a radius and briefly paused traffic on the

Crimean Bridge The Crimean Bridge (, ; ), also called Kerch Strait Bridge or Kerch Bridge, is a pair of parallel bridges, one for a four-lane road and one for a double-track railway, spanning the Kerch Strait between the Taman Peninsula of Krasnodar Krai in ...

. In September 2023 a law enacted by the

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameralism, unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 Deputy (legislator), deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovn ...

of Ukraine came into effect restoring the historic name ''Kurman'' in Ukrainian law as part of

decommunization in Ukraine Decommunization in Ukraine started during the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 and expanded afterwards. Following the 2014 Revolution of Dignity and beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian War, the Government of Ukraine, Ukrainian government ap ...

. Russia, which has occupied the peninsula since 2014, continues to refer to the town as ''Krasnogvardeyskoye''.

Demographics

As of the

2001 Ukrainian census The 2001 Ukrainian census is to date the only census of the population of independent Ukraine. It was conducted by the State Statistics Committee of Ukraine on 5 December 2001, twelve years after the last Soviet Union census in 1989.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 ...

, 24.9% were

, and 16.6 were

. By 2014, the population had stayed mostly the same, at 11,134. The town has multiple religious communities: There are followers of the

Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), commonly referred to by the exonym Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), is an Eastern Orthodox church in Ukraine. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church was officially formed in 1990 in pla ...

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

, the

Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sa ...

, and the

Evangelical Baptist Union of Ukraine The Evangelical Baptist Union of Ukraine or All-Ukrainian Union of Churches of Evangelical Christian Baptists (AUC ECB) () is a Baptist Christian denomination in Ukraine. It is affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance. The headquarters is in Kyi ...

Notes

References

{{Subdivisions of Crimea Urban-type settlements in Crimea Krasnohvardiiske Raion Rural settlements in Crimea