Kreminna (, ) is a city in

Sievierodonetsk Raion Sievierodonetsk Raion (; ) or Siverskodonetsk Raion () is a Raions of Ukraine, raion (district) of Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine. It was created in July 2020 as part of the reform of administrative divisions of Ukraine. The center of the raion is the c ...

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 ...

, eastern

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 ...

. Prior to 2020, it served as the administrative center of former

Kreminna Raion Kreminna Raion () was a raion (district) of Luhansk Oblast in eastern Ukraine. The administrative center of the raion was the town of Kreminna. The raion was abolished on 18 July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduce ...

. Its population was estimated at as of January 2022. Following the

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 was launched in February 2022, the city has been the scene of heavy fighting, with both Ukraine and Russia claiming control at times. Russia has claimed it as part of 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 ...

following its declared annexation of the region in September 2022.

History

Kreminna was founded in 1680. Kreminna acquired the status of a city in 1938. A local newspaper has been published in the city since December 1943.

Russo-Ukrainian War

In July 2014, fighting took place in the city during the

war in Donbas The war in Donbas, or the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. The war Timeline of the war in Donbas (2014), began in April 2014, when Russian separatist forces in Ukraine, Russian para ...

. Kreminna remained under Ukrainian control. In March 2022, during the

, the pro-Russian mayor

Volodymyr Struk Volodymyr Oleksiyovych Struk (; 15 May 1964 – 2 March 2022) was a Ukrainian politician. He was kidnapped and killed in March 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, when he was serving as mayor of the city of Kreminna, Luhansk region, at ...

who welcomed the Russian move, was found shot dead in the street after having been kidnapped from his home. Official advisor and a former deputy minister at the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs

Anton Herashchenko Anton Yuriyovych Gerashchenko (, born 10 February 1979) is a current official advisor and a former deputy minister at the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs. He is a former member of the Ukrainian parliament (Verkhovna Rada) from 2014 to 20 ...

said that Struk was judged under the Lynch Law. Herashchenko suggested that the mayor was murdered by "unknown patriots" as the Russian forces were 15 kilometers away from Kreminna. On 11 March 2022, a residential care home for the elderly in Kreminna came under the fire of Russian tanks after Ukrainian armed forces set up a firing position there. According to

Serhiy Haidai Serhiy Volodymyrovych Haidai (; born 6 November 1975) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian entrepreneur and politician. He was the Governor of Luhansk Oblast, head of the Luhansk Regional Military–Civil Administration from 25 October 2019 to 15 March 202 ...

, the Ukrainian

Governor of Luhansk Oblast The governor of Luhansk Oblast is the Chief of local state administration, head of the executive branch for the Luhansk Oblast. Due to the current Russo-Ukrainian War, the administration has been assigned as a Civil–military administrations (Uk ...

, 56 elderly residents were killed and 15 others were taken by the Russian military to

Svatove Svatove (, ; , ) is a city on the Krasna River in Luhansk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Svatove Raion. Its population is It has been occupied by Russia since 2022. History After the proclamation of the s ...

, a town under their control. Ukrainian emergency services and officials were unable to reach the incident scene due to ongoing fighting. The town was the site of some of the first fighting of the battle of Donbas during the

battle of Kreminna The battle of Donbas was a military offensive that was part of the wider eastern Ukraine campaign of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The offensive began on 18 April 2022 between the armed forces of Russia and Ukraine for control of the Donbas ...

. On 18 April 2022, Russian and LNR troops entered the city of Kreminna, capturing it a few hours later after clashes with the Ukrainian Army. Haidai said "there were plans to evacuate the population," although due to heavy fighting it proved impossible. Haidai described the Russian forces as having "a huge amount of equipment". On 13 September 2022, Haidai stated that Russian forces had fled Kreminna three days earlier, that the Ukrainian flag has been raised by local residents, but Ukrainian forces had not yet entered the town. However, on 14 September, Haidai stated that Russian troops had returned to Kreminna and "torn down the Ukrainian flag". In early October 2022, the

Luhansk Oblast campaign Since 19 September 2022, a military campaign has taken place along a frontline in western parts of Luhansk Oblast and far-eastern parts of Kharkiv Oblast amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The frontline has been referred to as the Svatove– ...

near the town was initiated. In February 2023 the first recorded loss of a Russian

BMPT Terminator The BMPT "Terminator" ( – Tank Support Fighting Vehicle) is an armored fighting vehicle (AFV), designed and manufactured by the Russian company Uralvagonzavod. This vehicle was designed for supporting tanks and other AFVs in urban areas. The ...

was in a combat near Kreminna.

Demographics

Notable people

Yuriy Aharkov Yuriy Pavlovych Aharkov (; born 8 January 1987) is a Ukrainian former professional cyclist. Major results ;2008 : 1st Time trial, National Under-23 Road Championships : 5th Overall Le Triptyque des Monts et Châteaux ::1st Stage 3 ;2009 : 2nd L ...

(born 1987), Ukrainian cyclist *

Olena Borysenko Olena Borysenko (born 4 June 1996 in Kreminna, Ukraine) is a Ukrainian athlete who competes in compound archery. She started archery in 2013 and first competed for the Ukrainian national team in 2014. She is righthanded. Her draw weight is 52 ...

(born 1996), Ukrainian archer

References

{{Authority control Cities in Luhansk Oblast Sievierodonetsk Raion Populated places established in 1680 Cities of district significance in Ukraine 1680 establishments in Russia