# Krasnodon

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Krasnodon
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Krasnodon.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krasnodon
> Source revision: 1350375182
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{short description|City in Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine}}
{{For|the nearby rural settlement of the same name|Krasnodon (rural settlement)}}
{{pp-move-dispute|small=yes}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name               = Sorokyne
| official_name      = Sorokyne / Krasnodon
| settlement_type    = [City](/source/City_status_in_Ukraine)
| native_name        = {{native name|uk|Сорокинe}}
| image_skyline      = TYe Uhtcjrg.jpg
| imagesize          = 
| image_caption      = Sorokyne skyline
| image_flag         = Flag of Krasnodon.svg
| image_shield       = COA krasnodon.PNG
| subdivision_type   = Country
| subdivision_name   = {{UKR}}
| subdivision_type1  = [Oblast](/source/Oblasts_of_Ukraine)
| subdivision_name1  = [Luhansk Oblast](/source/Luhansk_Oblast)
| subdivision_type2  = [Raion](/source/Raions_of_Ukraine)
| subdivision_name2  = [Dovzhansk Raion](/source/Dovzhansk_Raion)
| subdivision_type3  = [Hromada](/source/Hromada)
| subdivision_name3  = [Sorokyne urban hromada](/source/Sorokyne_urban_hromada)
| established_title  = Founded
| established_date   = 1914 as Sorokino
| established_title1 = Renamed
| established_date1  = 1938
| leader_title       = [Mayor](/source/Mayor)
| leader_name        = Yuri Borisovich Baklagov<ref>{{cite web |url=http://krasnodon.org.ua/local_government/mayor/biography |script-title=ru:Городской голова |publisher=Krasnodon Official City Page |access-date=19 March 2009 |language=ru |archive-date=21 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121015524/http://krasnodon.org.ua/local_government/mayor/biography |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| area_magnitude     = 
| area_total_km2     = 77.33
| area_land_km2      = 
| area_water_km2     = 
| population_as_of   = 2022
| population_note    = 
| population_total   = 42315
| population_footnotes = 
| population_metro   = 
| population_density_km2 = auto
| pushpin_map        = Ukraine Luhansk Oblast#Ukraine
| pushpin_label_position = left <!-- the position of the pushpin label: left, right, top, bottom, none -->
| pushpin_map_caption = Location of Sorokyne/Krasnodon
| pushpin_mapsize    = 
| coordinates        = {{coord|48|18|0|N|39|44|0|E|region:UA|display=it}}
| elevation_m        = 
| postal_code_type   = [Postal code](/source/Postal_code)
| postal_code        = 94400
| area_code          = +380 6435
| blank_name         = [Climate](/source/K%C3%B6ppen_climate_classification)
| blank_info         = [Dfa](/source/Humid_continental_climate)
| website            = {{URL|http://krasnodon.org.ua/}}
| footnotes          = 
| mapframe          = yes
| mapframe-zoom     = 10
| mapframe-wikidata = yes
}}

'''Krasnodon''' ({{langx|uk|Краснодон|label=[Ukrainian](/source/Ukrainian_language) and [Russian](/source/Russian_language)}}) or '''Sorokyne''' ({{langx|uk|Сорокине}}; {{langx|ru|Сорокино|Sorokino}}) is a [city](/source/city) in [Dovzhansk Raion](/source/Dovzhansk_Raion) ([district](/source/Raions_of_Ukraine)) of [Luhansk Oblast](/source/Luhansk_Oblast) in eastern [Ukraine](/source/Ukraine). Seat of [Sorokyne urban hromada](/source/Sorokyne_urban_hromada). Its population is approximately {{Ua-pop-est2022|42,315|.}}

Krasnodon came under control of pro-Russian separatists in early 2014, and was incorporated into the [Lugansk People's Republic](/source/Lugansk_People's_Republic) (LNR). Since then, it has been continually controlled by the LNR, and since 2022, explicitly by [Russia](/source/Russia).

==History==
===20th century===
In the early 1910s, rich coal deposits were discovered in the area of the [Donbas](/source/Donbas) around modern Krasnodon. Entrepreneurs flocked to the area, and a number of [coal mines](/source/coal_mines) were dug. A settlement began to grow along the left bank of the Velyka Kamianka, a tributary of the [Donets River](/source/Donets), known as '''Sorokyne'''.<ref name=esu/> In 1914, the first coal was actually mined.<ref name=ssr1/> 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.<ref name=esu/>

During [World War I](/source/World_War_I) and the [Ukrainian War of Independence](/source/Ukrainian_War_of_Independence), Sorokyne changed hands several times.<ref name=ssr1/> The intense fighting destroyed the mines and most of the settlement.<ref name=esu>{{Cite web |last=Баклагов |first=Ю. Б. |last2=Чапанська |first2=Г. І. |date=2014 |title=Краснодон |url=https://esu.com.ua/article-2911 |access-date=2023-11-03 |publisher=Інститут енциклопедичних досліджень НАН України |language=Ukrainian}}</ref> Eventually, it was captured by the [Bolsheviks](/source/Bolsheviks) in December 1919.<ref name=ssr1/> Afterwards it was administratively part of the [Donets Governorate](/source/Donets_Governorate) of Ukraine.<ref>{{cite map|title=Административная карта Украины|year=1923|scale=1:1,050,000|publisher=Народный комиссариат внутренних дел|language=ru}}</ref>

The Soviet regime restored and modernized the destroyed mines, and began construction on new mines.<ref name=esu/> A local newspaper has been published in the city since September 1930.<ref>№ 2915. Слава Краснодона // Летопись периодических и продолжающихся изданий СССР 1986 - 1990. Часть 2. Газеты. М., «Книжная палата», 1994. стр.382</ref> Sorokyne became a major center of [coal mining](/source/coal_mining) in the Donbas. On 28 October 1938, by a decision of the [Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic](/source/Presidium_of_the_Supreme_Soviet_of_the_Ukrainian_Soviet_Socialist_Republic), the mining settlement of Sorokyne was renamed to '''Krasnodon''' and given city status. By 1939, 22,220 people lived in Krasnodon.<ref name=ssr1>{{Cite web |title=Краснодон, Краснодонський район, Луганська область |url=https://ukrssr.com.ua/lugan/krasnodonski/krasnodon-krasnodonskiy-rayon-luganska-oblast |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=Історія міст і сіл Української РСР |language=uk}}</ref>

thumb|left|Mass grave of victims of Nazi Germany
During [World War II](/source/World_War_II), Krasnodon was occupied by [Nazi Germany](/source/Nazi_Germany) from 20 July 1942 to 14 February 1943.<ref name=esu/> The Germans operated a Nazi prison in the town.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=763|title=Gefängnis Krasnodon|website=Bundesarchiv.de|access-date=27 December 2022|language=de}}</ref> The Soviet resistance organization [Young Guard](/source/Young_Guard_(Soviet_resistance)) operated in the city during the occupation. The Nazis would capture the Young Guardsmen and murder 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](/source/memorial) complex in Krasnodon.<ref name=esu/> On 27 September 1942, according to Soviet sources, the Nazis committed a particularly brutal massacre by [burying alive](/source/burying_alive) 32 patriotic Soviet miners in the city park.<ref name=ssr2>{{Cite web |title=Краснодон, Краснодонський район, Луганська область (продовження) |url=https://ukrssr.com.ua/lugan/krasnodonski/krasnodon-krasnodonskiy-rayon-luganska-oblast-prodovzhennya |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=Історія міст і сіл Української РСР |language=ru-RU}}</ref> The Nazis also attempted to use the coal mines of Krasnodon, bringing in machines to harvest its natural resources.<ref name=ssr1/>

After the liberation of the city by the [Red Army](/source/Red_Army), the mines were once again reconstructed.<ref name=ssr2/>

===21st century===

Since 2014, Krasnodon has been controlled by the breakaway [Lugansk People's Republic](/source/Lugansk_People's_Republic) (LNR), and not by the Ukrainian authorities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gkslg.info/files/chisl_0915.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160204211939/http://gkslg.info/files/chisl_0915.pdf|archive-date=4 February 2016|script-title=ru:Численность населения по состоянию на 1 октября 2015 года по Луганской Народной Республ ике|publisher=[Luhansk People's Republic](/source/Luhansk_People's_Republic)|language=ru|access-date=21 December 2015}}</ref> [NATO](/source/NATO) released satellite data from 21 August 2014 and confirmed it showed a large column of armoured vehicles crossing into Ukraine from Russia through Krasnodon.<ref>{{cite web| title = New Satellite Imagery Exposes Russian Combat Troops Inside Ukraine| url = http://www.aco.nato.int/new-satellite-imagery-exposes-russian-combat-troops-inside-ukraine.aspx| date = 28 August 2014| access-date = 31 August 2014| archive-date = 31 August 2014| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140831130749/http://www.aco.nato.int/new-satellite-imagery-exposes-russian-combat-troops-inside-ukraine.aspx| url-status = dead}}</ref>

In 2016, the city was renamed '''Sorokyne''' by Ukraine as part of [decommunization](/source/decommunization_in_Ukraine) reforms.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gutiérrez |first=Óscar |date=2023-08-20 |title=Ukrainians flee occupied territories through the only open Russian border crossing |language=en-us |url=https://english.elpais.com/international/2023-08-20/ukrainians-flee-occupied-territories-through-the-only-open-russian-border-crossing.html |access-date=2023-11-04}}</ref> 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 the [annexation of the region](/source/Russian_annexation_of_Donetsk%2C_Kherson%2C_Luhansk_and_Zaporizhzhia_oblasts).{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

In February 2023, LNR Head [Leonid Pasechnik](/source/Leonid_Pasechnik) and Russian-installed mayor of Sorokyne Sergey Kozenko, and head of [Krasnoyarsk](/source/Krasnoyarsk) Vladislav Loginov signed an agreement establishing Krasnodon and Krasnoyarsk as [sister cities](/source/sister_cities). 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 youth camps, in which Ukrainian children are allegedly "indoctrinate[d] with Russian political ideology".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, February 16, 2023 |url=https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-february-16-2023 |access-date=2023-11-04 |website=Institute for the Study of War |language=en}}</ref> On 25 September 2023, it was reported by both Ukrainian and Russian military sources that Ukrainian forces struck industrial facilities in Sorokyne.<ref>{{cite web|work=[Institute for the Study of War](/source/Institute_for_the_Study_of_War)|url=https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-september-25-2023|access-date=4 November 2023|title=Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, September 25, 2023 |author=Angelica Evans |author2=Christina Harward |author3=Riley Bailey |author4=Karolina Hird |author5=Frederick W. Kagan |date=25 September 2023}}</ref>

==Economy==
thumb|Krasnodon Coal Company
Krasnodon has historically been important for the mining of [bituminous coal](/source/bituminous_coal).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Krasnodon |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Krasnodon |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=Britannica |language=en}}</ref> There is also a [meat processing](/source/meat_processing) plant and a sewing factory today.<ref name=esu/>

==Demographics==
The population of Krasnodon was 70,400 in 1972, 53,000 in 1989, and 49,921 in 2001.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukrcensus.gov.ua/rus/results/general/city/|script-title=ru:Численность и состав населения Украины|publisher=ukrcensus.gov.ua|access-date=19 March 2009|language=ru|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090329054705/http://www.ukrcensus.gov.ua/rus/results/general/city|archive-date=29 March 2009}}</ref>

As of the [Ukrainian Census of 2001](/source/Ukrainian_Census_(2001)), the city was majority (66.3%) [Russians](/source/Russians), with a large minority (33.2%) of [Ukrainians](/source/Ukrainians) and small minorities of [Belarusians](/source/Belarusians) (1.3%) and other ethnic groups (2.2%).<ref name=census>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukrcensus.gov.ua |title=Офіційна сторінка Всеукраїнського перепису населення |publisher=Ukrcensus.gov.ua |date= |access-date=2022-03-16}}</ref>

Linguistically, the city is overwhelmingly [Russophone](/source/Russophone), with 90.75% natively speaking the [Russian language](/source/Russian_language). 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](/source/Romani_language), 0.15% speaking [Armenian](/source/Armenian_language), and 0.12 speaking [Belarusian](/source/Belarusian_language).<ref name=census/>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Bolshaya Kamenka.jpg|Velyka Kamyanka River in Krasnodon
File:Krasnodon-ZiU-9-032-01.jpg|A trolleybus in Krasnodon
Школа № 1.JPG|School No. 1
</gallery>

==Notable people ==
*[Denys Berinchyk](/source/Denys_Berinchyk) (born 1988), Ukrainian boxer and [WBO](/source/WBO) lightweight champion

==See also==
*[Oleg Koshevoy](/source/Oleg_Koshevoy)
*[Ivan Turkenich](/source/Ivan_Turkenich)

==External links==
*{{in lang|ru}} [http://krasnodon.org.ua/ Official city page]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Luhansk Oblast}}
{{2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine}}
{{Authority control}}

Category:Krasnodon
Category:Cities in Luhansk Oblast
Category:Populated places established in 1914
Category:Cities of regional significance in Ukraine
Category:Populated places established in the Russian Empire
Category:1914 establishments in the Russian Empire
Category:Sorokyne urban hromada

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Krasnodon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krasnodon) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krasnodon?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.