20th century

Hirnyk has its origins in the miner's settlement Sotsmistechko^{[lower-alpha 1]} (sometimes referred to as Sotshorodok^{[lower-alpha 2][1]}), which was founded in 1938 parallel to the construction of coal mines around the city of Kurakhove. By the end of 1938, the "Donbaszhytlobud" construction firm had built sixty one-storey houses for the miners to lived in. By 15 January 1939, 860 people lived in Sotsmistechko. During 1939, an elementary school, an outpatient clinic, recreational club, and two stores were built in the settlement. By summer 1941, the population had grown to 5,000.^[3]

During World War II, as the forces of Nazi Germany advanced on Sotsmistechko and the threat of Nazi occupation loomed, the non-mobilized population was evacuated to Karaganda in Kazakhstan, and any industrial equipment that could be moved was taken inland. Anything that could not be taken out was destroyed, and both of the functioning mines were blown up by local communists. The city was captured by Nazi German forces on 20 October 1941, who instituted a repressive and violent occupation, murdering prisoners of war at a hill near Sotsmistechko. The Nazis forced the locals as well as prisoners of war to begin rebuilding the destroyed mines, but were unable to actually return either of them to functionality during the occupation. Small groups of Soviet partisans fought back against the occupation, but several of them were killed in a minefield near Rai-Oleksandrivka, Donetsk Oblast. On 8 September 1943, Sotsmistechko was liberated by detachments of the 257th Rifle Division of the Red Army.^[3]

After the end of the war, the reconstruction of the economy began, with the mine passing pre-war production levels by 1946 according to Soviet sources. On 30 May 1947, Sotsmistechko was given urban-type settlement status.^[3]

On 27 September 1958, Sotsmistechko was administratively merged with its neighboring settlements (Prommaidanchyk, Zhovtneve, Peremoha, Pershotravneve, Komsomolske) to create a new city named Hirnyk. Industry developed in the city with the construction of a cinder block factory, a complex in production of construction materials, a bread factory, a non-alcoholic drinks factory, and division of the construction holding "Artemzhytlobud". In 1960, Hirnyk residents erected a monument at the site where the Nazis had murdered Soviet prisoners of war. In 1969, an inter-city station was built in Hirnyk.^[3]

21st century

In 2014, after the Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine that brought in a more pro-Western government, Russia initiated the war in Donbas, sponsoring pro-Russian militant proxy groups that seized territory in eastern Ukraine. On 29 October 2014, the Security Service of Ukraine detained a group of three militants loyal to the pro-Russian militant organization Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), and seized a militant weapons cache.^[4] On 13 February 2015, pro-Russian militants shelled Hirnyk with Grad missiles, killing three civilians.^[5] On 30 September 2018, the Hirnyk TV Tower was built in the city, with the purpose of broadcasting Ukrainian television programs to the Russian-occupied parts of Donetsk Oblast. With a height of 190 metres (620 ft), it is the tallest of its kind built since the independence of Ukraine from the Soviet Union in 1991.^[6]

On 12 June 2020, as part of Ukraine's 2020 administrative reforms, Hirnyk was assigned to Kurakhove urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine.^[7] On July 18 the same year, Hirnyk, along with the rest of the hromada, became part of an expanded Pokrovsk Raion.^[8]

On 12 December 2022, during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia shelled Hirnyk, killing two people and wounding ten others. Ukrainian authorities begun investigating the shelling as a war crime.^[9] On 3 January 2024, Russia shelled Hirnyk again, injuring a sixteen-year-old boy.^[10]