20th century

In the early 1910s, rich coal deposits were discovered in the area of the Donbas around modern Krasnodon. Entrepreneurs flocked to the area, and a number of coal mines were dug. A settlement began to grow along the left bank of the Velyka Kamianka, a tributary of the Donets River, known as Sorokyne.^[3] In 1914, the first coal was actually mined.^[4] This year is usually considered to be the official date of founding of the settlement Sorokyne. In 1916, 3,105 people lived in Sorokyne, and 776 miners worked at the mines.^[3]

Sorokyne saw fighting during the Russian Civil War, and changed hands several times.^[4] The intense fighting destroyed the mines and most of the settlement.^[3] Eventually, it was captured by the Bolsheviks in December 1919, who established stable control over Ukraine and established the communist Soviet Union on much of the former territory of the Russian Empire.^[4]

The Soviet regime restored and modernized the destroyed mines, and began construction on new mines.^[3] A local newspaper has been published in the city since September 1930.^[5] Sorokyne became a major center of 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, the mining settlement of Sorokyne was renamed to Krasnodon and given city status. By 1939, 22,220 people lived in Krasnodon.^[4]

During World War II, Krasnodon was occupied by Nazi Germany from July 20, 1942 to February 14, 1943.^[3] The Germans operated a Nazi prison in the town.^[6] The Soviet resistance organization Young Guard 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 complex in Krasnodon.^[3] 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.^[7] The Nazis also attempted to use the coal mines of Krasnodon, bringing in machines to harvest its natural resources.^[4]

After the liberation of the city by the Red Army, the mines were once again reconstructed.^[7]

21st century

Since 2014, Krasnodon has been controlled by the Luhansk People's Republic (LNR), a Russian puppet state, and not the Ukrainian authorities.^[8] 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.^[9]

In 2016, the city was renamed Sorokyne by Ukraine as part of decommunization reforms.^[10] 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 and Russian-installed mayor of Sorokyne Sergey Kozenko, and head of Krasnoyarsk Vladislav Loginov signed an agreement establishing Sorokyne (referred to in the documents as Krasnodon) and Krasnoyarsk as 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 so-called "youth camps", in which Ukrainian children are "indoctrinate[d] with Russian political ideology".^[11] On 25 September 2023, it was reported by both Ukrainian and Russian military sources that Ukrainian forces struck industrial facilities in Sorokyne.^[12]