Kreminna

Kreminna

Кремінна
Kreminna Кремінна
City
	Kreminna railway station
	Flag Coat of arms
	Kreminna Kreminna
	Coordinates: 49°03′00″N 38°13′00″E / 49.05°N 38.2167°E
Country	Ukraine
Oblast	Luhansk Oblast
Raion	Sievierodonetsk Raion
Hromada	Kreminna urban hromada
Founded	1680
City Status	1938
Area
• Total	15.72 km2 (6.07 sq mi)
Population (2022)
• Total	18,116
• Density	1,200/km2 (3,000/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Area code	(+380)
Vehicle registration	BB / 13
Climate	Dfb

Kreminna (Ukrainian: Кремінна, Russian: Кременная, romanized: Kremennaya) is a city in Sievierodonetsk Raion, Luhansk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. Prior to 2020, it served as the administrative center of former Kreminna Raion. Its population was estimated at 18,116,^[1] as of January 2022.

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine that was launched in February 2022, the city has been the scene of heavy fighting, with both Ukraine and Russia claiming control at times.^[2]^[3] Russia has claimed it as part of the Luhansk People's Republic following its declared annexation of the region in September 2022.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[4]

Russo-Ukrainian War

In July 2014, fighting took place in the city during the 2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine.^[5] Kreminna remained under Ukrainian control.^[6]

In March 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the pro-Russian mayor Volodymyr Struk who welcomed the Russian move, was found shot dead in the street after having been kidnapped from his home.^[7]^[8] Official advisor and a former deputy minister at the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs Anton Herashchenko 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.^[9]

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, the Ukrainian Governor of Luhansk Oblast, 56 elderly residents were killed and 15 others were taken by the Russian military to Svatove, a town under their control. Ukrainian emergency services and officials were unable to reach the incident scene due to ongoing fighting.^[10]

The town was the site of some of the first fighting of the battle of Donbas during the battle of Kreminna. 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.^[11]^[12] 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".^[13]

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.^[14] However, on 14 September, Haidai stated that Russian troops had returned to Kreminna and "torn down the Ukrainian flag".^[15]

In early October 2022, the Luhansk Oblast campaign near the town was initiated.

In February 2023 the first recorded loss of a Russian BMPT Terminator was in a combat near Kreminna.^[16]

Demographics

Ethnic groups in Kreminna
			percent
Ukrainians			83.41%
Russians			15.15%
Belarusians			0.60%
Armenians			0.16%
Tatars			0.05%

^[17]

Languages in Kreminna
Languages			percent
Ukrainian			77.1%
Russian			27.9%
Armenian			0.1%
Belarusian			0.1%
others			0.1%

^[18]

Notable people

Yuriy Aharkov (born 1987), Ukrainian cyclist
Olena Borysenko (born 1996), Ukrainian archer
Valery Hrebenyuk, (born 1965), Ukrainian diplomat and former ambassador to South Africa
Viktor Chornobay (1983-2017), Ukrainian soldier awarded with the Order for Courage