Kramatorsk

Kramatorsk is a city and the administrative centre of Kramatorsk Raion in Donetsk Oblast, Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. Prior to 2020, Kramatorsk was a city of oblast significance. Since October 2014, Kramatorsk has been the provisional seat of Donetsk Oblast, following the events surrounding the war in Donbas. Its population is It is an important industrial and mechanical engineering centre in Ukraine. Kramatorsk is on the banks of the which is a right tributary of the Siverskyi Donets.
Since the start of Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kramatorsk has been hit by shelling multiple times.
Etymology
According to E. S. Otin, the name of the city comes from a toponymic phrase that has not been preserved: Krom Torov or Krom Torskaya 'border along the Tor River'. The word kroma means 'edge, frontier, border', and Tor is the old name for the Kazennyi Torets River. However, it can be stated succinctly, it's most likely from the train station, the settlement was built around. The original name of the train station, Kram-na-Tore translates as Border-on-Tor (on the bank of the Tor river). Similar to the Russian city Rostov-on-Don, which is located at the mouth of the Don river.
History
In the second half of the 17th and early 18th centuries, the area in which Kramatorsk was to develop was heavily populated by both Cossacks from the Hetmanate and serfs from the southern regions of Muscovy and Mordovia. In the second half of the 18th century, the territory was populated by the Cossacks of the army of Sloboda Ukraine.
Kramatorsk came into being in the second half of the 19th century when a station on the Kursk-Kharkiv-Azov Railway was built near to the village of Petrivka which had itself been established in 1767 by a certain Count Taranov. The station was originally called Kram-na-Tore in 1868 but this was later contracted into Kramatorsk and the town of Kramatorsk developed around the railway station, becoming a major urban settlement in the north of Donetsk Oblast with several heavy machine production facilities.
In April 1918 troops loyal to the Ukrainian People's Republic took control of Kramatorsk.
It was occupied by Nazi Germany between 27 October 1941 and 5 February 1943 and again between 27 February 1943 and 6 September 1943.
Between 1980 and 1989, several people were exposed to a radiological source in one of the apartment buildings, resulting in 6 deaths and at least 17 cases of radiation sickness.
War in Donbas (2014–2022)
On 12 April 2014, at the same time as events in nearby Sloviansk the police station in Kramatorsk was seized by armed pro-Russian militants in military uniform, and later the city council. Kramatorsk would remain under pro-Russian separatist control, until July of 2014. There would be a series of incidents in those 3 months. Located only 13km from Sloviansk, which became a separatist stronghold, Kramatorsk would also be under separatist control, yet in a different situation. Unlike Sloviansk, which had high profile figures Vyacheslav Ponomarev and Igor Girkin/Strelkov associated with it, Kramatorsk was not notable in this sphere. Further, while the Ukrainian army did not enter Sloviansk in its months under separatist control, they made several entries into Kramatorsk in this time. On July 5, after almost 3 months, Ukrainian forces finally retook control of Kramatorsk, as part of sweeping territorial gains at that time, including nearby Sloviansk. In October 2014, Kramatorsk was made the provisional administrative center of Donetsk Oblast after the administration relocated from Mariupol. On 10 February 2015, Kramatorsk was shelled by pro-Russian forces, leaving 17 people dead and 60 injured.
Russian invasion (2022–present)
On 8 April 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kramatorsk was subjected to missile strikes. The Kramatorsk railway station was hit by Tochka-U missiles which killed at least 57 people and wounded at least 109 others. Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of the Donetsk region, said thousands of people had been at the station at the time the two missiles struck. On 19 April 2022, Russian troops launched rocket attacks on Kramatorsk, as a result of which one person was killed and three were injured. On 21 April 2022, British Defence Ministry intelligence reported that Russian troops in the Donetsk region were advancing towards Kramatorsk.
However, in early September 2022, Ukraine began a major counteroffensive, regaining several settlements in the Kharkiv region. This relieved the pressure on Kramatorsk with the recapture of Lyman by Ukrainian forces on 1 October 2022.
On 27 June 2023, a Russian missile strike killed at least 11 people and injured over 60 in a pizza restaurant in the center of the city.
Geography
The Kramatorsk metro area is located in Kramatorsk Raion, making it a central part of a major urban agglomeration with over 500,000 inhabitants.
Demographics
Kramatorsk has a population of over 164,700 inhabitants (2013) and has a metropolitan area of over 197,000 inhabitants (2013). As of the Ukrainian Census of 2001.
Ethnicity
Ukrainians: 70.2%
Russians: 26.9%
Belarusians: 0.7%
Armenians: 0.6%
Azerbaijanis: 0.2%
Jews: 0.1%
Language
Russian: 67.9%
Ukrainian: 31.1%
Armenian: 0.2%
Belarusian: 0.1%
Romani: 0.1%
According to the regional department of statistics, as of January 1, 2017, the population of Kramatorsk was 190,648 people.
Economy and industry
Industrial and mining equipment
New Kramatorsk Machinebuilding Plant (NKMZ) (founded 1934): design and production of machines and equipment for mining, steel rolling, metallurgy, production and handling of cast iron, artillery weapon systems.
Old Kramatorsk Machinebuilding Plant
In the 2000s, a wind turbine production facility was constructed in Kramatorsk. This is a joint venture between German Fuhrländer AG and its Ukrainian partners. According to their site, Fuhrländer became the first company in the renewable energy sector to obtain a building permit from the Ukrainian government.
Transportation
Between 1937 and August 1, 2017, Kramatorsk had a tram network. However, it is now closed and public transportation is provided by buses and trolley-buses.
Twin towns
, Stamford, Connecticut - On 6 April 2023 officially announced Kramatorsk as their sister city.
, Perechyn, Zakarpattia Oblast
Gallery
Notable people
Natalia Veselnitskaya, (b. 1975) prominent Russian attorney during the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections
At various periods, Kramatorsk was a place of residence for a number of notable people, including Leonid Bykov, Joseph Kobzon, and Ruslan Ponomariov.
References
External links
Forbes.com: Outsourcing Fuels Ukraine's IT Boom
Cities in Donetsk Oblast
Kramatorsk urban hromada
Kharkov Governorate
Cities of regional significance in Ukraine
Populated places established in the Russian Empire
Populated places established in 1868