Myrnohrad

The historical predecessors of the city of Myrnohrad were two mining settlements formed near coal mines - Novoekonomichne (1911) and Hrodivka (1916). These two settlements were built in the early twentieth century on land leased from the rural communities of Novoekonomichne and Hrodivka villages. In 1934, mine No. 5-6 (Hrodivka mine) was named after Georgi Dimitrov.^[4]

From October 1941 to September 1942, the city was under the occupation of Nazi Germany during World War II.^[4]

In 1966, probably as a result of prolonged heavy rains, a part of the mine 5/6 mine terricone in Myrnohrad collapsed, completely demolishing buildings on Sadova, Zhdanov, and Rozynska streets. Everyone who was in the buildings and nearby was killed. The authorities then hid the tragedy from the public.^[5]

In 1972, the mining villages of Novoekonomichne and Dymytriv were united under the common name of Dymytriv. This mining town was named after the Bulgarian politician, the first communist ruler of Bulgaria, Georgi Dimitrov,^[6] in honor of his friendship with the Bulgarian people, whose representatives worked in the mines in the 1960s. In August 1990, Dimitrov was granted the status of a city of regional significance.^{[citation needed]}

Unlike in most of the larger cities in Donetsk Oblast, an unrecognized independence referendum in May 2014 was not held in the city.^[7]

On 17 January 2015, the city dismantled the monument to Lenin.

On 21 March 2016, in accordance with the law on decommunization, Dimitrov's deputies chose a new name and voted to rename the city Myrnohrad.^[8]

On 12 May 2016, the Verkhovna Rada renamed the city of Dymytriv to Myrnohrad. The relevant bill No. 4468 was voted for by 265 MPs. The renaming came into force on 22 May 2016.^[9] On 20 May, a monument of Georgi Dimitrov was demolished in the city.^[10]

On 27 February 2023, during Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russians launched a missile attack on the city, damaging a kindergarten.^[11]

 

Since the onset of Russia's offensive to reach Pokrovsk in July 2024, their forces have advanced increasingly closer to Myrnohrad; on 13 August, a Ukrainian soldier said that Russian forces in the area were tasked with the city's capture,^[12] and on 16 August, Ukrainian officials reported that Russia was six kilometers from the city. The recent advances led the population to be ordered to evacuate, with an estimated 20,000 people remaining in the city on 16 August, and a complete evacuation expected by the end of August 2024.^[13] On 19 August, Head of the Myrnohrad Military Administration Yuriy Tretyak warned that only one to three days are left to evacuate the city in face of advancing Russian troops, and that Myrnohrad was shelled for several days already.^[14]

On 29 August, Russian forces reportedly entered the southern outskirts of Myrnohrad, although whether these were only reconnaissance groups or if actual soldiers were in the city was disputed.^[15]

As of the 2001 Ukrainian census:^[16]

Ethnicity

• Ukrainians: 64.2%
• Russians: 31.3%
• Tatars: 0.7%
• Belarusians: 0.6%
• Armenians: 0.2%

Language

• Russian: 71.8%
• Ukrainian: 26.0%
• Armenian: 0.1%
• Belarusian: 0.1%

The main city employer is a mining company "Myrnohradvuhillya" (formerly Krasnoarmiyskvuhillya, after the city's central train station) along with refining factory "Komsomolska".

• Myrnohradvuhillya
  • Kapitalna coal mine (formerly Stakhanov coal mine)
  • Tsentralna coal mine
  • Dymytrova coal mine
  • Rodynska coal mine^[4]