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Kostiantynivka

Костянтинівка
Kostiantynivka Костянтинівка
City
	From top, left to right: Culture Center; Railway station; Church of the Assumption;
	Flag Coat of arms
	Kostiantynivka Kostiantynivka
	Coordinates: 48°32′N 37°43′E / 48.533°N 37.717°E
Country	Ukraine
Oblast	Donetsk Oblast
Raion	Kramatorsk Raion
Hromada	Kostiantynivka urban hromada
Founded	1870
Area	66 km2 (25 sq mi)
Population (2022)	67,350
• Density	1,000/km2 (3,000/sq mi)

Kostiantynivka (Ukrainian: Костянтинівка, IPA: [kosʲtʲɐnˈtɪn⁽ʲ⁾iu̯kɐ] ^ⓘ; Russian: Константиновка, romanized: Konstantinovka) is an industrial city in Donetsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. It is situated on the Kryvyi Torets river. During the Soviet era, the city developed into a major centre for the production of iron, zinc, steel, and glass. Administratively, it is incorporated as a city of oblast significance. It was the administrative center of the Kostiantynivka Raion until 2020, although it did not belong to it. After the raion was abolished, Kostiantynivka was incorporated into the Kramatorsk Raion. Its population is approximately 67,350 (2022 estimate).^[1]

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1926	25,404	—
1939	95,807	+277.1%
1959	88,723	−7.4%
1970	105,446	+18.8%
1979	112,020	+6.2%
1989	107,562	−4.0%
2001	95,111	−11.6%
2011	79,211	−16.7%
2022	67,350	−15.0%
Source: ^[2]

History

In 1870, Kostiantynivka was founded by a landowner named Nomikossov, who built the settlement in honor of his oldest son, Kostiantyn. At the beginning of the 20th century, Kostiantynivka developed into an industrial settlement, and was later elevated to the rank of an urban settlement in 1926. In 1932, Kostyantynivka was granted municipal rights.

During World War II, the Germans operated a forced labour camp in the town.^[3]

Russo-Ukrainian War

War in Donbas

During the War in Donbas, the town was captured in mid-April 2014^[4]^[5] by pro-Russian separatists.^[6] The city was eventually retaken by Ukrainian forces on 7 July 2014, along with the city of Druzhkivka, shortly after the recapture of nearby cities Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.^[7]^[8] In September 2014, numerous refugees came to the town from occupied territories. People came to buy cheaper essential products, as well as to arrange pensions and social benefits in municipal institutions. At the time, the mechanism of receiving benefits and social payments for migrants at a new place of residence was simplified. The city began to operate a refugee housing center.

Russian invasion of Ukraine

Beginning on 24 February 2022, Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In the first few hours of the all-out war, Kostiantynivka was struck by missiles targeting a local military base. The area was occasionally shelled and bombarded during the first phase of Russia's invasion. Kostiantynivka saw more bombardment in the second phase of the war, in which the Russians focused their attacks on eastern Ukraine. Kostiantynivka saw heavy shelling and missile attacks, targeting fuel depots and power plants. As it was near the frontlines, residents of the city could hear shelling and fighting daily. The city remained under Ukrainian control, but suffered from Russian strikes.

Russia reported on 20 March 2022 that Kostiantynivka had been hit by a Russian hypersonic Kinzhal missile, hitting a fuel depot and causing a fire in the city, and the information was confirmed by U.S. president Joe Biden.^[9]

Kostiantynivka was also shelled by the Russian Armed Forces on 17 September 2022,^[10] causing five civilian casualties and extensive destruction in the city.^{[clarification needed]}

A further five or more civilians were killed on 24 March 2023, when a missile fired from an S-300 anti-aircraft system hit a local so-called "invincibility point"—a humanitarian support center—in Kostiantynivka.^[11]

On 6 September 2023, a missile struck an open-air market in the middle of the day, killing 17 civilians, including a child, and injuring at least 32.^[12]^[13] The New York Times later reported that "evidence strongly suggests the catastrophic strike was the result of an errant Ukrainian air defense missile fired by a Buk launch system".^[14]

On 25 February 2024, Russian bombing destroyed Kostiantynivka's central railway station and damaged several dozen other buildings.^[15]^[16]

On 9 August 2024, a supermarket and surrounding buildings in the city were destroyed by a Russian missile attack, killing 14 and injuring 43 others.^[17]

On 26 August 2024, Ukraine declared mandatory evacuation of the city, as well as several other villages around the city.^[18] By 7 September 2024, the population was estimated to have decreased to 25,000.^[19]

Transport

Kostiantynivka formerly had a tram network, which towards the end of its service life suffered from increasingly disrupted traffic. The tram system first opened in 1931, closed in 2004 and reopened in 2005.

During the German occupation of World War II, trams operated in coupled pairs, with one carriage for civilians and the other for soldiers. The tram infrastructure was destroyed by the retreating Wehrmacht in 1943 and rebuilt in 1944.

In 2012, 150 meters of overhead wires were stolen. For a while, the tram company had been unprofitable and thus threatened the closure of line 3. It remained open after complaints were made to city hall,^[20] though it nevertheless closed in 2014 due to the poor condition of the northern overpass. As of 2015, only one car was operable, as the others all lacked bogies. The same year, tram service stopped due to construction on the Severnyi railway viaduct, closing the final line, number 4. However, work on the viaduct never occurred, and service was restarted using only the one car on line 4. When 2 km of wires were stolen around 26 December 2016, the operator could not afford to repair the infrastructure, and the network closed on 29 March 2018.^[21]