Kostiantynivka Костянтинівка | |
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  Kostiantynivka  Kostiantynivka | |
| Coordinates:48°32′N37°43′E / 48.533°N 37.717°E /48.533; 37.717 | |
| Country |  Ukraine |
| Oblast | Donetsk Oblast |
| Raion | Kramatorsk Raion |
| Hromada | Kostiantynivka urban hromada |
| Founded | 1812 |
| City rights | 1932 |
| Founded by | Panteleimon Nomikossov |
| Named after | Kostiantyn (Panteleimon Nomikossov's son) |
| Government | |
| • Kostiantynivka military administration head | Serhiy Horbunov[1] |
| • Mayor | Sergey Nikolaevich Gorbunov |
Area | 66.04 km2 (25.50 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 86 m (282 ft) |
| Population (2022) | 67,350 |
| • Density | 1,020/km2 (2,641/sq mi) |
| Postal code | 85100-85129 |
| Area code | +380 6272 |
Kostiantynivka (Ukrainian:Костянтинівка,IPA:[kosʲtʲɐnˈtɪn⁽ʲ⁾iu̯kɐ]ⓘ;Russian:Константиновка,romanized: Konstantinovka) is an industrial city inDonetsk Oblast, easternUkraine. Konstantinovka is considered the capital of the glass industry of Ukraine. Together with neighboring cities, it forms theKramatorsk agglomeration. During theSoviet era, the city developed into a major centre for the production of ferrous and non-ferrousmetallurgy,glass,iron,zinc,steel,chemical, and construction industries, as well as an important transitrailway junction. It was the administrative center of theKostiantynivka Raion until 2020, although it did not belong to it.
After the raion was abolished, Kostiantynivka was incorporated into theKramatorsk Raion andKostiantynivka urban hromada. Its population is approximately67,350 (2022 estimate).[2] The population declined sharply due to Russian offensives towards the city, from ~15,000 in February,[3] ~8500 in July 2025,[4] to ~6800 in August 2025.[5] In late 2025, the city became an active battleground between Russian and Ukrainian military forces.
The city is located in the northern part of the region on theKryvyi Torets River (a tributary of theKazennyi Torets in theSeverskyi Donets basin). It is a railway junction. The distance toDonetsk is 55 km by road and 65 km by rail. The distance toKyiv is 750 km by road and 778 km by rail.
Archaeological research in the formerKostiantynivka Raion has shown that the region was settled during theEarly Paleolithic, 150,000–100,000 years ago.[6] From the time of theCrimean Tatars raid of 1769, there are references toZaporozhian Cossacks settling in the territory of the Konstantinovsky District.[7][8]
In 1812, Kostiantynivka was founded by a landowner named Panteleimon Nomikossov, who built the settlement in honor of his oldest son, Kostiantyn. In the mid-19th century, the village of Konstantinovka, named after the owner, arose on land inherited by the landowner's son. By 1859, 29 people lived there, while Santurinovka had 280. It was part of theYekaterinoslav Governorate.
In 1869, with the construction of theKursk-Kharkiv-Azov Railway, a railway station opened near Konstantinovka. In 1880 it was connected to theKharkiv-Sevastopol Railway. The transformation of Konstantinovka into a railway hub contributed to the industrial development of the area.
In 1885, a 20-bed zemstvo hospital was opened in Dmitrievskoye. In March 1892, theKonstantinovka Railway was commissioned. The development of the city and its industrial sector were due to significant financial and managerial contributions from citizens ofBelgium.
On August 11, 1895, Podsaul Dmitry Konstantinovich Nomikosov (grandson of the city's founder, Nomikosov) received 6,756.75 rubles in gold as collateral from Belgian subjects for 210 desyatins of land in the Krivoy Torets River floodplain, along the railroad. Years 1895–1897 — A glass and chemical factory were built in Santurinovka by the Belgian "Anonymous Society of Donetsk Glass and Chemical Factories."
In 1897, Ceramics and iron-rolling (metallurgical) factories, as well as a bottle factory, built by Belgian entrepreneurs, began production. A majolica factory began operating. The total number of people employed at these enterprises was 2,500. The village of Konstantinovka and the station settlement became a single settlement. By 1897, its population was 3,100. In 1899, a mirror polished glass and mirror factory was built.
In July 1900, a general strike engulfed all of Konstantinovka's factories. The unrest, which involved over 1,000 people, erupted after Belgians beat two workers. Outraged factory workers threw stones at the foreigners' cottages. The next day, all the factories were closed. A rally was held, where workers called for a fight against the exploiters. A 1902 railway directory notes that the village's monotony is reminiscent of former military settlements.[9]
In April 1912, a citywide strike took place in the town in response to the police murder of a bottle factory worker, the revolutionary I.S. Bobylev. By 1915, the town had two hospitals, an elementary school, a college, and a private gymnasium. The growth of industry had a positive impact on the town's population growth and made it attractive to migrant workers. The population also increased due to refugees from the country's front-line regions during the First World War. If in 1914, 1,755 people worked at the metallurgical plant, then by October 1917, there were already 2,436 people.[10]
In 1917, 60% of the population of Konstantinovka could not read or write.[11] On March 2, 1917, news of therevolutionary events in Petrograd became known in Konstantinovka. With the tsar's abdication, the bans on political and social activity in the village were lifted. This gave impetus to the development of the Ukrainian national movement among workers. The development of the political movement in the village occurred with the assistance of the Ukrainian public organizationProsvita.
On April 18–20, 1918, theUNR Army and the Donetsk group of Colonel Sikevich, together with the "army of Central European countries" (Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey, Germany), expelled theRed Army troops and established the authority of theUkrainian People's Republic in the city.[12]
In April, Ukrainian state symbols appeared in the city for the first time—the flag, coat of arms, seal with thetrident, and theUkrainian hryvnia. The city's commandant wasesaul Znachkovy.[13]
In November 1918, Konstantinovka was captured by the Red Army, but in December it fell to Krasnovites (a unit of theWhite Movement). Subsequently, until February 19, 1919, Konstantinovka was a frontline town and changed hands more than thirty times between the "Reds" and the "Whites."
January 13, 1919 (December 31, 1918, Julian Calendar|Old Style) – the day of the execution of 13 bottle factory workers. Because the population did not betray the Reds, the White Guards gathered factory workers in the square near the bottle factory and shot every tenth.[14]
On February 19, as a result of a long battle, the Red Army drove out the enemy,[15] however, at the end of May they were driven out by the White Army, and until December 1919 the village was under the control of the White Guards.
At the end of December 1919, Red Army troops of the Southern Front, with the assistance of the rebels, drove Denikin's forces out of the village. In January 1920, the Konstantinovo-Druzhkovsky District was created. G. O. Bondarenko became the first chairman of the executive committee. Also, the first theater in the Donetsk region opened in Konstantinovka.
In November 1920, by decree of theCouncil of People's Commissars of the Ukrainian SSR, the factories were nationalized. On March 7, 1923, the Konstantinovsky district with its center in the village of Konstantinovka was created as part of the Bakhmut district district.[16] In 1925, a tannery was built (now the Konstantinovsky Extract and Tannery Factory).
On February 28, 1926, Konstantinovka was designated an urban-type settlement. Its population was 25,000. During the years of accelerated industrialization, a zinc plant (now Ukrtsink), a refractory products plant, and a bakery were built, and the Avtosteklo plant (formerly a mirror factory) was reconstructed. In the 1930s, the Konstantinovka factories produced rubystars of the Moscow Kremlin, a sarcophagus for theMausoleum of V. I. Lenin,marble (colored glass) for theMoscow Metro stations, and a crystal fountain for theWorld's Fair in New York.[17]
On September 19, 1930, the Konstantinovka city-district newspaper "Banner of Industry" was founded. In December 1930, the 1st State Theater of Russian Drama of Donbass opened its doors.[18] The city had sixteen schools with 7,000 students, and by 1939, more than 14,000 children were studying in 25 schools. Between 1931 and 1940, eight new schools were built, employing 524 teachers. In 1931, a tram line was built from the city center to the train station, and by 1940, its length had reached 10 km.
In 1932, a gliding school was established, later reorganized into a flying club. The Konstantinovsky Flying Club trained over 1,000 pilots. On April 4, 1932 by resolution[19] of theAll-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee, signed by the chairman G. Petrovsky and secretary Yury Voitsekhovsky, granted city status of urban-type settlement to Konstantinovka. By 1939, its population reached 96,000, 68% of whom were factory workers. The municipal infrastructure was reconstructed. Industrial, pedagogical, and medical schools, as well as a glass ceramics technical school, were established, the A.S. Pushkin Russian Drama Theater opened.
Since February 1934, the mirror factory was renamed "Avtosteklo." Over the course of 10 years (1928-1937), the area of green space increased fourteenfold. By 1940, adult illiteracy had been nearly eliminated. Two workers' faculties were opened. The A.S. Pushkin Russian Drama Theater, two Palaces of Culture, four clubs, and sixteen libraries were active.
In mid-October 1941, fighting between the Soviet Army and the Wehrmacht began in the Konstantinovka area outside the city. On the Soviet side, soldiers of the 393rd Rifle Division fought on the approaches to the city. On October 28, 1941, the city was captured by Wehrmacht soldiers.[20] On December 1, 1942, the German military command abolished the Directorate and placed the enterprises under its direct control. Also on that day, the Central Trade Depot opened in Konstantinovka, tasked with supplying industrial goods to the population.[21]
During the German occupation ofWorld War II, the Germans operated aforced labour camp in the town.[22] Ttrams operated in coupled pairs, with one carriage for civilians and the other for soldiers. The tram infrastructure was destroyed by the retreatingWehrmacht in 1943 and rebuilt in 1944.
On the night of September 6, 1943, during theDonbas strategic offensive (August 1943), the 135th Red Banner Order of Kutuzov, 2nd Class Tank Brigade of the23rd Tank Corps under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Mikhail Beznoshchenko took control of Konstantinovka. This date is subsequently celebrated as Konstantinovka City Day.[23]
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In the years following the Great Patriotic War, more than twenty industrial facilities were built in Konstantinovka. By 1949, the town's enterprises were fully restored. In 1952, the Evening Chemical College was opened. Between 1959 and 1961, the Avtosteklo Research Institute produced a new building material—sitall—from metallurgical waste (blast furnace slag) with the addition of ordinary sand. It was lightweight, strong, and durable.
In 1962, a research institute was established at the Avtosteklo plant. In 1967, the city Local History Museum was opened. Since 1968, Konstantinovka has been developing according to a unified Master Plan. In 1970, the "Monument to the Five-Year Plan Guards" was erected in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Ukrtsink plant.
Annual state appropriations for housing construction from 1959 to 1975 increased 18-fold and amounted to 3,965,000 rubles. In 1975, in honor of the 30th anniversary of the Soviet people's victory in the Great Patriotic War, the Victory Obelisk was erected. From 1981 to 1983, Secondary School No. 1, a dormitory for medical school students, a 240-bed surgical building, and City Hospital No. 5 were built. The glass factory produced 170 million champagne bottles annually—90% of the total production in this industry in the USSR.
On September 7, 1983, in the Taras Shevchenko Square, in memory of the liberating soldiers, an Eternal Flame was lit, and at the foot of the tank, a memorial plaque was installed, in which a Time Capsule was sealed with a message from veterans of the Great Patriotic War and residents of the city to their descendants in 2045.
December 6, 1990 — the first issue of the region's first private newspaper, "Province", was published.
Inthe 1999 Ukrainian presidential elections, the city voted forKuchma (48.73%),Symonenko (48.43%).[24] On February 29, 2000 - a session of the Donetsk Regional Council decided to organize the Kleban-Byk regional landscape park (RLP) in the Konstantinovsky district. 2,100 hectares, a 550-hectare reservoir, 200 species of nesting birds, and 600 species of plants.
By December 15, 2000, the City Council Executive Committee approved the current coat of arms of Kostyantynivka, designed by Herald Master Nikolai Starodubtsev. In 2002, School No. 10 was closed. The building was sold at auction for 12,398.4 hryvnias and subsequently demolished.[25][26]
In thepresidential election of 2004, the city voted forYanukovych (93.75%). In May 2007, a preliminary examination confirmed the results of measurements of the radioactive spot on the edge of Konstantinovka. The radiation level is about 700 thousand microroentgens per hour (0.7 roentgens per hour with the norm being 0.000025 roentgens), and the area is contaminated with cesium-137.[27]
On January 16, 2008, by order of the Main Department of Health of the Donetsk Regional State Administration, the inpatient department of the Konstantinovka Psychiatric Hospital was closed.[28] On May 22, 2009, Mayor Yury Rozhenko was detained for extorting a bribe on an especially large scale.[29] Sentenced to 5 years in prison with a 3-year deferment.[30]
In thepresidential election of 2010, the city voted forViktor Yanukovych (90.02%);Yulia Tymoshenko received 7.07%.[31] Serhiy Davydov won the mayoral election on October 31, 2010 (12,758 votes, or 59.9%).[32] On October 28, 2012, city residents took part in theparliamentary elections. 60.12% (51,322 people) voted for theParty of Regions, 24.24% (20,691 people) for theCommunist Party, 5.36% (4,578 people) for the All-Ukrainian Union "Batkivshchyna".[33]
On August 13, 2013, by order of the Zolotoy Urozhay holding company, Konstantinovka Bakery No. 2, which produced sweet breads and confectionery, was shut down and closed.[34] In April 2014, the city council closed Zelenstroy. The firm's functions were transferred to another municipal division of the executive committee, the Single Customer Service.[35]
During theWar in Donbas, the town was captured in mid-April 2014[36][37] by pro-Russian separatists.[38] The city was eventually retaken by Ukrainian forces on 7 July 2014, along with the city ofDruzhkivka, shortly after the recapture of nearby citiesSloviansk andKramatorsk.[39][40] 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.
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Beginning on 24 February 2022, Russia began itsinvasion 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 RussianhypersonicKinzhal missile, hitting a fuel depot and causing a fire in the city, and the information was confirmed by U.S. presidentJoe Biden.[41]
Kostiantynivka was also shelled by the Russian Armed Forces on 17 September 2022,[42] 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 anS-300 anti-aircraft system hit a local so-called "invincibility point"—a humanitarian support center—in Kostiantynivka.[43]
On 6 September 2023, amissile struck an open-air market in the middle of the day, killing 17 civilians, including a child, and injuring at least 32.[44][45] TheNew York Times later reported that "evidence strongly suggests the catastrophic strike was the result of an errant Ukrainian air defense missile fired by aBuk launch system".[46]
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On 25 February 2024, Russian bombing destroyed Kostiantynivka's central railway station and damaged several dozen other buildings.[47][48]
On 9 August 2024, a supermarket and surrounding buildings in the city weredestroyed by a Russian missile attack, killing 14 and injuring 43 others.[49]
On 26 August 2024, Ukraine declared mandatory evacuation of the city, as well as several other villages around the city.[50] By 7 September 2024, the population was estimated to have decreased to 25,000.[51]
In May 2025, the Russian forces broke through Ukrainian defensive lines between theembattled Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad urban area and the city of Toretsk, occupying several settlements south-west of Kostiantynivka.[52] According toUK Defence Intelligence, in the process, Russian forces highly likely cut the crucial supply highway H-32 (or T-0504),[53][54] which connects Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka.[54] Ukrainian military observerKostiantyn Mashovets claimed that the breakthrough measured a depth of more than 5 km, with a front width of close to 10 km.[52] On 17 June 2025, Ukraine'sLuhansk Operational Tactical Group claimed in a press release to have repelled a Russian force of 100 soldiers, 23 armored vehicles and 13 motorcycles near Kostiantynivka. They claimed that all the Russian personnel were killed, with 18 armored vehicles and all 13 motorcycles destroyed. Five armored vehicles were also damaged.[55]
On 19 August 2025, Russian forces claimed to have entered Kostiantynivka from the east, the head of the Kostyantynivka Military AdministrationSerhiy Horbunov stated that Russian forces conducted tenFAB-250 strikes against civilian infrastructure in Kostyantynivka, damaging residential and administration buildings and a school.[1] On 21 August 2025,Governor of Donetsk Oblast,Vadym Filashkin, said that around 6,800 people remained in the city.[5] In early November 2025, Russian forces broke through to the southern part of the city, and thebattle of Kostiantynivka started.[56]
Kostyantynivka is considered the center of Ukraine's glass industry.[when?] It is home to several enterprises and Ukraine's only glass research institute, UkrGIS. Since 2005, UkrGIS has been renamed the State Enterprise "Ukrainian Glass Research Institute" (SE "UkrNIISTekla") and is the leading organization of the Ministry of Industrial Policy of Ukraine for scientific and technical support and standardization in the glass industry of Ukraine.
The industry employs over 40% of the total workforce in the national economy.
The city is crossed by national highway H-20, highway T-0504 (Alchevsk —Bakhmut — Konstantinovka —Pokrovsk), T-0516 (Konstantinovka —Toretsk —Gorlovka).
The city had a tram system which first opened in 1931, closed in 2004 and reopened in 2005. 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,[57] 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 lackedbogies. 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.[58]
| 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% |
| 2025 (August)[5] | 6,800 | −89.9% |
| 2025 (November)[60] | 5,000 | −26.5% |
| Source:[59] | ||
As of theUkrainian Census of 2001:[61]
The city has 17 schools, 20 kindergartens, 2 technical schools, 1 university, 4 university branches, 2 vocational schools, 1 cinema, 1 local history museum, 3 libraries, 3 cultural centers (1 is active), and the Metallurg stadium.
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