Krasnodon Raion (Ukrainian: Краснодонський район; Russian: Краснодо́нский райо́н) or Sorokyne Raion (Ukrainian: Сорокинський район; Russian: Сорокинский район) was a raion (district) in Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine from 1923 to 2020. The administrative center of the raion was Krasnodon, also known as Sorokyne. The last estimate of the raion population before its abolition was 28,943 (2020 est.).^[1]

Quick Facts Krasnodonskyi Raion Краснодонський район, Country ...

Krasnodonskyi Raion Краснодонський район
Raion
Flag Coat of arms
Coordinates: 48°22′51″N 39°40′36″E
Country	Ukraine
Region	Luhansk Oblast
Established	1923
Disestablished	18 July 2020
Admin. center	Krasnodon
Subdivisions	List   0 — city councils   5 — settlement councils 10 — rural councils Number of localities:   0 — cities   5 — urban-type settlements 47 — villages    — rural settlements
Government
• Governor	Oleksandr Kravtsov
Area
• Total	100 km2 (40 sq mi)
Population  (2020)
• Total	28,943
Time zone	UTC+02:00 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+03:00 (EEST)
Postal index	94415—94493
Area code	+380 6462
Website	http://kd.loga.gov.ua/

Close

It was originally formed in 1923 as Sorokyne Raion. It was subordinate to Shakhty Okruha [uk] of Donets Governorate of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.^[2] On August 12, 1927, it received the status of a national raion for ethnic Russians. At the time, it had a population of 13,216 people, of whom 80.5% were ethnic Russians. In 1930, it was assigned to Luhansk Okruha. From September 1930 to 1932, it was subordinated directly to the republic. In 1932, it was assigned to Donetsk Oblast.^[3] By this time, it was still considered a national raion.^[4] In June 1938, it was transferred to Voroshylovhrad Oblast (later renamed Luhansk Oblast).^[3] At some point, it was renamed Krasnodon Raion.^{[citation needed]}

Since 2014, Krasnodon Raion has been controlled by forces of the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR).^{[5][better source needed]} Initially, Krasnodon was incorporated as a city of oblast significance and did not belong to the raion, but in 2015, Ukraine officially merged it into the raion. In 2016, the Verkhovna Rada renamed Krasnodon Raion to Sorokyne Raion, implementing the law prohibiting names of Communist origin.^{[citation needed]}

Sorokyne Raion was abolished by Ukraine on 18 July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Luhansk Oblast to eight.^[6][7] The LPR continued using the raion - under the name "Krasnodon Raion" - as an administrative unit after that point, and following the 2022 annexation referendums in Russian-occupied Ukraine, Russia has done the same.^{[citation needed]}

As of the Ukrainian Census of 2001:^[8]

Ethnicity

• Russian: 51.7%
• Ukrainian: 45.9%
• Belarusians: 0.9%

Language

• Russian 68.8%
• Ukrainian 30.0%
• Armenian 0.1%
• Belarusian 0.1%