Krasnyi Luch

The town was founded as Krindachevka[2] at the last years of the 19th century.[3][4]

It became one of the most important coal mining centres of the Donets Basin.[2][3]

A local newspaper is published here since September 1920.[5] In December 1920 it was renamed as Krasnyi Luch (lit. "red beam"). City since 1926.[3][4]

The city was under German occupation from June 1942 to September 1943.[3] The Jews were thrown in and killed with other categories of victims, such as the Communists, in the well of the Bogdan coal mine. Total number of victims was about 2,000.[6]

In January 1965 the population of the city was 101 000 people.[7]

In January 1989 the population of the city was 113 278 people.[8] It was an important coal-mining centre.[4] There were several coal-enriching plants, a machine-tool factory, light industries and a railway station.[2]

In January 2013 the population of the city was 82 765 people.[9]

Since spring 2014 it is controlled by the Luhansk People's Republic.[10]

Under the Ukrainian decommunization laws the city was renamed on 12 May 2016 by the Ukrainian parliament to Khrustalny,[11][12] to no practical effect, since they don't control the area.[10]

As of the Ukrainian Census of 2001:[13]

Ethnicity

• Ukrainians: 49.2%
• Russians: 46.1%
• Belarusians: 1.1%

Language

• Russian: 87.8%
• Ukrainian: 10.4%
• Armenian: 0.2%
• Belarusian: 0.1%

On the right is a picture of the Wall of Honor. Such walls were installed in every oblast seat throughout the Soviet Union. With the dissolution of the Soviet state those landmarks were mostly removed, but in some instances were retained as the relics of the past.

Light heavyweight fighter Nikita Krylov originates from Krasnyi Luch.[14]

On August 1, 1943, the well-known WWII fighter pilot Lydia Litvyak took off from a base at Krasnyy Luch, to the last mission from which she never came back.