Ivanivske, Donetsk Oblast

Ivanivske was founded in the 18th century as a dacha of Bakhmut by Protopope Ivan Lukyanov. The protopope was known for his spiritual leadership, and many Cossacks came to his farm to work for the sake of spiritual salvation.

In 1776, the lands of the farm were given to Lieutenant Colonel Ivan Vasylyovych Shabelsky, who founded the settlement of Ivanivka on his new possessions. The village continued to grow, and by 1859, it had 667 residents, 87 farmsteads, an Orthodox church, a factory, and three fairs a year. By 1886, the population had grown to 767, with 135 farmsteads, an Orthodox church, a bench, and two fairs a year. In 1908, the village had 1,473 residents.^[3]

According to records, as a result of the Holodomor, 52 residents of Ivanivske died. The village's history is also intertwined with the burial mounds of the Bronze Age, which are located near the village.^[4]

On 7 February 2023, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, fighting took place near the village.^[5] It was on the frontline of the battle of Bakhmut.^[6]

On 23 February 2024, Russian forces re-entered the settlement. On 23 March, the Russian Army claimed it had seized Ivanivske.^[7][8][9] On 2 April 2024 Ukrainian forces claimed to have blown up a bridge in Ivanivske, that the Russians were using for logistics, using the ground kamikaze drone Ratel S.^[10] The Institute for the Study of War estimated on 11 April that Russian troops have likely seized all of the settlement.^[11] DeepStateMap.Live reported on 13 April that Ukrainian forces still held a presence in Ivanivske.^[12] This was further corroborated by geolocated footage posted on 15 April showing Russian forces striking Ukrainian positions in the westernmost part of the settlement.^[13][14]

According to the 2001 Ukrainian census, the village had a population of 1,732, of whom 62.7% spoke Ukrainian, 36.66% spoke Russian, and 0.64% spoke other languages.^[1]