Krasnodon was established in 1914 along the banks of the Welikyj Kamjaniza, a tributary of the Seversky Donets River, as the settlement of Sorokino. It soon became one of the centers of the coal mining industry of the Donbass region. By a Decision of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, on October 28, 1938 it was renamed Krasnodon.
During the German-Soviet War Krasnodon was occupied by Nazi Germany from July 20, 1942 to February 14, 1943. In that period, between October 1942 and January 1943, the anti-nazi Komsomol organization Young Guard operated in the city. There are monuments and the memorial complex built to the Young Guard in Krasnodon
