The Khartsyzsk settlement, which belonged to Major General Ivan Ilovaysky, was founded on the site of the modern city in 1786.

Its name comes from the word "khartsyzy" ("robbers, plunderers"), which was the name used by Turks and Tatars in the sixteenth century for fugitive peasants and Zaporizhzhia Cossacks who settled near the southern borders of the Moscow state.

Starting Mid-April 2014 pro-Russian separatists took control of several towns in Donetsk Oblast.

[3][4][5][6] Unknown armed men took control of the Khartsyzk city hall on 13 April 2014, and declared it part of the Donetsk People's Republic.

Preparing for the resumption of the active phase of hostilities, in mid-February, Russian troops staged provocations under the pretext of announcing illegal forced "mobilization" in the city and the occupied part of Donbas in general to join the ranks of illegal terrorist armed groups operating in the region.