[3] Limestone deposits were first discovered in the Kalmius River Valley near the village Karakuba (now Rozdolne, Kalmiuske Raion, Donetsk Oblast [uk]) in 1833.

Further research was conducted by other geologists that was eventually published in 1909 that showed significant deposits of a type of limestone required for metallurgy.

The Nazis operated a prisoner of war camp near the outskirts of the village Chkalovske (which has since been absorbed into Kalmiuske as a district) where they killed about 6,600 people.

[7] Starting in mid-April 2014, pro-Russian separatists captured several towns in Donetsk Oblast,[8] including Komsomolske.

The Kharkiv Human Rights Group reported that the DPR authorities abused the "terrified" population, and arrested and tortured numerous people in the city for having pro-Ukrainian views.

[10] During the Minsk agreements of 2014–2015 that theoretically aimed to de-escalate the war, Komsomolske was designated as part of a zone in which "deployment of heavy armaments and military equipment" was banned.

Radio Svoboda, interviewing ten residents of the city in September, reported that only one had heard about the renaming law.

Dozens have been convicted of "collaborating with the SBU" and sentenced to many years in the Izolyatsia prison as well as jails in Makiivka.

[10] In late 2017, the separatists repeatedly violated the terms of the Minsk agreements banning the deployment of heavy equipment in Kalmiuske.