In the second half of the 17th and early 18th centuries, the area in which Kramatorsk was to develop was heavily populated by Cossacks from the Hetmanate, particularly Oril Palatinate of Zaporizhian Sich which was liquidated in 1775.

[citation needed] In 1885 in area were found deposits of chaulk, sand, sandstone, valuable clays, mineral dyes which provided construction of building materials.

[5] In 1887 Belgian investors (Stertzer and Sons) built a factory of refractory materials near Kramatorsk rail station.

A primary medical institution for the factory was a regional hospital in Sloviansk (about 15 km (9.3 mi)), while in Kramatorsk was a small local clinic with no more than 12 beds.

About 20 years later a gubernatorial government established a primary 2-year parochial school which had a small library (part of the Ministry of National Education program).

In mid February 1905 the RSDLP organized a short strike that ended after arrival of couple of companies of the Lebedyn regiment.

[6] Later that year RSDLP organized scandal at the factory turning prayer for the October Manifesto into an unsanctioned gathering which called for armed uprising.

On 12 December 1905 there was a huge strike at the factory calling for overthrowing the Russian Tsar (Nicholas II of Russia) and talked about the need to provide the peasants with land.

[10] Between 1980 and 1989, several people were exposed to a radiological source in one of the apartment buildings, resulting in 6 deaths and at least 17 cases of radiation sickness.

[citation needed] On 12 April 2014, at the same time as events in nearby Sloviansk the police station in Kramatorsk was seized by armed pro-Russian militants in military uniform, and later the city council.

Unlike Sloviansk, which had high profile figures Vyacheslav Ponomarev and Igor Girkin/Strelkov associated with it, Kramatorsk was not notable in this sphere.

Further, while the Ukrainian army did not enter Sloviansk in its months under separatist control, they made several entries into Kramatorsk in this time.

[13] On 5 July, after almost three months, Ukrainian forces finally retook control of Kramatorsk, as part of sweeping territorial gains at that time, including nearby Sloviansk.

[17] Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of the Donetsk region, said thousands of people had been at the station at the time the two missiles struck.

On 19 April 2022, Russian troops launched rocket attacks on Kramatorsk, as a result of which one person was killed and three were injured.

[18] On 21 April 2022, British Defence Ministry intelligence reported that Russian troops in the Donetsk region were advancing towards Kramatorsk.

[citation needed] On 27 June 2023, a Russian missile strike killed at least 11 people and injured over 60 in a pizza restaurant in the center of the city.

The exact ethnic and linguistic composition as of the Ukrainian Census of 2001 was:[21] According to the regional department of statistics, as of 1 January 2017, the population of Kramatorsk was 190,648 people.

[25] Ukraine, Perechyn, Zakarpattia Oblast[26] At various periods, Kramatorsk was a place of residence for a number of notable people, including Leonid Bykov, Joseph Kobzon, and Ruslan Ponomariov.