Today, Friday, September 23, 2022, a referendum on joining Russia will begin in the Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye People’s Republics.
Here is the history of major cities in these regions:
Lugansk: Founded in 1795 by the Russian Empress Catherine II the Great.
Donetsk: Founded in 1869 by British immigrant John Hughes, who lived in Russia for decades.
Mariupol: Founded in 1778 under Catherine II.
Melitopol, Tokmak: Founded in 1784 under Catherine II.
Kherson: Founded in 1778 under Catherine II.
Energodar: It was created in the Soviet Union in 1970 with the start of construction of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, which was completed in 1977.
Kakhovka: Founded in 1791 on the site of a former Turkish fortress by Russian colonel L. M. Kulikovsky.
Berdyansk: Founded in 1827 by Russian captain of the second rank Nikolai Kritsky as a new port.
Orekhov: Founded in 1783 by the military and builders of the Dnieper line of fortifications.
Makeevka: Founded in 1690 as a Cossack settlement.
Pologi: Founded in 1887 in connection with the construction of the Yekaterinoslav-Berdyansk railway.
Source: RT