It was founded in 1908 when the Russian-Belgium Metallurgical Association founded Bunge mine to supply coal to Petrovskiy steelworks (now Yenakiieve Iron and Steel Works). The name Bunhe or Bunge comes from the German surname Bunge.[citation needed]
In 1924 mine was named "Yunkom" ("Yuny communar" [Ukrainian: Young communist]) and the settlement was named "Yunokomunarivsk". In 1965 it received urban-type settlement status. On 16 September 1979, in the mine "Yuny Communar" there was one of the Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy—an object "Klivazh". In 2002 the mine was closed as non-perspective and ecologists worried about the danger of filling the mine with water. It might cause radioactive pollution of the underground water, so pumps continue to pump water out of the abandoned mine.[4][5]
On 12 May 2016, the Verkhovna Rada renamed Yunokomunarivsk back to its original name Bunhe (Ukrainian: Бунге or Бунґе) to conform to the law prohibiting names of Communist origin.[7]
In 2018 the administration of the DPR decided to flood the «Yunkom» mine. The drainage required maintenance of water pumps, which stopped along with the region's general infrastructure degradation after the Russian military occupation.[8][9] The information was confirmed by OSCE Monitoring Mission.[10] In April 2018 the DPR removed water pumps from the «Yunkom» mine, so it is gradually flooded by the natural waters. The radiological contamination was viewed as potentially spreading to the Mius River and then to the Azov Sea, threatening drinking and irrigation water supplies.[11]
Лаврів, Петро (1995). Моя земля — земля моїх батьків (in Ukrainian). Донецьк: Донецьке обласне Товариство української мови ім. Тараса Шевченка Український культурологічний Центр. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016.