Balaklija

This article is about the city in eastern Ukraine, for information on the village of the same name, see Balaklija (village) .

Balaklija
Балаклія
	Balaklija
Basic data
Oblast :	Kharkiv Oblast
Rajon :	Balaklija district
Height :	87 m
Area :	16.3 km²
Residents :	29,307 (2015)
Population density :	1,798 inhabitants per km²
Postcodes :	64200
Area code :	+380 5749
Geographic location :	49 ° 27 '  N , 36 ° 51'  E Coordinates: 49 ° 27 '30 "  N , 36 ° 51' 10"  E
KOATUU :	6320210100
Administrative structure :	1 city , 1 settlement
Mayor :	Olexander Mykolaiowytsch Litvinow
Address:	мікрорайон 3 громадський центр 64200 м. Балаклія
Website :	http://balakleya.kharkov.ua/
Statistical information
Balaklija

Balaklija ( Ukrainian Балаклія, Russian Балаклея Balakleja ) is a city in eastern Ukraine and the administrative center of the largest Rajon of the Kharkiv Oblast with about 30,000 inhabitants (2015).

Entrance sign to Balaklija

geography

Balaklija is located on the left bank of the Donets around 100 km southeast of the center of Kharkiv Oblast . The city has a train station on the Kharkiv - Donbass railway line . The municipality also includes a settlement called Krejdjanka (Ukrainian Крейдянка ) with 31 residents.

history

Map of the Battle of Kharkov. The city of Balaklija formed the northern cornerstone of the German front around the front arc of Isjum.

Balaklija was founded as a Cossack settlement in 1663 and got its name from the river of the same name that flows into the Donets here. From 1796 to 1891 the place was called Novoserpuchow after the Russian city Serpuchow . Balaklija has been the center of the Rajon since 1923 and has had city status since 1938. The occupation of the city by the Wehrmacht lasted from December 10, 1941 to February 5, 1943.

On December 10, 1941, the German Infantry Regiment 131 of the 44th Infantry Division reached the city. First, the Wehrmacht units advanced a few kilometers east of Balaklija and set up a defensive position against the Red Army there . On January 18, 1942, however, a massive Soviet counter-offensive began, which further south led to a 100 km deep penetration in the German front, which went down in war history as the Isjum front arc. The 44th Infantry Division relocated its 131st Infantry Regiment back to Balaklija and in the course of the next few weeks and months kept adding new units to it to hold the cornerstone of Balaklija . The German front bent back far to the west south of the city and could be held until May 1942, when the spring battle of Kharkov developed from it, in which the Soviet units that had advanced far east were defeated. Keeping the city of Balaklija was an important prerequisite for this.

The largest ammunition depot in Ukraine was located in Balaklija, and it caught fire on March 23, 2017.

Population development

1959	1970	1979	1989	2001	2005	2015
21,325	30,470	32,820	35,737	32,408	30,949	29,307

Source:

Rajon

The Balaklija district, administered from Balaklija, has an area of ​​1986.44 km² and a population of 84,332 inhabitants. The population density in the Rajon is 42 inhabitants per km².

See also : List of Rajons of Ukraine

sons and daughters of the town

• Oksana Petrussenko (1900–1940), opera singer
• Semjon Grigorenko (1916–2016), Soviet major general and hero of Russia

Web links

Commons : Balaklija  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• official website of the Rajonsverwaltung (Ukrainian)
• official site of the Rajon (Ukrainian)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Demography of Ukrainian cities on pop-stat.mashke.org
2. ↑ official site of the place (Ukrainian)
3. ↑ City history ( Memento of the original from August 13, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Ukrainian)  
4. ^ Friedrich Dettmer, Otto Jaus, Helmut Tolkmitt: The 44th Infantry Division. Reichs-Grenadier-Division Hoch- und Deutschmeister 1938–1945. , Pages 186 to 212, Verlag Austria Press, Vienna 1969
5. ↑ Tagesschau.de
6. ↑ Facts about the Rajon  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Ukrainian)  
7. ↑ Григоренко Семён Васильевич , warheroes.ru (Russian)