Balakliia

Balakliia or Balakleya (Ukrainian: Балаклія, Russian: Бaлaклeя, translit. Balakleya) is a city in Izium Raion, Kharkiv Oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. It is an important railroad junction in the oblast. Balakliia hosts the administration of Balakliia urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine.[2] Population: 26,921 (2021 est.)[3]

Balakliia
Балаклія
Zhovtneva street, the main Street of Balakliia
Coat of arms
Map of Ukraine with Balakliia highlighted
Balakliia
Location of Balakliia
Coordinates: 49°27′57″N 36°52′04″E
Country Ukraine
OblastKharkiv Oblast
RaionIzium Raion
Founded1663[1]
ControlOccupied by Russia
Area
 • Total35 km2 (14 sq mi)
Elevation
79 m (259 ft)
Population
 (2021)
 • Total26,921
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code
64200

Until 18 July 2020, Balakliia was the administrative center of Balakliia Raion. The raion was abolished in July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Kharkiv Oblast to seven. The area of Balakliia Raion was merged into Izium Raion.[4][5]

2017 explosions

On 23 March 2017, 20,000 inhabitants of Balakliia were evacuated after a series of massive explosions erupted at a nearby arms depot of the Balakliya military installation, which stockpiles missile and artillery ammunition.[6] The disaster led to one civilian woman killed and five others injured (with no casualties among the military).[7][8] Thousands of residents within a 10 km radius around the complex were evacuated in the aftermath. By the end of March, the fires and resulting arms explosions at the ammunition depot in Balakliia had damaged almost 250 buildings. [9] On 18 April (2017) the city and nearby villages were declared cleared from unexploded ordnance.[10]

On 3 May 2018 ignition of dry grass lead to a new series of explosions at the depot.[11] But this time without military or civilian casualties; but 1,500 locals were evacuated.[11]

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

On 3 March 2022, in the course of 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian Defence Ministry stated its troops together with troops of DNR and LNR took control over the city of Balakliia and freed it from nationalist battalions.[12] In late April 2022, it was announced they have also captured the 65th arsenal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the largest ammunition depot in Ukraine, where also "NATO-type ammunition" was stored, according to VGTRK war correspondent Yevgeny Poddubny.[13]

  • Balakliia city sign
  • Balakliia Ambulance in front of local hospital
  • City hall
  • Palace of Culture
  • Balakliia Lyceum
  • Children's playground

References
  1. Балаклея // Украинская Советская Энциклопедия. том 1. Киев, «Украинская Советская энциклопедия», 1978. стр.339
  2. "Балаклейская городская громада" (in Russian). Портал об'єднаних громад України.
  3. Чисельність наявного населення України на 1 січня 2021 / Number of Present Population of Ukraine, as of January 1, 2021 (PDF) (in Ukrainian and English). Kyiv: State Statistics Service of Ukraine.
  4. "Про утворення та ліквідацію районів. Постанова Верховної Ради України № 807-ІХ". Голос України (in Ukrainian). 2020-07-18. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  5. "Нові райони: карти + склад" (in Ukrainian). Міністерство розвитку громад та територій України. 17 July 2020.
  6. Ukraine munitions blasts prompt mass evacuations, BBC News (23 March 2017)
  7. "NATO envoys arrive in Balaklia to assist in humanitarian demining". UNIAN. 25 March 2017.
  8. "One dead after blasts at eastern Ukraine arms depot". Yahoo News. 25 March 2017.
  9. "В СБУ рассказали о взорвавшем арсенал в Балаклее беспилотнике".
  10. Balaklia, nearby villages cleared from unexploded ordnance after March 23 accident, UNIAN (18 April 2017)
  11. Ammo depot explosions in Kharkiv region's Balaklia stop on Thursday afternoon, UNIAN (3 May 2018)
  12. "Ukrainian city of Balakliya freed from nationalist battalions - Russian Defense Ministry". interfax.com. 3 March 2022.
  13. "The Russian Armed Forces took control of the largest arsenal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kharkiv region". mailbd.net. 22 April 2022.
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