Malynivka. Examples of folk architecture, plus natural landscapes and green corners

In Ukraine there are dozens of settlements named Malynivka. In almost every region there is a toponym formed from the name of the bright and fragrant berry. In the Donetsk region, judging by the articles on Wikipedia, there are no fewer than four Malynivkas, and one of them is located in the east of the Pokrovsk district.

Malynivka, Pokrovsk district, Donetsk region

From the research of the Myrnohrad branch of the NSKU 'Staryi Rudnyk' (Old Mine) it is known that from the end of the 18th century the lands on which the present-day village stands belonged to the Marchenko family. It was here that the postal road ran, connecting Pavlohrad and Bakhmut, and until 1883 there was a postal station.

The Marchenska postal station and the farmsteads in Zaiachyi Yar on an 1861 map.

On 26 June 1969, the scattered farmsteads of Zaiacha Balka, Morozivske, Shevchenko Druhe and Ulianivka were merged into a single village, Ulianivka. And in 2016 Ulianivka was renamed Malynivka.

The village stretches for 6 kilometres along the H-32 highway, which connects the Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk and Luhansk regions. In 2021 this road of territorial significance was thoroughly repaired, and convenient approaches were laid to the homesteads adjoining the roadway. A young fruit orchard borders the new highway, surprising one with its lush spring blossom and its abundance of fruit in autumn.

 

Malynivka. The fruit orchard

The arable land is worked and sown, and parks of agricultural machinery have been set up in the fields. The entrance sign states that since 2000 the agricultural firm 'Yednist' (Unity) has been operating in the village. Everything indicates that Malynivka does not belong to the countless number of dying villages that failed to find sensible leaders and managers. But why exactly was the former Ulianivka renamed Malynivka? No thickets of raspberry were found on the slopes of the gullies, and no ringing song of the bird of the same name was heard.

Malynivka. Zaiacha Balka

One of the options for the renaming was the historical and geographical name Zaiacha Balka (Hare Gully), on the slope of which the settlement is located. A brook flows through the picturesque lowland, and in its bed, with the help of ruinous embankments and dams, five ponds have been created.

Malynivka. The ponds

At the point where the water-bearing stream flows into the long-suffering Kazennyi Torets, a stretch of steppe with an outcrop of sandy boulders on the surface has protected status and, since 2016, is called the 'Prytorskyi' Reserve.

 

Malynivka. The 'Prytorskyi' Reserve

The main street of Malynivka stretches for several kilometres from east to west, and at the renaming it was given far too trivial a name - Tsentralna.

Malynivka. Tsentralna Street

All the infrastructure is located in the centre of the village - the club, the school, the village council, shops, the kindergarten.

 

Malynivka. The village council

Malynivka. The house of culture

A tragic and little-known page in the history of Malynivka is brought to light in the publications of the Myrnohrad branch of the NSKU 'Staryi Rudnyk'. In 1930 a shelter for 75 orphaned children was opened in the village. The cruel policy of the USSR's leadership and the artificial famine forced the peasants to leave their children at the orphanage. In May 1933 there were 219 children here. There was not enough food or beds, so most of them slept on the floor.

Malynivka. The school

Malynivka. The rural first-aid post

Malynivka. The war memorials

The street, the public garden and the homesteads are drowning in flowers, and this cannot but gladden the heart.

 

Malynivka. The children's playground

Malynivka. The public garden

On the eastern edge of Malynivka, a village monument more than 100 years old is falling into decay. The owner of this fine red-brick dwelling, which in its time contrasted with the peasants' huts and outbuildings, was the landowner Hryhorii Ivanovych Kuzmenko, who had 424 desiatynas of land at the Zaiacha Balka farmstead, while his son had 80 desiatynas. In Soviet times the house belonged to the collective farm, and with its collapse no use was found for the still-sturdy building.

Malynivka. The house of the landowner H. I. Kuzmenko

As an architectural monument one may regard the water tower, a heritage of the Mennonite Germans of 1912. This technical structure of red brick is located on the territory of the Malynivka village council in the village of Myrne. A walk westward along Tsentralna Street will lead you straight to this abandoned object of Malynivka's cultural heritage. As part of the 'Yellow Line' project, in 2018 an information board with a brief history of the discovered monument was installed.

 

Myrne, Malynivka village council. The water-supply tower of the Mennonite Germans

In the centre of the village, for those wishing to have a snack or lunch, the doors of the cafe 'Budynok Myslyvtsia' (Hunter's House) are hospitably open, with a fitting interior, moderate prices and fresh produce.

 

Malynivka. The cafe 'Budynok Myslyvtsia'