Berezina River

Dnepr river system with Bjaresina, and Sosch and Pripyat

Belarus Dnieper River Pripyat River Sosh - River.png

The Grande Armée crossed the Berezina

The Bjaresina (White Russian Бярэзіна; Russian Березина / Berezina ) is a 613 km long right tributary of the Dnieper River ( Belarusian Dnjapro ) in Belarus.

It is not to be confused with the east -flowing mainly in Russia, much shorter Berezina River, about 200 km upstream, downstream from Smolensk also opens from the right in the Dnepr.

Course

The river rises in the north of Belarus to the Belarusian ridge. Its source is located in the Bjaresina National Park near the town of Lepel. The Bjaresina flows through the country in a north-south direction, among others by Borisov, Bobruisk and Swetlahorsk. West of Homel (Gomel ) it flows into the Dnieper.

Inflows and cities

The most important tributary of the Bjaresina is the Swislatsch ( Svisloch ), on the other under the Belarusian capital Minsk is located.

Among the most important cities on the river (the name of the cities according to the second official language Russian in brackets) include:

• Borisov ( Borisov )
• Bobruisk ( Bobruisk )
• Swetlahorsk ( Swetlogorsk )

History

Charles XII. of Sweden crossed during the Great Northern War against Peter the Great and his army under the river on 25 June 1708. Historical world fame of the flow through the Battle of Berezina from 26 to 28 November 1812 during the dramatic retreat of the Grande Armée Napoleon from the troops of Tsar Alexander I.. During the Second world War in 1944 (→ operation Bagration ) was destroyed the 4th Army of the German Wehrmacht after crossing the river in a boiler east of Minsk in the Soviet summer offensive.