Raid on Balta

In response to the szlachta's repression against the Ruthenians, a large uprising, known as Koliivshchyna began, the rebels captured a large part of the Right-Bank Ukraine, including Smila, Korsun, Zhabotyn and Cherkasy.^[2] The Haidamaks committed mass murders against the Polish and Jewish population of the Right-Bank Ukraine, which forced the civilians to escape, sometimes to the Ottoman territory.

In mid-June 1768, soon after the massacre at Uman, a detachment of Zalizniak's haidamaks was pursuing some Confederates through Podolia toward the Kodyma River. According to other version, the Haidamaks entered the Ottoman territory after the kaymak of Balta refused to give up the Poles who had attacked the village of Paliyeve Ozero together with Tatars before this.^[3] The Haidamaks had entered the town of Balta on the Moldavian side of the border,^[4][1] defeated the Tatar garrison and killed approximately a thousand civilians.^[1] Another unit of Haidamaks led by colonel Nezhyvyi attacked the town of Golta near Balta and massacred Poles and Jews there.^[4]

Following the attack, Insurgents murdered the Jewish civilians in the city and retreated on the Haidamak-controlled territory.^[3] Haidamak action became a pretext for the new Russo-Turkish War.^[5] It is not certain about who were actual perpetrators. Several sources claim that the perpetrators were Haidamaks who were chasing the Confederates,^{[4][2][3][6][7]} however some sources claim that the attack was carried by the Zaporozhian Cossacks on the service of Russia.^[8][9][5] It is also mentioned that the hetman of Ottoman Ukraine, Yakub-aga Rudzevich caused the attack himself and then sent false claims about the "Cossack raid", which caused the crisis and eventually a war between the Russia and the Ottoman Empire.^[7][10]