Battle of Kiev
Part of Ukrainian-Soviet War (1917-1921)

A squad of Red Guards who fought in Kiev
Date5–8 February 1918
Location
Kiev, Ukraine
Result Bolshevik victory
Belligerents
 Ukrainian People's Republic Russian SFSR
Commanders and leaders
Mykhailo Kovenko Mikhail Muravyov
Units involved
Kiev city garrison Red Guards
Strength
2,000
3 batteries		 7,000
armored train
artillery battery

The Battle of Kiev of January 1918 was a Bolshevik military operation of Petrograd and Moscow Red Guard formations directed to capture the capital of Ukraine. The operation was led by Red Guards commander Mikhail Artemyevich Muravyov as part of the Soviet expeditionary force against Kaledin and the Central Council of Ukraine. The storming of Kiev (Kyiv) took place during the ongoing peace negotiations at Brest-Litovsk on 5–8 February 1918 (23–26 January in the Julian calendar). The operation resulted in the occupation of the city by Bolshevik troops on 9 February and the evacuation of the Ukrainian government to Zhytomyr.

Background

In the 1918 Battle of Kiev (Ukrainian: штурм Києва в січні 1918 року, romanized: shturm Kyieva v sichni 1918 roku, lit. 'the assault of Kiev in January 1918') the aim of the undeclared war by Soviet Russia was to install Soviet power in Ukraine. During the winter of 1917/18 the revolutionary formations of Russia installed Soviet power in governorates of Kharkiv, Katerynoslav, and Poltava. Kiev was next. The general command directed onto Kiev was under the command of Mikhail Muravyov. On 27 January 1918 the government of Ukraine announced Kiev under a siege and appointed Mykhailo Kovenko as the military commandant of the city's defence. With the approach of the advancing Soviet forces the city's Bolsheviks instigated an uprising at the Arsenal factory, which was extinguished in seven days on 4 February 1918. The Bolshevik protest in the city greatly eased the advancement of the Soviet forces, drawing several Ukrainian formations out of adjacent provinces. The Kiev garrison was greatly demoralized by Bolshevik propaganda and Soviet advances across the territory of Ukraine. Ukrainian regiments were depleted, and some either announced their neutrality or were eager to side with the Bolsheviks.

Bolshevik forces attacked the city from Bakhmach and Lubny. On 8 February, the Ukrainian government was forced to abandon the city. On 9 February General Muravyov took control of the city and instituted a reign of terror[1] of brutal reprisals against Kiev's population[2] that would last twenty days.

Aftermath

On same the day Bolshevik forces captured Kiev, the Central Rada signed a treaty with the Central Powers. Ukrainian People's Army forces under Symon Petliura, along with German and Austro-Hungarian troops, would retake Kiev on 1 March.[3] The Bolshevik government recognized Ukraine's independence on 3 March. Subsequently, during May to October 1918, peace negotiations were held between Russia and Ukraine.

Order of battle

Muravyov Forces

List of formations

  • Red Guards of Bryansk 800 soldiers / Russians
  • Red Guards of Moscow (Moscow river neighborhood) 200 soldiers / Latvians/ Russians
  • Red Guards of Kharkiv 500 soldiers / Jews/ Russians
  • Donbas Red Guards of Dmitry Zhloba 300 soldiers / Russians/ Ukrainians/ Jews
  • Red Guards of Putilov Factory 60 soldiers / Jews/Russians/ Ukrainians
  • 1st Petrograd Red Guard formation 1,000 soldiers / Latvians/ Russians
  • Red Guards of Petrograd (Moscow district) 500 soldiers / Latvians/ Russians
  • Kharkiv Red Guards of Aleksandr Belenkovich 150 soldiers / Jews/ Russians/ Ukrainians
  • Red Cossacks of Vitaly Markovich Primakov 198 soldiers / Russians/ Ukrainians
  • Bryansk battery 92 soldiers / Russians
  • Armoured train of Moscow 100 soldiers / Russians
  • Red Guards formations of local settlements / Jews/ Russians
  • Underground workers of Arsenal (Cave monastery) / Russians/ Ukrainians

Composition by nationality: Russians - 88%; Jews - 7%; Ukrainians - 5%

Ukrainian Forces

References

  1. ↑ Orest Subtelny (2009). Ukraine: A History (4th ed.). Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 353. ISBN 978-1-4426-4016-0. LCCN 2009504897. OL 24009136M. Wikidata Q104049525.
  2. ↑ Arkadii Zhukovsky, "Ukrainian-Soviet War, 1917–21", in Roman Senkus; Oleh Havrylyshyn; Frank Sysyn; et al. (eds.), Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine, Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, Wikidata Q87193076
  3. ↑ (in Ukrainian) The world's first monument to Colonel of the UPR Army Bolbochan was unveiled in Kyiv, The Ukrainian Week (5 October 2020)

50°27′00″N 30°31′24″E / 50.45000°N 30.52333°E / 50.45000; 30.52333

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.