Petya Lyuty | |
|---|---|
| Native name | Петя Лютий |
| Birth name | Isidor Lyuty |
| Born | |
| Died | (1919-09-18)18 September 1919 |
| Allegiance |  Makhnovshchina |
| Service |  Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine |
| Years of service | 1918–1919 |
| Battles / wars | |
Isidor Lyuty (Ukrainian:Ісидор Лютий,d. 1919), better known by hisnom de guerrePetya Lyuty (Ukrainian:Петя Лютий), was a Ukrainian military commander in theRevolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine. An early member of theinsurgent staff, he also served asNestor Makhno's personal bodyguard, before dying in battle against theWhite Army atPomichna.
Petya Lyuty worked as a painter and decorator.[1]Following the outbreak of theUkrainian War of Independence against the occupyingCentral Powers, Lyuty joined the insurgent detachment underNestor Makhno, who he served as his personal bodyguard.[2] Disguised as women, Lyuty and Makhno carried out reconnaissance on the local Austro-German headquarters inHuliaipole, but they called off their planned bombing attack against it, as they feared that they would harm the women and children inside.[3]
On 22 September 1918, Makhno and Lyuty moved to decisively reoccupy Huliaipole, setting off fromTernivka in disguise as officers of theUkrainian Armed Forces [uk] (UAF).[4] Along the way, they encountered a real detachment of the UAF, from whom they receivedintelligence on the positions and strength of the Austro-German forces, before killing them.[5] On 30 September 1918, Lyuty took a commanding role in thebattle of Dibrivka, where the insurgents successfully defeated the local Austrian garrison.[6] This was followed by a series of reprisals,[7] with the Austrian forces eventually driving the insurgents out ofDibrivka.[8]
On 15 November 1918, the insurgents were ambushed by a Hungarian detachment atTemyrivka, with half of them being killed in the attack.[9] During the scrambled insurgent defense, Makhno fired aLewis gun from Lyuty's own shoulder, killing enough men to stop the attack.[10] But after a failed counterattack, the insurgents fell back, pinned down by gunfire. Lyuty, along withOleksiy Marchenko andPetro Petrenko, rescued a wounded Makhno from the battle and escaped on horseback.[11]
Nevertheless, the insurgents were able to rally themselves, finally recapturing Huliaipole on 27 November.[12] This accelerated a process of reorganisation of the insurgent forces, which were now surrounded on all fronts by different enemies.[13] At anextraordinary insurgent conference, the various insurgent detachments federated together under a central command, with Lyuty being elected to theinsurgent staff.[14]
After Makhno broke with theBolsheviks and retreated from Huliaipole in the summer of 1919, Lyuty joined the insurgent detachment on its way towardsKherson.[15] In early September, the insurgents fell into a series of clashes with theWhite Army aroundPomichna, during which Petya Lyuty was killed.[16]