 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Ukrainian–Soviet War" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(March 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Ukrainian–Soviet War | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theUkrainian War of Independence andSoviet westward offensive of 1918–1919 | |||||||||||
.png) Parade of Ukrainian People's Republic troops in Kyiv led by Mykhailo Hrushevsky in December 1917, shelling of the Ukrainian army by the Bolsheviks, defense of Kyiv from the Bolsheviks in February 1918, entry of German troops into Kiev, entry of the Ukrainian People's Republic army into Bakhmut, Kyiv under the rule of Skoropadsky | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||||
 Ukrainian People's Republic[1]UPR loyalist forces:
|
|  Makhnovshchina (1918-1919, 1920-1921) Green Army (February-June 1919)Hryhorivschyna (May-July 1919) | |||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||||
TheUkrainian–Soviet War[2] (Ukrainian:українсько-радянська війна,romanized: ukrainsko-radianska viina) is the term commonly used in post-Soviet Ukraine for the events taking place between 1917 and 1921, nowadays regarded essentially as a war between theUkrainian People's Republic and theBolsheviks (Russian SFSR andUkrainian SSR). The war ensued soon after theOctober Revolution whenLenin dispatchedAntonov'sexpeditionary group to Ukraine andSouthern Russia.
Soviet historiography viewed the Bolshevik victory as the liberation of Ukraine from occupation by the armies of Western and Central Europe (including that ofPoland). Conversely, modern Ukrainian historians consider it a failedwar of independence by the Ukrainian People's Republic against the Bolsheviks. The conflict was complicated by the involvement of theRevolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine, non-Bolshevik Russians of theWhite Army, and the armies of theSecond Polish Republic,Austria-Hungary, and theGerman Empire, among others.
In Soviet historiography and terminology, the armed conflict is depicted as part of the greaterRussian Civil War: in Ukraine, this war was fought between the national government (led bySymon Petliura) and the Russian Bolshevik government (led by Lenin).
The war may be divided into three phases:
After theFebruary Revolution of 1917, the nationalities within theRussian Republic (formerly theRussian Empire) demanded national autonomy fromPetrograd. In the summer of 1917, theRussian Provisional Government approved regional administration over some parts of Ukraine.
In November 1917, theCentral Council of Ukraine denounced the Bolsheviks' armed coup against theRussian Provisional Government, known as theOctober Revolution, and declared it would decisively fight against any attempted similar coup in Ukraine. A special joint committee for preservation of revolution was organized to keep the situation under control. TheKiev Military District command tried to prevent a Bolshevik coup, leading tostreet fights and eventually surrendering of pro-Bolshevik troops in the city. On November 14, 1917, the UkrainianCentral Rada issued its "Appeal of the Central Council to the citizens of Ukraine" in which it sanctioned transfer of the state power in Ukraine to itself. On November 16, a joint session of the Rada and executive committee of the local workers and soldiers soviets recognized the Central Rada as the regional authority in Ukraine. On November 20, 1917, the Rada declared Ukraine the Ukrainian People's Republic as an autonomous part of the Russian Republic and scheduled the January 9, 1918 elections to aUkrainian Constituent Assembly. The Secretary of Military Affairs,Symon Petliura, expressed his intentions to unite both theSouthwestern andRomanian fronts that were stretched across Ukraine into one Ukrainian Front under the command ofColonel GeneralDmitry Shcherbachev.
On December 17, 1917, the Russian Bolsheviks planned a rivalAll-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets and on December 11–12, 1917, they set off a number of coups across Ukraine in Kiev, Odessa and Vinnytsia. They were successfully defeated by the Rada. On December 17, 1917,Sovnarkom, which had initiated peace talks withCentral Powers earlier that month, sent a48-hour ultimatum to the Rada requesting it stop "counterrevolutionary actions" or prepare for war. Also on December 17, 1917,Reingold Berzins led his troops fromMinsk towardsKharkov to the Don. They engaged in an armed conflict at a rail station inBakhmach with the Ukrainian troops who refused to let the Russian red forces (three regiments and an artillery division) pass. The Central Rada did not accept the accusations and stated its conditions: recognition of the Ukrainian People's Republic, non-interference in its internal affairs and affairs of the newly organized Ukrainian Front, permission on transferring ofUkrainized troops to Ukraine, division of the former imperial finances, participation of the Ukrainian People's Republic in the general peace negotiations. The same day the All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets in Kiev, after the Bolshevik delegation left, recognized the authority of the Ukrainian government and denounced the ultimatum of the Soviet Russian government. The Kiev Bolsheviks in their turn denounced that congress and scheduled another one in Kharkov. The next day, Sovnarkom in Moscow decided to go to war.Vladimir Antonov-Ovseyenko was appointed byVladimir Lenin the commander-in-chief of expeditionary force against Kaledin and the South Russia, while near the borders with Ukraine (Bryansk–Belgorod), Red troops began to gather.
The Kievan Bolsheviks who fled to Kharkov joined the regional Congress of Soviets of theDonetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic. They then declared this meeting the First All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets that announced the creation of theUkrainian People's Republic of Soviets. It called the Central Rada of Ukraine an enemy of the people declaring war against it on January 2. The Rada then broke all ties withPetrograd on January 22, 1918, and declared independence, thereby commencing theUkrainian War of Independence.[3][4] It was around this point that Bolshevik troops began invading Ukraine from Russia.[5] Russian military units from Kharkov,Moscow, Minsk and theBaltic Fleet invaded Ukraine.[6]
The Bolsheviks, numbering around 30,000 and composed of Russian army regulars stationed at the front, a number of garrisoned units, andRed Guard detachments composed of laborers fromKharkov Governorate and the Donbass, began by advancing from the northeast led byVladimir Antonov-Ovseenko andMikhail Muravyov.[7] The Ukrainian forces at the time of the invasion consisted of about 15,000 made up from volunteer detachments and several battalions of theFree Cossacks and theSich Riflemen.
The invasion of pro-Soviet forces from Russia was accompanied by uprisings initiated in Ukraine by the local Bolsheviks in the developed cities throughout the territory ofleft-bank Ukraine as well asright-bank Ukraine. TheBolsheviks, led byYevgenia Bosch, conducted a successful uprising inVinnytsia sometime in December 1917. They took charge of the 2nd Guard Corps and moved towards Kiev to help the Bolsheviks in the city.Pavlo Skoropadsky with a regiment of theFree Cossacks managed tostop them near Zhmerynka, disarm them, and deport them to Russia. The other Bolshevik forces capturedKharkov (December 26),Yekaterinoslav (January 9),Aleksandrovsk (January 15), andPoltava (January 20) on their way toKiev. On January 27, the Bolshevik army groups converged inBakhmach and then set off under the command of Muravyov to take Kiev.[2]
.jpg)
As the Bolsheviks marched towards Kiev, a small Ukrainian National Republic unit of less than 500 schoolboys (some sources give a figure of 300),[8] commanded by Captain Ahapiy Honcharenko, was hastily organized and sent to the front on January 29, 1918, to take part in theBattle of Kruty. The small unit consisted mainly of the Student Battalion (Kurin) ofSich Riflemen, a unit of the Khmelnytsky Cadet School, and aHaidamaka detachment. About half of the 500 were killed during the battle.
On January 29, 1918, theKiev Arsenal January Uprising, a Bolshevik-organized armed revolt, began at theKiev Arsenal factory. The workers of the plant were joined by the soldiers of the Ponton Battalion, the 3rd Aviation Regiment and the Sahaydachny regiment. Sensing defeat, the "Central Rada" and Petlyurist forces stormed the city on February 3.[9] After six days of battle and running low on food and ammunition, the uprising was suppressed by counter-revolutionary forces,[10] in which 300 Bolshevik workers died. According to Soviet era sources, more than 1,500 pro-Soviet workers and soldiers were killed during the struggle.[11] On February 8, the Ukrainian People's Republic evacuated Kiev in order to avoid destruction by opposing Soviet troops, which then entered Kiev under Mikhail Muravyov's on February 9.
Once the Bolsheviks took Kiev, they began an offensive inright-bank Ukraine. However, on February 9, the UNR signed theTreaty of Brest-Litovsk and thus received aid fromGerman andAustro-Hungarian troops in late February, over 450,000 troops.[5] In exchange for military aid, the Ukrainians were to deliver foodstuffs to theCentral Powers.[5] Under the command ofSymon Petlura, the combined forces pushed the Bolsheviks out of Right Bank Ukraine and retook Kiev on March 1. Because of the socialist policies of the Rada, mainly the policy of land nationalization which affected food exports to the Central Powers, on April 28 the German forces disbanded the Central Rada and installed theHetman government in its place. Ukrainian, German, and Austro-Hungarian armies continued making gains, taking back left-bank Ukraine, Crimea and the Donets Basin.[12][better source needed] These setbacks forced the Bolsheviks to signa preliminary peace treaty with the Ukrainian People's Republic on June 12.
.jpg)
During November 1918, troops from theDirectorate of Ukraine orchestratedthe overthrow of the Hetmanate with some help from theBolsheviks. German forces led by theSoldatenrat kept their neutrality during the two-week-long civil war as they were withdrawing from the country, due to the defeat of theGerman Empire inWorld War I. The Directorate reestablished theUkrainian People's Republic. On January 22, 1919, the neighboring Ukrainian republics united under theUnification Act.
The Central Military-Revolutionary Committee inKursk on October 22, 1918, issued the order to form two divisions under the Army Group, theUkrainian Front or the Group of the Kursk Direction. The group was assigned theWorker's Division of Moscow, the 9th Soviet Division, 2nd Orlov Brigade, and two armored trains. According to Antonov-Ovsiyenko, the Army accounted for some 6,000 soldiers, 170 artillery guns, 427 machine guns, 15 military planes, and 6 armored trains. On December 15, 1918, the meeting of the Ukrainian chief of staff was called in Kiev headed byOtaman Osetsky and including the ChiefOtaman Petliura, Colonel Bolbachan, Colonel Shapoval,Sotnik Oskilko. They were discussing the border security and formed a plan in case of threat from all sides.
To stop the coming war with the Bolsheviks, the government ofChekhivsky sent a delegation to Moscow led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Semen Mazurenko. The delegation succeeded in signing a preliminary peace agreement yet it did not stop the aggression from the Russian side due to poor communication between the delegation in Moscow and the government of theUkrainian People's Republic.[13] On December 28, 1918, the Central Committee of the LeftUPSR officially declared the mobilization of forces in the support of the Soviet government by an armed staging. From the beginning of January 1919, the Bolshevik bands consistently were crossing the eastern and north-eastern borders to raid.[citation needed]
 | This sectionmay beconfusing or unclear to readers. In particular, the start of the invasion. Please helpclarify the section. There is a discussion about this onTalk:Ukrainian-Soviet War § Timeline for the Soviet invasion is wrong.(February 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
During the Red Army'swestward offensive in the winter of 1918–1919, Soviet forces moved into Byelorussia as well as intoLithuania, as the newly createdSoviet republic of Byelorussia had hoped to include Lithuania.[14] On January 7, 1919, the Bolshevikslaunched an offensive,[15] with an army led byVladimir Antonov-Ovseyenko,Joseph Stalin, andVolodymyr Zatonsky.[2] The Directorate declared war once again against Russia on January 16 after several preliminary ultimatums to theRussian SFSRsovnarkom to withdraw their troops. The two main directions of the Bolshevik's forces were ontoKiev andKharkov.
The Soviet forces were advanced across North-eastern Ukraine and occupiedRylsk andNovgorod-Seversky. On December 21, 1918, the Ukrainian Front took the important strategic railroad connection inKupiansk. After that, a full-scale advance started between theDnieper andOskil Rivers. On January 3, the Red Army took Kharkov, almost as by the same scenario when Bolsheviks had occupied Kiev in February 1918. The Ukrainian forces consisted of two regular troop formations, the Zaporozhian Corps and theSich Riflemen, as well aspartisan detachments. These partisans were led by unreliableatamans which occasionally sided with the Bolsheviks, such as Zeleny, Anhel, andHryhoriv. The army which had over 100,000 men, fell to about 25,000 due to peasants leaving the army and desertions to the Bolsheviks.[5]Bolbochan with the remnants of the Zaporizhian Corps retreated toPoltava which was holding off the Red Army for a couple of weeks more. On January 6, 1919, the government ofPyatakov officially declared the creation of theUkrainian SSR. Yet his government continued to stay in Kursk until January 24. On January 4 the Bolsheviks Army GroupUkrainian Front was reformed into the unified Ukrainian front under the command of Antonov-Ovsiyenko with his deputiesKotsiubynsky and Schadenko. On the several inquiries about the purpose of the Russian Army in Ukraine that the Directory was sending to Moscow,Chicherin finally responded on January 6:
...there is no army of the Russian Socialist Soviet Republic in Ukraine. At this time the military action that takes place on the territory of Ukraine is between the armies of Directorate and the Ukrainian Soviet Government which is completely independent.
On January 12, the troops under the command ofMykola Schors occupiedChernigov while other units under command ofPavlo Dybenko tookLozova,Pavlohrad,Synelnykove, and established contact withNestor Makhno. After some long discussion between the members of the Directory and other state officials, it was decided to declare War against Soviet Russia. The only person who was against it, was the chairman of the DirectoryVolodymyr Vynnychenko, while Shapoval, for example, for some reason was simply requesting the prompt creation of the Soviet government. Denikin later commented that the war declaration did not change absolutely anything on the frontlines and only reflected the political crisis inside the Ukrainian government with the victory of themilitary party of Petliura-Konovalets-Hrekov over Vynnychenko-Chekhivsky. On January 20 the Soviet Army tookPoltava while the Ukrainian troops retreated further toKremenchuk. On January 26 Dybenko tookYekaterinoslav. The Soviets tookLeft-Bank Ukraine, and then marched on to Kiev. On February 2 they forced the Directorate to move toVinnytsia while troops of Schors and Bozhenko occupied Kiev three days later.
Then, Chekhivsky resigned from office, right after Vynnychenko created inKamianets-Podilskyi theCommittee for the salvation of Republic, which was again dissolved by Petliura on February 13. During that time the Soviet troops acquired the rest of theKiev Governorate while the bands ofHryhoriv tookOleksandria andYelyzavethrad. By March 6, the Directorate had relocated toProskurov while yielding most ofPolissia andPodillia to theBolsheviks. Surprisingly, by the end of March the Ukrainian armies successfully conducted series of military operations retakingSarny,Zhytomyr,Korosten, and threatening to take back Kiev. On March 2, Otaman Hryhoryev occupiedKherson and March 12 he was already inMykolaiv. By April 3, the Entente forces evacuated fromOdessa which Hryhoryev entered three days later. In early June, Ukraine launched an offensive, retaking thePodolia region.[2]
The Red Army retaliated against the Ukrainian offensive, recapturingProskurov on 5 July and putting the temporary capitalKamianets-Podilskyi under threat. However, Ukraine was strengthened by the arrival of generalYurii Tiutiunnyk and his experienced troops. The Ukrainian Army launched a counterattack, pushing the Red Army back toHorodok. Troops of theUkrainian Galician Army, who had crossed theZbruch on 16–17 July, joined the fight against the Bolsheviks. Their arrival resulted in Ukraine having a combined force of 85,000 Ukrainian army regulars, and 15,000 partisans.[2] The united Ukrainian armies possessed 335 artillery pieces, 1100 machine guns, two air regiments and numerous armoured trains and cars.[16]
After joining forces with the Galician Army, Ukrainian army command ordered a general offensive on Kyiv. On 12 August Ukrainian troops enteredVinnytsia, on 14 August -Starokostiantyniv, on 19 August -Berdychiv, and on 21 August reachedZhytomyr.[17] On 30 August troops of the Zaporozhian Corps, headed byVolodymyr Salsky, liberated Kyiv.[18] However, simultaneously with the entry of Ukrainian troops into their capital, on 31 AugustAnton Denikin'sVolunteer Army established its positions in the city. After a standoff, Ukrainian troops were forced to retreat to the outskirts of Kyiv.[17]
Taking advantage of the emerging conflict between Ukrainian troops and theWhites, the Bolsheviks transferred part of their forces fromKaterynoslav toZhytomyr. During that period a split emerged between the leadership of the Ukrainian People's Army and the Galician Army on the issue of their policy towards Denikin. An epidemic among the Ukrainian troops further exacerbated the situation.[17] By October 1919, about 70% of the Directorate's troops and more than 90% of the allied Ukrainian Galician Army fell totyphus.[19] Eventually, on 6 November 1919 the command of the Ukrainian Galician Army signed a separate peace with the Volunteer Army. Meanwhile the Bolsheviks made gains inRight-bank Ukraine, and the Polish army advanced from the west, so that by the end of November the Ukrainian army found itself surrounded from three sides. As a result, on 4 December 1919 a conference of its leadership decided to cease regular military operations and engage in underground partisan warfare.[17]
Lenin feared that a Polish offensive was incoming, and offered to accept the current frontline as a permanent border between Poland and Russia, which would include nearly all of Byelorussia going to Poland.[14] However,Józef Piłsudski had greater ambitions, and he also made an agreement withSymon Petliura in Ukraine to exchangeGalicia in return for a promise to force out communists in right-bank Ukraine.[14]
From December 6, 1919, to May 6, 1920, theUNR Army under the command ofMykhailo Omelianovych-Pavlenko carried out an underground operation known as theFirst Winter Campaign in theKirovohrad region against theSoviet 14th Army. Another significant development of this period was the signing of theTreaty of Warsaw withPoland on April 22, and then beginning of ajoint offensive with Polish troops against the Bolsheviks.[7] On May 7, a Ukrainian division under the command ofMarko Bezruchko entered Kiev, but was quickly forced out by a Red Army counteroffensive led bySemyon Budyonny. The Ukrainians and Poles were pushed back across theZbruch River and pastZamość towardWarsaw, but a counter-offensive pushed the Soviets toMinsk. The Poles signedan armistice with the Soviets on October 12.
By 1921, the Polish author of the Polish–Ukrainian alliance, Józef Piłsudski, was no longer the Polish head of state, and only participated as an observer during the Riga negotiations, which he called "an act of cowardice".[20] Petliura's forces kept fighting.[21] They lasted until October 21, when they were forced to cross the Zbruch River and enter Polish-controlledGalicia. There they were disarmed and placed ininternment camps.[2]
.png)
The last action of the UNR against the Soviets was a raid behind the Red Army lines in November 1921 known as theSecond Winter Campaign.[2] This campaign was meant to incite a general uprising amongst the Ukrainianpeasants, who were already disgruntled with the Soviets,[15] and to unify partisan forces against the Bolsheviks in Ukraine. The commander of the Ukrainian forces wasYurii Tiutiunnyk.
Two expeditionary forces were established, one fromPodolia (400 men) and one fromVolhynia (800 men). The Podolia group only made it to the village of Vakhnivka, before returning to Polish territory through Volhynia on November 29. The Volhynia group started out on November 4, capturedKorosten on November 7 and made its way to the village of Leonivka. When they began to run low on supplies they decided to return. However, on its return west, it was intercepted by aBolshevikcavalry force under the command ofGrigore Kotovski atBazar and routed in battle near Mali Mynky on November 17. 443 soldiers were captured by the Soviets during the battle. 359 were shot on November 23 near the town ofBazar after refusing to defect to the Red Army, and 84 were passed on to Soviet security forces.[22]
This was the last operation of theUNR Army against the Soviets. The end of the Second Winter Campaign brought the Ukrainian–Soviet war to a definite end,[2] however, partisan fighting against the Bolsheviks continued until mid-1922,[23] and in response, the Red Army terrorized the countryside.[24]
Local supporters ofUkrainian People's Republic created anti-Russian and anti-Bolshevik rebellion states on occupied territories, such as theIndependent Medvyn Republic,[25][better source needed] as well as theKholodny Yar Republic.[26] They kept fighting with Russians and collaborators until 1923.[27][better source needed]
The end of the war saw the incorporation of most of the territories of Ukraine into theUkrainian Soviet Socialist Republic which, on December 30, 1922, was one of the founding members of theUnion of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Parts ofWestern Ukraine fell under the control of theSecond Polish Republic, as laid out in thePeace of Riga. The UNR government, led bySymon Petlura, was forced into exile.[28]
For the next few years, the Ukrainian nationalists would continue to try to wage a partisan guerrilla war on the Soviets. They were aided by Polish intelligence due to the project known asprometheism; however, they were not successful. The last active Ukrainian movements would be mostly eradicated during theHolodomor.[29] Further, the relative lack of Polish support for the Ukrainian cause would cause a growing resentment on the part of theUkrainian minority in Poland towards the Polish interwar state.
.jpg)
UN Fact Sheet was invoked but never defined (see thehelp page).