Battle of Zhmerynka

Battle of Zhmerynka (December 1917 — March 1918) — battle between the Ukrainian People's Army, Austro-Hungarian forces and Red Army. A detachment of the Free Cossacks led by Pavlo Skoropadsky from the 2nd Guard Corps of the Red Army took part in the battle. Pavlo Skoropadsky managed to drive the Bolsheviks out of Zhmerynka and force them to retreat from the Right Bank Ukraine, but on March 1 Bolsheviks took Kyiv.Ukrainian-Soviet War, 1917–21 at the Encyclopedia of Ukraine

Battle
In the last days of December 1917, the troops of the 2nd Guard Corps recaptured Zhmerynka, and the Bolsheviks regained power over the city. In the first 2 days, more than 200 workers of the plant enlisted in the newly organised Red Guard unit. It was also supplemented by soldiers and peasants from the surrounding villages. In early March 1918, battle of Zhmerynka railway station began. The Ukrainian People's Army and Austro-Hungarian forces was fighting against Bolsheviks together. Pavlo Skoropadsky with a regiment of the Free Cossacks managed to stop Bolsheviks near Zhmerynka disarm them, and deport from Right-bank Ukraine. The other Bolshevik forces captured Kharkiv on December 26, Yekaterinoslav on January 9, Aleksandrovsk on January 15, and Poltava on January 20, on their way to Kyiv.Ukrainian-Soviet War, 1917–21 at the Encyclopedia of Ukraine On January 27, the Bolshevik army groups converged in Bakhmach and then set off under the command of Muravyov to take Kyiv. After suffering significant losses, the Red Guards retreated. The yellow and blue flag flew over Zhmerynka again. In the battle, the driver of the Zhmerynka locomotive depot, Serhiy Kashevych, was assasinated. One of the streets in the city is now named after him. Another driver who died during the battles on the side of Bolsheviks was Petro Ptakhin.

Literature

 * Воспоминания : Конец 1917 - декабрь 1918 / Павел Скоропадский; [вступ. ст. В.Г. Черкасова-Георгиевского]. - М. : ПРОЗАиК, 2019. - 315, [5] с., [24] с. ил. ISBN 978-5-91631-282-9