Talk:1919 Soviet invasion of Ukraine

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The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 07:22, 15 April 2019 (UTC)
 * Ucrania marzo 1919.png

Apparently more belligerents to note in Infobox: Armed Forces of South Russia, White Army, French interventionists
Apparently the Ukrainian People's Army avoided the White Army(ies), but may be ok to list on same side in this conflict. Thoughts? Facts707 (talk) 14:53, 5 March 2022 (UTC)


 * @Facts707 I have added the White movement to the infobox but kept it to the basics, as they were largely confined to the Donbas front, whereas this article is mostly about the Ukrainian-Soviet conflict. Grnrchst (talk) 11:20, 20 September 2022 (UTC)

Old version
I have expanded this article with a translation of the Polish Wikipedia article. For posterity, I'm moving the previous version of the article here, as it was largely unsourced:

The Soviet invasion of Ukraine (January 7 – June 16, 1919) was a major offensive of the Soviet troops of the Ukrainian Front against the Army of the Ukrainian People's Republic (UNR) during the Soviet–Ukrainian War.

Prelude
By the autumn of 1918 it became obvious that Germany was close to defeat in Western Europe. Therefore, the Soviet leadership began an early deployment of regular forces of the Red Army to establish its power in Ukraine. In the so-called neutral zone, the 1st and 2nd Insurgent divisions, united in the Kursk Group of Forces, were formed.

After the surrender of Germany, Soviet Russia declared the Brest-Litovsk Treaty null and void. On November 18, the 1st and 2nd Rebel (Ukrainian Soviet) divisions launched an offensive. On November 26, Yampol, Rylsk, Korenevo, Sudzha, Miropolie, etc. were taken. On November 30, all Ukrainian Soviet troops were united in the Ukrainian Soviet Army, which in December launched an offensive on Chernigov, Sumy, Kharkov and Kiev, fighting against Ukrainian troops but maintaining neutrality in respect of the units of the German army, which were preparing to return home.

In December Novhorod-Siverskyi, Shostka, Belgorod, Vovchansk, Kupiansk, Novozybkov and Horodnia were occupied. The Provisional Workers' and Peasants' Government of Ukraine moved from Kursk to Belgorod. The offensive of the Soviet troops continued on to Kharkov. On the night of January 1 to January 2, 1919, a Bolshevik uprising began in Kharkov. The Council of German soldiers supported the uprising and put forward an ultimatum to the Directorate, to withdraw all troops from the city within 24 hours. On January 3, 1919 the troops of the Ukrainian Soviet Army entered Kharkov. Since that time, the Provisional Workers' and Peasants' Government of Ukraine was located here.

On January 4, according to the resolution of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic, the Ukrainian Front was established on the basis of the Ukrainian Soviet Army troops. At the end of January, by decision of the Provisional Workers 'and Peasants' Government of Ukraine, the Revolutionary Military Council of the Ukrainian Soviet Army was formed, consisting of Vladimir Antonov-Ovseyenko, Yuriy Kotsiubynsky and Efim Shadenko.

The alignment of forces
Red Ukrainian Front

Operationally, the Front forces were initially divided into two groups: On April 15, 1919 these groups of troops were transformed into the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Soviet armies, respectively. On April 27, the 2nd Ukrainian Soviet Army was transferred to the Southern Front. On May 5, an extra Crimean Soviet Army was formed in the Ukrainian Front.
 * the Kiev Direction, which faced the task of seizing Kiev and Cherkassy,
 * the Kharkov Direction, with the task of seizing Poltava and Lozova.
 * later a group of troops destined for Odessa was separated from the Kharkov direction.

Troops of the Directorate

On January 16, 1919, the Directorate of the UNR declared war on Soviet Russia. In connection with the outbreak of war, the Directorate handed Symon Petliura sole control over all military affairs. Petliura divided the active army of the UNR into
 * the Right-Bank Front (Commander A. Shapoval), with the task to cover Kiev from Polissya,
 * the Eastern Front (commander Yevhen Konovalets), with the task of conducting a counter-offensive against Poltava and Chernigov,
 * the Southern Group of Forces (Commander Andrei Guliy-Gulenko), with the task to keep the area of Ekaterinoslav.

The first stage of the offensive (7 January - 9 March 1919)
During the first stage of the offensive (January 6-March 9), Soviet troops of more than 15,000 men, with the assistance of rebels and guerrillas, defeated UNR troops in the Left Bank Ukraine (up to 20,000 men under the command of Petro Bolbochan) and crossed the Dnieper. Kiev fell on February 5, 1919. The Directorate of the UNR fled from Kiev to Vinnitsa. On March 9, Soviet troops crossed the line Korosten - Zhitomir - Uman - Olviopol - Kherson - Melitopol.

Local supporters of Ukrainian People's Republic created anti-Russian and anti-Bolshevik rebellion states on occupied territories like Independent Medvyn Republic or Kholodny Yar Republic.

In Polesia, which belonged to the UNR according to the Brest-Litovsk Peace, parts of the Western Army were advancing. In Northern Ukraine, Soviet troops took Ovruch and Chernigov.

The second stage of the offensive (March 14 - mid April 1919)
On March 14, the troops of the Ukrainian Front resumed their offensive in three directions: in the West against the army of the UNR, in the Southwest against the French interventionists, and in the South against the Armed Forces of South Russia, recently formed from the Volunteer Army, a White army. The number of troops of the front reached 50,000 soldiers. By the middle of April, the troops of the Ukrainian Front defeated the army of the UNR and crossed the Novohrad-Volynsky-Shepetivka-Proskurov-Mogilev-Podolsky line, where they came into contact with Polish troops in Volhynia and Galicia. The authorities of the UNR fled from Lutsk to the area of the Zbruch River.

In the South, the 2nd Ukrainian Soviet Army broke through the fortifications of the Whites on Perekop and captured a significant part of the Crimea. Sevastopol was taken on April 29, a few days after the French and Greeks had evacuated the city. Then, the Army occupied the coast of the Sea of Azov from Henichesk to Mariupol.

in the South-West, the 3rd Ukrainian Soviet Army had cleared the entire left bank of the Dniester River from the enemy from Transnistria to Tiraspol, and were ready to cross the river and advance towards Chisinau.

The third stage of the offensive (May - June 1919)
By the end of April - early May 1919, the initial positive mood of the Ukrainian peasantry towards the Red Army had changed dramatically under the influence of the policy of War communism and the activities of Cheka execution squads. This led to rebellions all over Ukraine of which the most serious was the Grigoriev Uprising.

Aftermath
Antonov-Ovseyenko had badly overstretched his resources and was pushed into the defensive on all fronts.

In mid-June 1919, under the pressure of a White Army advance, the Red Army was forced out of the Crimea.

By August 1919, almost the entire Ukraine was lost and Kiev captured by the White Army.

Result
How coild this be classified as a "Ukrainian victory" when the points under literally explains that the UPR lost, not only that but most of Ukraine later fell under Occupation (Ukrainian Death Triangle) Olek Novy (talk) 15:57, 3 January 2024 (UTC)