Battle of Kiev (1918)

Battle of Kiev
	Part of Ukrainian-Soviet War (1917-1921)
Date	February 5–8, 1918
Location	Kiev, Ukraine
Result	Bolshevik victory and occupation of the city;
Belligerents
Kiev city garrison	Red Guard forces
Commanders and leaders
Mykhailo Kovenko	Mikhail Muravyov
Strength
2,000; 3 batteries	7,000 ; armored train ; artillery battery

The Battle of Kiev of January 1918 (Ukrainian: штурм Києва в січні 1918 року, romanized: shturm Kyieva v sichni 1918 roku, lit. 'the assault of Kyiv in 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 February 5–8, 1918 (January 23–26, old style). The operation resulted in the occupation of the city by Bolshevik troops on February 9 and the evacuation of the Ukrainian government to Zhytomyr.

Background[]

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 January 27, 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 February 4, 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 February 8, the Ukrainian government was forced to abandon the city. On February 9 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 March 1.^[3] The Bolshevik government recognized Ukraine's independence on March 3.

Order of battle[]

Muravyov Forces[]

Commander in Chief Mikhail Artemyevich Muravyov
- 1st Army Colonel Pavel Yegorov
- 2nd Army Colonel Reingold Berzin

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 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[]

City commandant Mykhailo Kovenko
- Haidamaka Host of Sloboda Ukraine Symon Petliura—400 soldiers
  - 2nd Cadet School Battalion—110 "Black Haidamakas"
  - Free Cossacks formations
  - Artillery division—3 batteries
- Sich Riflemen of Halych Battalion Yevhen Konovalets—500 soldiers
- Doroshenko Regiment—200 soldiers
- Remnants of Bohdaniv Regiment

References[]

^ 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.
^ 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
^ (in Ukrainian) The world's first monument to Colonel of the UPR Army Bolbochan was unveiled in Kyiv, The Ukrainian Week (5 October 2020)

External links[]

1918 Chronicles. Institute of History of Ukraine.
War between Russia and Ukraine in 1917-18. Institute of History of Ukraine
War between Bolsheviks and the government of Ukraine in 1917-18. Military Literature.
Great Britain. Parliament. The parliamentary debates from the year 1803 to the present time.
Battle for Kiev: Petliura against Muravyov

[Subtelny-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.

[Encyclopedia-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

[tyzhden.ua248383KB1918-3] (in Ukrainian) The world's first monument to Colonel of the UPR Army Bolbochan was unveiled in Kyiv, The Ukrainian Week (5 October 2020)

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