Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine

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Simon Karetnik, Batko Makhno, and Fedir Shchus (Fedor Shchus).

The Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Революційна Повстанська Армія України, Revolyutsiyna Povstans’ka Armiya Ukrayiny), also known as the Black Army, was an anarchist army under the command of the famous anarchist Nestor Makhno during the Russian civil war.

Ukrainian guerilla bands were active during the Civil War period. Some claimed to be loyal to the Ukrainian state, but others acknowledged no allegiance, and all fought both Reds and White Russians with equal ferocity. After 1920 they constituted the only Ukrainian forces left in Soviet Ukraine. At that date they were said to number some 40,000; some of them fought until 1924.

The most famous of these groups was that of the peasant anarchist leader Nestor Makhno, who began operations in the south-eastern Ukraine against the Hetmanate regime in July 1918. In September he formed the Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine with arms and equipment obtained from the retreating Austro-German forces. He fought Denekin's Whites until they retreated in late 1919, then contuinued to fight the Reds until his forces were defeated and dispersed in August 1921. Makhno himself managed to slip across the Romanian border.

[edit] Organisation

In mid 1919 the Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine had a strength of some 15,000 men organised into 1 cavalry and 4 Infantry Brigades, a machine gun regiment with 5000 guns, and an artillery detachment. At its peak in late 1919 it had at least 25,000 men with 48 Field guns, 4 armoured trains, 4 armoured cars and 1,000 machine guns. It was organised into Divisions of 3 Brigades, each of 3 Regiments with 3 Battalions. One of these is said to have been named 'Iron', but no detailed Order of Battle is known.