Battle of Kruty | |||||||
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Part of Ukrainian-Soviet War (1917-1921) | |||||||
Scheme of the Battle of Kruty. |
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Belligerents | |||||||
The Kiev Cadet auxiliary kurin and the company size element of Free Cossacks of the Ukrainian People's Republic | Regiments of the Petrograd and Moscow forces and seamen of the Imperial Russia Baltic Fleet | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Averkiy Honcharenko | Mikhail Muravyov | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
~300 students armored train ~100 cossacks |
4,000 men armored train artillery battery |
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Casualties and losses | |||||||
less than 150 prisoners 29 |
~300 |
The Battle of Kruty (Ukrainian: Бій під Крутами, Biy pid Krutamy) was a battle which took place on January 29, 1918, near railway station "Kruty" (today village of Pamiatne, Borzna Raion, Chernihiv Oblast) about 130 kilometres (81 mi) northeast of Kiev, Ukraine, which was at the time part of the Nizhyn Uyezd, Chernigov Governorate.
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As Bolshevik forces of about 4,000 men, commanded by Mikhail Muravyov, advanced toward Kiev, a small Ukrainian unit of 400 soldiers (about 300[1][2] of which were students), commanded by Captain Averkiy Honcharenko, was hastily organized and sent to the front. The small unit consisted mainly of the Student Battalion (Kurin) of Sich Riflemen, a unit of the Khmelnytsky Cadet School, and a Free Cossacks company. About half of the 400 men were killed during the battle, lasting up to 5 hours. The Haidamaka Kish of Symon Petlyura that stayed in a close vicinity turned to Kiev due to the Bolshevik's Arsenal Uprising that occurred that same day.
Eleven of the students were re-buried at Askold's Grave in the centre of Kiev after the return of the Tsentralna Rada to the capital in March 1918. At the funeral the then President of the Ukrainian People's Republic, Mykhailo Hrushevsky called every one of the 400 students who fought in the battle heroes. In addition, poet Pavlo Tychyna dedicated a poem to the heroic death of the students.
After the fall of the Ukrainian People's Republic the bodies of the students were moved to the Lukyanivske Cemetery in Kiev.
Throughout the years, the true story of the battle was hidden from view by the Soviet Government. Only recently, a monument was set up to commemorate the 80 years' anniversary of the Battle of Kruty at Askold's Grave, and a commemorative hryvnia coin was minted. Eight years later in 2006, the Kruty Heroes Monument was erected on the cite of the historic battle and is remembered each year on or around January 29.
“ | Ukrainian youngsters lost their lives to stop the Bolshevist army of Russian Lieutenant General Nikolai Muravyov from advancing on Kyiv. | ” |
—President Viktor Yuschenko at the 91st anniversary of battle describing the students[3] |
“ | Young people, like Spartan soldiers, died for the sake of their motherland in a struggle against foreign aggressors, and it was an example of their sacrifice and selfless love for their native land.
Every anniversary of the Heroes of Kruty is not only a day to honor those people who loved our motherland more than their lives. This is also another reminder to our contemporary politicians regarding their responsibility for the fate of their country and people. |
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—Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko describing the battle[4] |
“ | Near Kruty the Kiev military cadets and students became the forerunners of the Ukrainian political nation. Having different ethnic roots they as one fought for our Ukrainian State. As the founding of the Ukrainian People's Republic became the base of the Ukrainian statehood, so the heroism of the Kruty's warriors became the beginning and the symbol of liberating struggles of Ukrainians for the liberty in the past 20th century. | ” |
—President of Ukraine Viktor Yuschenko at the 91st anniversary of battle[5] |
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