Ukrainian otaman who took Odesa for the Reds, then turned to revolt and pogrom
Proclaiming revolt in his May 1919 Universal, he cried: "Ukrainian people! Take power into your own hands. Let there be no dictatorship of any one man or any one party."
The Ukrainian otaman who took Odesa for the Soviets in the spring of 1919, he rose against them in May and his troops massacred Jews at Yelysavethrad and elsewhere. He was shot by Makhno's men in July.
Activities and affiliations
-
1917–1919
Ukrainian People's Republic state institutionsCommander of the Kherson Division
Military command -
1919
Military command
-
1919
Soviet Ukraine state institutionsCommander of the 6th Ukrainian Soviet Division
Military command
Career Timeline
- 1901–1907Volunteered for the imperial army, fought in the Russo-Japanese War, and won three Crosses of St George.
- 1914–1916Served as an officer on the Southwestern Front in World War I, rising to staff-captain.
- 1918Led peasant partisans in Kherson province against the Austro-German occupiers and the Hetmanate.
- 1918–1919Served as chief of the Kherson Division of the Ukrainian People's Republic (Directory).
- 1919.02Went over to the Red Army, commanding the 1st Zadniprovska Brigade and then the 6th Ukrainian Soviet Division, and took Odesa in April.
- 1919.05Led the Hryhoriv uprising against the Red Army in May.
- 1919.07Shot dead by Makhno's men in July.
Related historical events
- 1914–1918First World WarSouthwestern Front officerHe served as an officer on the Southwestern Front in the First World War.
- 1917–1921Ukraine’s revolution and warsUkrainian otaman who turned against his Red alliesTook Odesa for the Soviets in April 1919, rose against them in May, and his troops massacred more than 1,500 Jews at Yelysavethrad; he was shot by Makhno's men in July.
- 1918–1922The Civil War and Foreign InterventionUkrainian otaman who turned against his Red alliesTook Odesa for the Soviets in April 1919, rose against them in May, and his troops massacred more than 1,500 Jews at Yelysavethrad; he was shot by Makhno's men in July.
Revolution and independence wars
A junior officer of the Russian imperial army, he joined the rising against the Hetman in 1918, became otaman of the Kherson region, served under the Directory and in February 1919 brought his troops over to the Soviets. In March he took Kherson and Mykolaiv and on 6 April entered Odesa as the French and Greek troops evacuated, ending Allied intervention in the south. But on 7 May he issued a 'Universal' and rose against Soviet power, denouncing grain requisitioning and outsider officials, and during the rising his troops committed dozens of pogroms, including the murder of more than 1,500 Jews at Yelysavethrad from 15 to 17 May. After the rising was crushed at the end of May he sought an alliance with Makhno, and on 27 July was shot by Makhno's men at a meeting in the village of Sentove. He should not be confused with the socialist politician of the same name. His year of birth is given differently in the sources and is left unconfirmed.