Last commander of the Petrograd Military District, who ordered troops to fire on crowds and then lost control of the garrison
On February 26, Khabalov cordoned off the city centre and ordered rifle fire on the crowds; the next day the Volynsky Regiment refused and the entire garrison rose in mutiny.
A career officer of Ossetian origin, Khabalov graduated from the Mikhailovskoye Artillery School and Nikolayev Academy of General Staff and served in the Russo-Turkish War. After heading the Moscow and Pavlovsk military schools, he was appointed commander of the Petrograd Military District in 1916, but during the February Revolution he carried out Nicholas II's order to disperse demonstrators by rifle fire and then completely lost control of the garrison. Arrested and imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress, he was released after the October Revolution and later lived in poverty in southern Russia, dying in Essentuki in 1929.
Career Timeline
- 1878Graduated Mikhailovskoye Artillery School; fought in Russo-Turkish War
- 1886Graduated Nikolayev General Staff Academy; staff posts in Imperial Guards
- 1903–1905Head of Moscow Military School
- 1905–1914Head of Pavlovsk Military School
- 1914–1916Military governor of Ural Oblast and ataman of Ural Cossack Host
- 1916–1917.02Commander, Petrograd Military District
- 1917.02Ordered to suppress demonstrations; lost control of garrison; arrested
- 1917.10–1929Released; lived in southern Russia; died in Essentuki