Omelyanovich-Pavlenko, Mikhail Vladimirovich

Born in the family of a Russian general, descended from the nobility of the Bessarabian province .

Brother - Ivan Vladimirovich ( 1881 - 1962 ) - Colonel of the Russian army, Commander of the Order of St. George IV degree , general in the army of the Ukrainian People’s Republic, during World War II - commander of the 109th Ukrainian battalion of the security police as part of the German army .

He graduated from the Siberian Cadet Corps ( 1898 ), Pavlovsk Military School ( 1900 ; in the first category), Officer shooting school ( 1914 ).

After graduating from the military school he entered the Volyn Life Guards Regiment , stationed in Warsaw . From 1900 - guard lieutenant, from 1904 - guard lieutenant. In 1904–1905, he participated in the Russo-Japanese War as part of the 58th Prague Infantry Regiment , commanded a reconnaissance (“hunting”) detachment. Participant in the battles of Sandepu and Mukden (where he was contused), battles at Sipingai positions. For participation in the war he was awarded orders of St.. Anna IV degree (1905); St. Stanislav III degree with swords and bow (1905); St. Anna III degree with swords and bow (1905).

After the war, he continued service in the Life Guards Volyn Regiment, from 1906 - Head of the training team, from 1908 - Guard Staff Captain, from 1912 - Guard Captain. In 1908 he was awarded the Order of St.. Vladimir IV degree, in 1912 - of sv. Stanislav II degree, in 1913 - of. Anna II degree.

In 1912 he changed his last name from Pavlenko to Omelyanovich-Pavlenko, in memory of a Cossack origin of his kind.

From 1913 - commander of the 6th company of the Life Guards of the Volynsky Regiment, at the head of which he participated in the First World War . Distinguished himself in 1914 during the hostilities in Poland - for the battle at the crossing near the village of Gur-Kalwaria, he was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir III degree with swords. On November 1 (14), 1914, during battles on the Lodz - Torun line , he raised a soldier in a bayonet attack, was seriously wounded in the shoulder, after which his right hand did not work. In 1916, for this distinction was awarded the Order of St.. George IV degree for what

After treatment at the hospital, he was appointed commandant of the headquarters of the 2nd Guards Corps ( 1915 - 1916 ), from 1915 - colonel. In the spring of 1916 severely ill with typhus, after recovery was declared unfit for front-line service. He did not long lead the training teams of the reserve Guards battalions of the Petrograd garrison, and in the fall of 1916 he became the head of the 2nd Odessa school of ensigns.

Activities for the Ukrainianization of the Russian army

After the February Revolution, spoke in support of the Ukrainian national movement, in March 1917 participated in a demonstration in Odessa , held under the yellow-blue flag. He became one of the founding members of the Odessa Ukrainian military community. In July-August 1917, he commanded the Life Guards Grenadier Regiment , who refused to participate in hostilities, and secured the regiment’s return to the position. Then he was the head of the garrison in Yekaterinoslav (appointed on the initiative of the Central Council), where he was actively involved in the Ukrainianization of the troops subordinate to him. The active work of Omelyanovich Pavlenko contributed to his appointment as an inspector of the Ukrainian military secretariat (military commissar of the Central Rada) on the Romanian front , where he continued to engage in Ukrainianization, only on a larger scale.

In the spring of 1918 was a member of the commission on the formation of the Ukrainian army . From the summer of 1918 - commander of the 11th personnel foot division (headquarters in Poltava) in the army of Hetman Pavel Skoropadsky . On October 7, 1918 - General-Khorunzh. At the end of 1918 he joined the antigetman uprising, was at the headquarters of the troops of the Ukrainian People's Republic (UNR). From December 10, 1918 - commander of the Galician army (armed forces of the Western Ukrainian People's Republic ), reorganized troops and rear communications, but did not achieve military success. He was replaced on this post by General Alexander Grekov . From June 9, 1919 he served again in the headquarters of the UPR Army, as a former officer of the Guard and St. George Cavalier, he was assigned to conduct peace negotiations with the Armed Forces of Southern Russia , which ended in failure (the Whites did not want to recognize the independence of the UPR , advocating a single and indivisible Russia). From September 8, 1919 he was the commander of the Zaporozhye group of the UNR Army.

On December 5, 1919, under the conditions of the offensive of the Red forces, he was appointed commander of the UNR active army. He led the army during the " First Winter March " in the rear of the red and white troops. In total, under the command of General Mikhail Omelyanovich-Pavlenko there were 6400 bayonets and sabers, 14 guns, 144 machine guns. The army fought 2500 km in 180 days. On May 6, 1920, she broke through the front in the Yampol area and joined the 3rd Ukrainian Iron Division, which fought in the 6th Polish Army against the Red Army during the Soviet-Polish war that had begun by that time. For the successful leadership of the troops in the "Winter campaign" promoted to lieutenant-general.

Commanded the army of the UNR after its internment in November 1920 by the Polish authorities (until July 11, 1921 ). From February 10 to July 11, 1921 , at the same time, the Minister of War of the Government of the UNR, located in Poland . In 1921, he entered into a conflict with Chief Ataman Simon Petlyura , which led to the resignation of Omelianovich-Pavlenko from all posts.

Then he lived in exile in Czechoslovakia , where he headed the "Union of Ukrainian Veteran Organizations."

During the Second World War, he became the head (hetman) of the Ukrainian free Cossacks ( 1942 ), was engaged in the formation of Ukrainian military units in the German service . The Germans, however, did not trust the Ukrainian leaders, and included the " Cossack " units in the guard battalions , thereby depriving them of their independence.

Since 1944, Omelianovich-Pavlenko lived in Germany , from 1950 - in France . In 1945, the Ukrainian National Committee appointed him head of the Supreme Military Council. From 1947 to 1948, the minister of military affairs of the UNR government in exile , during this period, was promoted to colonel general .

The author of memoirs, in full form under the name “ Ukrainian. Send off the commander-in-chief (1917–1920) (inaccessible link) , published in Kiev in 2007 .

• Omelyanovich-Pavlenko, Mikhail Vladimirovich (Neopr.) . // Project "Russian Army in the Great War."
• Biography

• Kovalchuk M. On the service Batkivschiny. Life share of Colonel-General M. Omelyanovich-Pavlenko // Omelyanovich-Pavlenko M. Spogadi Commander (1917-1920). - K. , 2007. - pp. 7-50.
• Y. Tinchenko. Ofitsa Corps of the Army of the Ukrainian People's Republic (1917-1921). - Prince. I. - K. , 2007. - P. 312—313.
• Mikhail Omelyanovich-Pavlenko: the Odesa Kom_sar and the Galician Commander // Chornomors'k of Ukraine . - Odesa: TEC, 2011–586 p.