The offensive of the Ukrainian front

By the fall of 1918, it became obvious that Germany was close to defeat in the war . Therefore, the leadership of Soviet Russia began the advance deployment of regular forces of the Red Army in order to establish Soviet power in Ukraine. In the so-called neutral zone, the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian rebel divisions were formed, united in the Kursk Group of Forces .

After the surrender of Germany, Soviet Russia declared the Brest-Litovsk Treaty annulled. In Ukraine, on November 14, a general uprising began under the leadership of the Directory against the power of the hetman Skoropadsky.

On November 18, the 1st and 2nd Rebel (Ukrainian Soviet) divisions launched an offensive. By November 26, Yampol , Rylsk , Korenevo , Sudzha , Miropoly and others were taken.

On November 30, all Ukrainian Soviet troops were combined into the Ukrainian Soviet Army , which in December launched an attack on the Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkov and Kiev directions, fighting with Petliura troops and maintaining neutrality with respect to units of the German army. In December, Novgorod-Seversky , Shostka , Belgorod , Volchansk , Kupyansk , Novozybkov , Gorodnya were occupied ^[1] . The Temporary Workers and Peasants Government of Ukraine moved to Belgorod from Kursk.

The offensive of the Soviet troops continued on Kharkov . On the night of January 1 to 2, 1919, a Bolshevik uprising began in Kharkov. The Council of German soldiers supported the uprising and put forward an ultimatum to the Directorate - to withdraw all troops from the city within 24 hours. On January 3, the troops of the Ukrainian Soviet Army entered Kharkov ^[2] . Since that time, the Provisional Workers 'and Peasants' Government of Ukraine was located here.

On January 4, according to the resolution of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic , the Ukrainian Front was created on the basis of the troops of the Ukrainian Soviet Army.

At the end of January, by decision of the Provisional Workers 'and Peasants' Government of Ukraine, the Revolutionary Military Council of the Ukrainian Soviet Army was formed, consisting of V. A. Antonov-Ovseenko , Yu. M. Kotsyubinsky , E. A. Shchadenko ^[3] .

In operational terms, the front troops were initially divided into two groups of troops: the Kiev direction , which was faced with the task of capturing Kiev and Cherkasy , and the Kharkov direction , with the task of capturing Poltava and Lozova (formed on January 13, 1919 ^[4] , a group was later separated from it Odessa troops). On April 15, 1919, these groups of forces were transformed into the 1st , 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Soviet armies, respectively. On April 27, the 2nd Ukrainian Soviet Army was transferred to operational subordination to the Southern Front . On May 5, the Crimean Soviet Army was formed as part of the Ukrainian Front.

Red Army

• Ukrainian Front (commander - V. A. Antonov-Ovseenko)
  • 1st Ukrainian Soviet Division
  • 2nd Ukrainian Soviet Division

Directory Troops

When at the end of December 1918 the Bolshevik troops violated the demarcation line and entered Ukrainian territory, there were almost no units that could give them a worthy rebuff in these sectors of the front. And although the fighting was conducted near Kharkov, Poltava, Vorozhba, Chernihiv, units of the UPR army were rapidly retreating ^[4] .

On January 16, 1919, the UPR Directory declared war on Soviet Russia. In connection with the outbreak of war, the Directory handed over to S.V. Petlyura the sole management of all military affairs. Petlyura divided the current army of the UPR into the Right-Bank Front (commander A. Shapoval), the Eastern Front (commander E. Konovalets ) and the Southern Group of Forces (commander A. Gulyy-Gulenko ). The Eastern Front had the task of conducting a counterattack on Poltava and Chernihiv, the Right Bank Front — covering Kiev from Polesie, the Southern Group of Forces — holding the area of Yekaterinoslav ^[5] .

During the first stage of the offensive (January 6 - March 9), Soviet troops of over 15,000 men, with the assistance of rebels and partisans, defeated the UPR troops in Left-Bank Ukraine (up to 20 thousand men under the command of P. Bolbochan) and crossed the Dnieper. Kiev fell on February 5, 1919. The UNR directory fled from Kiev to Vinnitsa . March 9, Soviet troops entered the line Korosten - Zhytomyr - Uman - Olviopol - Kherson - Melitopol ^[6] .
In Polesie, belonging to the UPR in the Brest Peace , units of the Western Army were advancing. Their advance was accomplished in places with battles, in connection with the counteraction of the Petliura units and the Haidamaks ^[7] . In Northern Ukraine, Soviet troops took Ovruch and Chernihiv ^[1] .

On March 14, the troops of the Ukrainian Front resumed the offensive in three directions: in the west - against the UPR army, in the southwest - against the Anglo-French and other invaders, in the south - against the white army of the South of Russia . The number of troops of the front reached 50 thousand people. By mid-April, the troops of the Ukrainian Front defeated the UPR army and reached the Novograd-Volynsky - Shepetovka - Proskurov - Mogilyov-Podolsky line , where they came into contact with Polish troops in Volyn and Galicia ^[6] .
The authorities of the UPR fled from Lutsk to the area of ​​the Zbruch river ^[6] .

• Grigoryevsky uprising

• The civil war in Ukraine 1918-1920. The collection of documents and materials in three volumes, four books. Kiev, 1967.
• V. Antonov – Ovseenko. Notes on the Civil War (in 4 volumes). M.-L.: State Military Publishing House, 1924-1933.
• Civil war and military intervention in the USSR. Encyclopedia. M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1983.