Strekopytov, Vladimir Vasilievich

Born in 1890 in Tula in the family of a merchant and manufacturer.

In 1914, with the outbreak of World War I, he volunteered for the tsarist army.

In 1914-1915 he studied at the 2nd Oranienbaum school of ensigns. Later promoted to officers.

In 1918 he joined the Red Army . In November 1918 he was arrested by the Tula Cheka on charges of counter-revolutionary agitation. At the end of December 1918 he was released at the request of the regiment commander and in connection with the regiment being sent to the front-line zone to the cities of Bobruisk and then to Gomel .

In January 1919, he held the post of head of the economic unit of the 68th regiment of the 2nd Tula Brigade of the 8th Division of the Red Army. At the end of March 1919, the division was sent to the front near Ovruch , where, according to a miscalculation of command, it came under the strongest two-day artillery shelling by the UPR forces. After that, the 68th regiment of the division left the battle lines without permission and returned to Gomel, along with it, in the Kalinkovichi , the 67th regiment joined. Initially, it was planned that armed regiments would capture a steam locomotive and desert to Bryansk and Tula. However, the chosen commander, V.V. Strekopytov convinced the soldier that the plan of breaking through to the rear was tantamount to suicide. As an alternative, it was decided to revolt against the Soviet regime and enlist the support of other units in the frontline zone.

On the evening of March 24, 1919, rebels under the command of Strekopytov captured Gomel. The size of the rebel army, according to various sources, ranged from 6,000 to 10,000 soldiers, and also had a significant number of artillery pieces. During the seizure of the city, the Strekopytovites almost met fierce resistance from 300 Red Army men and police at the Savoy Hotel, but after using the guns, the defenders surrendered. Gomel's top party leadership and those who resisted the rebels were placed in the city prison.

March 25, 1919 V.V. Strekopytov proclaimed the creation of the Russian People’s Republic with a center in Gomel. The local population was skeptical of the new government (from December 1918 to March 1919 it was the 4th change of government in the city), only retired officers of the imperial army, railway workers, gymnasium students and members of several sports societies joined the rebel ranks. A curfew was introduced in the city, the sale of alcohol was banned, and robberies and looting were severely suppressed. ^[one]

On March 26, 1919, the city of Rechitsa joined the rebellion, where the local guard company revolted.

March 26-29, 1919 made unsuccessful attempts to expand the territories of influence of Strekopytov. By March 29, Gomel was surrounded on three sides by parts of the Red Army , the rebels decided to retreat through Kalinkovichi to Mozyr for subsequent negotiations on joining the Petlyura army. Before the retreat, 12 prisoners were executed (mainly the party leadership of Gomel).

On March 30–31, 1919, the retreating soldiers occupied the Vasilevichs and Yurovichs , closely approaching the Kalinkovichi. However, it soon became clear that the bridge over Pripyat , leading to Mazyr, was blown up by the Red Army, and a Chinese unit arrived in an armored train to suppress the rebellion. On March 31, 1919, 6,000 strekopytovtsy swam across Pripyat and joined parts of the UPR as a separate Russian-Tula detachment, about 2,000 more rebels were captured (150 of them were later executed).

In March-May 1919, a detachment under the command of V.V. Strekopytov as part of the UPR took part in the battles against the Red Army. In May 1919, Strekopytov was captured by the troops of the Polish Republic near Rivne .

In May-July 1919 he was in prison in Brest-Litovsk . ^[2]

In July 1919, Strekopytov and associates were released and sent to Estonia to form anti-communist units. In the city of Gdov (now Pskov Oblast , Russian Federation ), in the second half of July the 1st Tula Regiment was formed from them under the command of Strekopytov of 600 people, which was given to the division of A.P. Liven . In the first battle on August 4, 1919 in Yamburg, most of the fighters fled at the first appearance of the armored vehicles of the Red Army. Strekopytov later served in the 1st Infantry Regiment of St. George also in the rank of captain.

In 1920, after the liquidation of the Leaven Army, he created on the basis of his regiment the Tula Workshop (about 1000 people), engaged in logging. Offices for the recruitment of SZA soldiers into an artel were located in Tallinn, Narva and Johvi .

In the early 1930s, V.V. Strekopytov lived in Tallinn. He took an active part in the activities of the Tallinn department of the Union of Mutual Assistance of the ranks of the former North-West Army and Russian emigrants in Estonia. He also served on the council of elders of the Tallinn Russian Public Assembly. After entering the Soviet units in Estonia and the subsequent arrests, he burned all his diaries.

In October 1940 he was arrested by the NKVD troops in Tallinn.

In February 1941 he was sentenced to death. In April 1941, the sentence was carried out.

According to one version, the Uprising Square in Gomel is named after the "Strekopytovsky rebellion".