Today we remember the Battle of Kruty: in 1918, 600 Ukrainian students stopped 6000 Bolshevik army with the cost of their lives and gave the time to sign Brest treaty, which recognised Ukraine as an independent state
Today we remember the Battle of Kruty: in 1918, 600 Ukrainian students stopped 6000 Bolshevik army with the cost of their lives and gave the time to sign Brest treaty, which recognised Ukraine as an independent state
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The battle of January 29, 1918 lasted several hours and ended in heavy losses for the Bolsheviks. Ukrainian fighters managed to stop the advance of Bolshevik troops to Kyiv for a few days. Simon Petliura had time to suppress the Bolshevik uprising at the Arsenal plant.
At the railway platform in Kruty 130 km from Kyiv, Ukrainian students stopped the Bolshevik army’s attack on the Ukrainian capital for a few days at the cost of their own lives. On the Ukrainian side, about 600 soldiers took part in the battle near Kruty:
250-400 officers and cadets of the First Ukrainian Military School named after Bohdan Khmelnytsky;
114-130 volunteers of the 1st hundred of the Sich Riflemen students’ unit (students of St. Vladimir’s University, students of hydraulic school, students of medical school, etc.);
60 soldiers of the death unit;
80 soldiers of the Chernihiv Free Cossacks;
cavalry detachment.
They were opposed by six or seven thousand Bolsheviks.
About 30 students from the reconnaissance unit were taken prisoner and shot by the Bolsheviks. It is possible that they were tortured before their deaths.
The Battle of Kruty gave the UPR government time to sign the Brest Treaty with the Fourth Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria) on February 9. The UPR was recognized as an independent state, and its army received the support of the German and Austro-Hungarian armies in the fight against the Bolsheviks.
At the Askold Cemetery
They were buried,
The thirty martyrs-Ukrainians,
The glorious young …
At the Askold Cemetery
The Ukrainian bloom! –
By the bloody roadway
For us to follow into the world.
Onto whom has dared to rise
The betrayer’s hand?
Sun is blooming, wind is playing
And the Dnieper-river …
Against whom has Cain committed?
Oh, Lord, punish them!
Over everything they loved
It was their loved land.
They died in the New Testament
With the glory of saints.
At the Askold Cemetery
They were buried.
– Pavlo Tychyna, 1918
https://myukraine.org.ua/biy-pid-krutamy/
https://www.bbc.com/ukrainian/news-55853090
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kruty
Very heroic battle, but I doubt such a small clash was really that impactful
Then Bolsheviks used chemical weapon against defenders of Kyiv. The first time chemical weapons used on civil population. Hitler had some good teachers.
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The russians were a bit preoccupied at the time and were already beaten by the Germans so I doubt it was of such great importance
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Glory to Ukrainian heroes.