Battle of Kruty

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Battle of Kruty

Part of Ukrainian-Soviet War (1917-1921)

Scheme of the Battle of Kruty.

Date	January 29, 1918
Location	near Kruty, Ukraine
Result	Bolshevik victory

Combatants

A studential Battalion of the Free Cossack Army of the Ukrainian People's Republic

Regiment of the Petrograd and Moscow Red Army and seamen of the Baltic Fleet

Commanders

Ahapiy Honcharenko

Mikhail Muraviev

Strength

500 schoolboys

4,000 men

Casualties

around 300

insignificant amount

The Battle of Kruty (Ukrainian: Битва під Крутами, Bytva pid Krutamy) was a battle which took place on January 29, 1918, near Kruty, a small railway connection about 130 kilometres northeast of Kiev (Kyiv), Ukraine, which was at the time the Nizhyn Uyezd, Chernigov Governorate of the Russian Empire.

As Bolshevik forces of about 4,000 men, commanded by Mikhail Muraviev, advanced toward Kiev, a small Ukrainian People's Republic unit of 500 schoolboys (some sources give a figure of 300 ^[1]^[2]), commanded by Captain Ahapiy Honcharenko, was hastily organized and sent to the front. The small unit consisted mainly of the Student Battalion (Kurin) of Sich Riflemen, a unit of the Khmelnytsky Cadet School, and a Haidamaka detachment. About half of the 500 men were killed during the battle, lasting up to 5 hours.

Eleven of the students were re-buried at Askold's Grave in the centre of Kiev after the return of the Tsentralna Rada to the capital in March of 1918. At the funeral the then President of the Ukrainian People's Republic, Mykhailo Hrushevsky called every one of the 500 schoolboys who fought in the battle heroes. In addition, poet Pavlo Tychyna dedicated a poem to the heroic death of the schoolboys.

After the fall of the Ukrainian People's Republic the bodies of the students were moved to the Lukyanivske Cemetery in Kiev. Throughout the years, the true story of the battle was hidden from view by the Soviet Government. Only recently, a monument was set up to commemorate the 80 years' anniversary of the Battle of Kruty, and a commemorative hryvnia coin was minted. Today, the battle is commemorated as a symbol of patriotic self-sacrifice and is remembered each year on or around January 29.

Burrying of the schoolboy fighters of the battle, 1918.

A hryvnia coin commemorating the Battle of Kruty.

Unofficial "underground" stamps commemorating 33 years since the battle took place.

[edit] See also

Kiev Arsenal January Uprising

[edit] References

^ Subtelny, Orest (2000). Ukraine: A History. University of Toronto Press, 352. ISBN 0-8020-8390-0.
^ History of Ukraine (Ukrainian). History of Ukraine. Retrieved on September 12, 2006.

Kruty, Battle of (English). Encyclopedia of Ukraine. Retrieved on August, 15, 2006.
Soldatenko, Valeriy. «І справжні, не фальшиві фарби»? Kruty: an attempt of the historic interpretation" in Zerkalo Nedeli, January 28 - February 3, 2006. Available in Russian and Ukrainian
The president opened a memorial to the Heroes of Kruty (Russian). Korrespondent. Retrieved on August 25, 2006.
Крути (Ukrainian). Sketch of the history of Ukraine. Retrieved on February 16, 2007.