The Occupation of Kharkiv was the first episode of the Ukrainian-Soviet War, during which on 23 December 1917, the Russian Bolsheviks seized the Ukrainian city

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Alexey Kaledin Aleksei Maksimovich Kaledin (russian: Алексе́й Макси́мович Каледи́н; 24 October 1861 – 11 February 1918) was a Don Cossack Cavalry General who led the Don Cossack White movement in the opening stages of the Russian ...

, which had occupied Rostov-on-Don on 15 December. In December 1917 the Leninist government was not yet ready for a full-scale war against the

Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR), or Ukrainian National Republic (UNR), was a country in Eastern Europe that existed between 1917 and 1920. It was declared following the February Revolution in Russia by the First Universal. In March 1 ...

(UPR). A complete anarchy was established in Kharkiv, and even the local Bolsheviks and the Kharkiv City Duma urged the withdrawal of violent red detachments from the city. On the night of 10 January, local Red Guard units unexpectedly disarmed the two regiments of the UPR (2700 bayonets), which had been trying to preserve dual power (UPR and Bolsheviks) in the city for 20 days. Some 300 disarmed UPR soldiers wished to join the socialist revolution and were enlisted in the Soviet Army as an independent unit, the regiment of the Red Cossacks. Kharkiv became the capital of the

Ukrainian People's Republic of Soviets The Ukrainian People's Republic of Soviets (russian: Украинская Народная Республика Советов, translit=Ukrainskaya Narodnaya Respublika Sovjetov) was a short-lived (1917–1918) Soviet republic of the Russian S ...

until 19 April 1918, when German units and the UPR Zaporozhian Division under Petro Bolbochan's command took Kharkiv from the Bolsheviks.

Sources

* * * * {{Portal, Ukraine 1917 in Ukraine

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.History of Kharkiv