The 7th Ukrainian Soviet Division was a military unit of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

during the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

in the armed forces of the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

History

On 24 March 1919, the

Revolutionary Military Council The Revolutionary Military Council (), sometimes called the Revolutionary War Council Brian PearceIntroductionto Fyodor Raskolnikov s "Tales of Sub-lieutenant Ilyin." or ''Revvoyensoviet'' (), was the supreme military authority of Soviet Rus ...

of the Ukrainian Front made a decision to create the

1st First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds, The Second, or (The) 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Minute and second of arc, ...

and 3rd Ukrainian Soviet Armies. On 15 April, it reorganized the divisions of the 2nd and 3rd armies into nine regimental

divisions Division may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication * Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting of 10,000 t ...

. The 2nd Ukrainian Soviet Army included units of the Group of Forces of the Kharkov direction (management and the 1st Zadneprovskaya brigade of the 1st Zadneprovskaya Ukrainian Soviet Division, the 2nd separate brigade, the 3rd Zadneprovskaya brigade of the 1st Zadneprovskaya Ukrainian Soviet division, the Crimean brigade), which were consolidated into 2 regular divisions: * The 3rd Ukrainian Soviet Division (former Division Directorate, 1st Zadneprovskaya Brigade of the 1st Zadneprovskaya Ukrainian Soviet Division and other units). * The 7th Ukrainian Soviet Division (former 3rd Zadneprovskaya Brigade of 1st Zadneprovskaya Ukrainian Soviet Division and other units). The

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

Nestor Makhno Nestor Ivanovych Makhno (, ; 7 November 1888 – 25 July 1934), also known as Bat'ko Makhno ( , ), was a Ukrainians, Ukrainian anarchist revolutionary and the commander of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine during the Ukrainian War o ...

, the head of the 3rd Zadneprovskaya brigade, was appointed head of the 7th Ukrainian Soviet division. Meanwhile, the

bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

Yakov Zakharovich Pokus, the chief of staff of the 3rd Rifle Brigade of the 2nd Ukrainian Soviet Division and acting commander of the 2nd Separate Brigade, was appointed chief of staff. In April–June, the division fought with the troops of the

Armed Forces of South Russia The Armed Forces of South Russia (AFSR or SRAF) () were the unified military forces of the White movement in southern Russia between 1919 and 1920. On 8 January 1919, the Armed Forces of South Russia were formed, incorporating the Volunteer Ar ...

under the command of

Anton Denikin Anton Ivanovich Denikin (, ; – 7 August 1947) was a Russian military leader who served as the Supreme Ruler of Russia, acting supreme ruler of the Russian State and the commander-in-chief of the White movement–aligned armed forces of Sout ...

– the

Volunteer Army The Volunteer Army (; ), abbreviated to (), also known as the Southern White Army was a White Army active in South Russia during the Russian Civil War from 1917 to 1920. The Volunteer Army fought against Bolsheviks and the Makhnovists on the ...

(until 2 May 1919) and the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

of the Don Republic. On 6 June, the chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...

issued an order in which he declared the head of the 7th Ukrainian Soviet Division Nestor Makhno outlawed "for the collapse of the front and insubordination to the command." On 8 June, Alexander Semyonovich Krusser replaced Makhno as head of the division. The division then occupied the front section "from the

Sea of Azov The Sea of Azov is an inland Continental shelf#Shelf seas, shelf sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, and sometimes regarded as a northern extension of the Black Sea. The sea is bounded by Ru ...

to Novuspenovka". On 9 June, Krusser issued an order to take over as division chief. He died on the night of 9–10 June at the Pologi station of the Tavricheskaya province during a machine-gun attack on the

armored train An armoured train (Commonwealth English) or armored train (American English) is a railway train protected with vehicle armour, heavy metal plating and which often includes railway wagons armed with artillery, machine guns, and autocannons. So ...

that he was inside. Pokus was subsequently appointed commander of the 1st Brigade of the 7th Ukrainian Soviet Division, on 24 June, and later appointed commander of the 3rd regiment of the Separate Bashkir Cavalry Division, on 6 July.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{Soviet divisions of the Russian Civil War, state=expanded Divisions of Ukraine Soviet infantry divisions in the Russian Civil War Military units and formations established in 1919 Military units and formations disestablished in 1919 Militarized anarchist formations