Oleksander Viktorovych Osetsky (; ; 24 June 1873 – 16 February 1937) was a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

and Ukrainian military officer. A general in the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

, after the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

he joined the army of the

Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) was a short-lived state in Eastern Europe. Prior to its proclamation, the Central Council of Ukraine was elected in March 1917 Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, as a result of the February Revolution, ...

(UNR). From 1914 to 1918, during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he served in and commanded a

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

in the

and reached the rank of major general. When the

broke out in 1917, he joined the UNR Army. He served as a commander in the

Poltava Poltava (, ; , ) is a city located on the Vorskla, Vorskla River in Central Ukraine, Central Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Poltava Oblast as well as Poltava Raion within the oblast. It also hosts the administration of Po ...

region, commander of a Railroad Guard Corps under the Hetman government, and commander of the Kholm Group on the Polish front in 1919, during the Polish-Ukrainian War. From December 1918 to January 1919 he was minister of defense of the Ukrainian People's Republic, and then the UNR Army

otaman Ataman (variants: ''otaman'', ''wataman'', ''vataman''; ; ) was a title of Cossack and haidamak leaders of various kinds. In the Russian Empire, the term was the official title of the supreme military commanders of the Cossack armies. The Ukrai ...

. In 1920, he headed a UNR military-diplomatic mission to

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. He emigrated to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and died in Paris in 1937.

References

*
Oleksander Osetsky
' at the
Encyclopedia of Ukraine
' * Ihor Pidkova (editor), Roman Shust (editor),

", 3 Volumes,

, Kyiv, 1993–1999, (t. 1), (t. 2), (t. 3). Article

1872 births 1937 deaths People from Kremenets Military personnel from Ternopil Oblast People from Kremenetsky Uyezd Ukrainian people in the Russian Empire Ministers of defense of Ukraine Government ministers of the Ukrainian People's Republic Imperial Russian Army generals Ukrainian People's Army generals Ukrainian people of World War I Russian military personnel of World War I Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 2nd class Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 3rd class Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 4th class Imperial Nikolayev Military Academy alumni {{Ukraine-bio-stub