Volodymyr Petrovych Salsky () (24 July 1885 in

Ostroh Ostroh ( , ) is a city in Rivne Oblast, western Ukraine. It is situated on the Horyn River. Ostroh was the administrative center of Ostroh Raion until 2020, but as a city of oblast significance did not belong to the raion. Currently the city is ...

Volhynian Governorate Volhynia Governorate, also known as Volyn Governorate, was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Southwestern Krai of the Russian Empire. It consisted of an area of and a population of 2,989,482 inhabitants. The governorate ...

– 5 October 1940 in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

) was a Ukrainian general, minister of defense, head of the Ukrainian government in exile. Salsky was born in the old city of

. In 1906 he finished the Vilna Infantry Cadet School and served in the 126th Infantry Rylsk Regiment. After graduating from the Nikolayev Academy of General Staff in 1912 he was commissioned as a company commander of the 132 Infantry Bendery Regiment, becoming the chief of staff of the infantry division. During

World War I 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 ...

Salsky served at the General Staff of Military Intelligence department of the

Kiev Military District The Kiev Military District (; , abbreviated ) was a military district of the Imperial Russian Army and subsequently of the Red Army and Soviet Armed Forces. It was first formed in 1862, and was headquartered in Kiev (Kyiv) for most of its exist ...

and a quartermaster of the 12th Army in the Baltics. In January 1918 Salsky moved to

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

where he became a chief of staff of the capital city's armed forces, participating in the fight against 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, ...

forces of Mikhail Muravyov. During the times of

Ukrainian State The Ukrainian State (), sometimes also called the Second Cossack Hetmanate, Hetmanate (), was an Anti-communism, anti-Bolshevik government that existed on most of the modern territory of Ukraine (except for Western Ukraine) from 29 April to 14 ...

he was appointed the chief of staff of the 1st Serdyuk Division. He also was a member of the Commission in organization of military schools and academies in Ukraine. During the Anti-Hetman Uprising in November 1918 with the rest of Division Salsky changed sides. In the army of the UPR, he became in May 1919 Commander of the Zaporozhian Army Group, from 23 September 1919, Commander of the Army of the UPR, and in November 1919, Minister of Military Affairs of the UPR in the government of Borys Martos. At the end of 1920 he was interned in a Polish camp in Kalisz. After his release, he settled in Warsaw. Here he was an active participant in the public-political life of the Ukrainian diaspora and he bore the title of Minister of Defense of the Government in exile. He died on 5 October 1940 and was buried in Warsaw at the Volia cemetery.

References

* ''Volodymyr Salsky'' at the web-page of Doctor of Historical Sciences of

National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU; , ; ''NAN Ukrainy'') is a self-governing state-funded organization in Ukraine that is the main center of development of Science and technology in Ukraine, science and technology by coordinatin ...

Pavlo Hai-Nyzhnyk. *
"To the Unknown Cossack" - the Orthodox Cemetery in Warsaw
', a photo of Salsky's grave at the Polish cemetery {{DEFAULTSORT:Salsky, Volodymyr 1885 births 1940 deaths People from Ostroh People from Volhynian Governorate Ukrainian people in the Russian Empire Ministers of defense of Ukraine Imperial Russian Army generals Russian military personnel of World War I Ukrainian people of World War I Ukrainian generals Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th class Knights of the Legion of Honour Imperial Nikolayev Military Academy alumni