Revolutionary Insurgent Air Force of Ukraine | |
---|---|
Воздушный флот Революционной повстанческой армии Украины | |
Active | December 27, 1918–1921 |
Country | Ukraine |
Allegiance | Makhnovshchina |
Branch | Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine |
Type | Air force |
Role | Aerial warfare |
Engagements | Ukrainian War of Independence |
The Air Fleet of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine was one of the branches of the Revolutionary Insurgent Armed Forces.
The history of the air force in the Makhnovist movement began in the city of Yekaterinoslav. On December 27, 1918, the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine, led by Nestor Makhno, occupied Yekaterinoslav, the rebels seized 7 airplanes from the Ukrainian People's Republic Air Fleet. Makhno hoped to take the airplanes out of the city, but because of a dispute with the Bolsheviks about their distribution and the offensive of the Ukrainian People's Army, the rebels were forced to leave the airplanes in the city and retreat. [1] [2]
In January 1919, the Makhnovists signed an agreement with the Soviet government; the rebels entered the newly created 3rd Brigade of the 1st Zadneprovsk Division of the Red Army. The 22nd Squadron of the Red Army was assigned to the division, which provided air support to the Makhnovists on Sopwith triplanes during combat operations. [2]
In March 1919, a military pilot Ionin and an observer Bulgakov flew to Gulyaypole to carry out military operations in cooperation with the 3rd Zadneprovskaya Brigade. Ionin made reconnaissance missions and bombed various infrastructure facilities of the Volunteer Army. On March 15, the Makhnovists occupied Berdyansk, where they seized five Farman HF.30 aircraft. On March 17, Makhno, in a telegram to the headquarters of the 1st Zadneprovsk Division, asked to send mechanics and pilots to Berdyansk for the captured aircraft. Soon a pilot and a mechanic arrived in the city and repaired one of the planes, which aided in the Makhnovists' capture of Mariupol on March 28-29, 1919. At the end of March 1919, Pavel Dybenko arrived in Berdyansk, and he officially transferred the plane to the 3rd Zadneprovsk Division for personal use. Makhno flew on this plane from Berdyansk to Gulyaypole. [3]
Starting from May 13, 1919, there was one airplane in service with the 2nd Brigade of the Zadneprovskaya division. [4] [5] In the summer of 1919, information about the aircraft disappears.
On October 29, 1920, the Crimean RIAU group seized 4 airplanes in Melitopol. [6] [7]
The theme of the air force in the Makhnovist movement is found in the science fiction novel by the English writer Michael Moorcock. The Steel Tsar describes an alternative reality, in which there was no October Revolution, and the Makhnovists created an air military detachment from the airships captured from the Kerensky government. Having united with the rebels of the Ukrainian Cossack I. Dzhugashvili, Nestor Makhno's units, which include a military detachment of airships, storm the city of Yekaterinoslav.
Viktor Fedorovych Bilash was a Ukrainian military commander who was the Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine (RIAU) under Nestor Makhno during the Russian Civil War. A gifted military commander, Bilash himself planned many of the Insurgent Army's operations, later becoming its commander in chief after Makhno's flight into exile.
The Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine, also known as Makhnovtsi, named after their founder Nestor Makhno, was an anarchist army formed largely of Ukrainian peasants and workers during the Russian Civil War. They protected the operation of "free soviets" and libertarian communes by the Makhnovshchina, an attempt to form a stateless anarcho-communist society from 1918 to 1921 during the Ukrainian War of Independence.
The 2nd Ukrainian Soviet Army was a field army of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War, which was formed on April 15, 1919, from the units of the Group of Forces of the Kharkov Direction. It was first part of the Ukrainian Front and from April 27 of the Southern Front. On June 4, 1919, the Army was disbanded and its formations became part of the 14th Army of the Southern Front. The Army headquarters were in Yekaterinoslav.
The battle for Donbas was a military campaign of the Russian Civil War that lasted from January to May 1919, in which White forces repulsed attacks of the Red Army on the Don Host Oblast and occupied the Donbas region after heavy fighting.
Panteleimon "Panteley" Fyodorovich Belochub, , was a Ukrainian soldier best known as one of the commanders of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine, a major belligerent force during the Russian Civil Wars of 1917 – 1921.
The 1st Donetsk Corps was a military formation of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine, it was created on 1 September 1919 and existed until 1920.
The 2nd Azov Corps was a military formation of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine, one of the 4 corps that was created on 1 September 1919, and existed until 1920.
The 9th Greek Regiment was a regiment that was part of the 3rd Infantry Brigade of the 1st Zadneprovskaya Ukrainian Soviet Division, formed on the basis of the Greek detachments of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine in February 1919.
The 7th Ukrainian Soviet Division was a military unit of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War in the armed forces of the Ukrainian SSR.
The 1st Zadneprovskaya Ukrainian Soviet Division was a military unit of the Ukrainian Soviet Army during the Russian Civil War.
Vladimir Feofanovich Takhtamyshev (1890s–1935) was a Ukrainian Greek participant in the Russian Civil War, as part of the Makhnovist movement.
Tymofiy Lashkevych was a Ukrainian anarcho-communist that fought with the Makhnovists during the Ukrainian War of Independence as commander of the 1st Donetsk Corps.
The Azov-Black Sea Flotilla was a formation of the Makhnovist fleet, the main area of which was the Sea of Azov.
Hryhorii Ivanovych Makhno was a Ukrainian rebel commander and brother of Nestor Makhno.
Oleksiy Vasylovych Chubenko was a diplomat for the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine.
Savelii Ivanovych Makhno was a Ukrainian anarcho-communist, member of the Makhnovist movement, and brother of Nestor Makhno.
Vasyl Mikhailovych Sharovsky was a member of the Central Council of Ukraine, an anarcho-communist and an artillery commander of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine.
The Military Revolutionary Council was the de facto executive of the Makhnovshchina, empowered to act during the interim between sittings of the Regional Congresses.
Vasyl Kurylenko was a commander in the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine.
The Kontrrazvedka was the counterintelligence division of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine. Its main functions were to carry out military reconnaissance, the prosecution of captured enemies and counter-insurgency operations.