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.
Dmitry Ivanovich Popov was a Russian sailor and Left Socialist-Revolutionary that led the Left SR uprising against the Bolsheviks in July 1918. Following the suppression of the uprising, he joined the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine and became a leading member, spearheading the negotiations between the Makhnovists and the Bolsheviks until his arrest and execution by the Cheka.
Viktor Fedorovich Belash was the Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine (RIAU) under Nestor Makhno. A gifted military commander, Belash himself planned many of the Insurgent Army's operations, later becoming its commander in chief after Makhno's flight into exile.
Simon Mikytovich Karetnik was a Ukrainian anarchist and a commander of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine (RIAU). He often replaced Nestor Makhno as supreme commander of the Black Army in 1920. Karetnik gained a reputation for his central role in defeating the White Army in Crimea in November 1920.
The Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine, also known as the Black Army or as Makhnovtsi, named after their leader Nestor Makhno, was an anarchist army formed largely of Ukrainian peasants and workers during the Russian Civil War of 1917–1922. They protected the operation of "free soviets" and libertarian communes by the Makhnovshchina, an attempt to form a stateless libertarian communist society from 1918 to 1921 during the Ukrainian War of Independence. They were founded and inspired based on the Black Guards.
The 1st Donetsk Corps was a military formation of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine, it was created on September 1, 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 September 1, 1919, and existed until 1920.
The 6th Kyiv Corps was a military formation of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine, one of 4 corps which was created in October 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 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.
Alexander Kalashnikov was a Ukrainian anarchist and a commander of the 1st Donetsk Corps of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine.
Mikhail Uralov was a Russian anarchist, the head of the "Black Guard" combat units of the Moscow Federation of Anarchists and a commander of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine.
The Azov-Black Sea Flotilla was a formation of the Makhnovist fleet, the main area of which was the Sea of Azov.
The Memory of Grigory Makhno was an armored train of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine, which consisted of two cars with 10 machine guns and two cannons.
Grigory Ivanovich Makhno was a Ukrainian rebel commander and brother of Nestor Makhno.
Grigory Savelievich Maslakov, "Maslak" (1877-1921) was a Russian military leader during the Russian Civil War.
Alexei Vasilyevich Chubenko was a commander of the Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine.
Vasily Mikhailovich 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 Revolutionary Military Soviet was the de facto executive of the Makhnovshchina, empowered to act during the interim between sittings of the Regional Congresses.