Ways and Forms of Action of the Kholodnyi Yar Insurgent Formations in the Struggle Against Russian-Bolshevik Occupiers (1919–1921)
Abstract
Purpose: To reconstruct the main ways and forms of action of the Kholodnyi Yar insurgent formations in their struggle against Russian-Bolshevik occupiers in 1919–1921 and to clarify the internal combat logic of this movement.
Method. Principles of historicism and source criticism; historical-comparative, spatial and reconstructive approaches; comparison of archival-criminal files, memoirs, historiography and cartographic materials.
Findings. The combat practice of the Kholodnyi Yar insurgents was based on a combination of ambushes, short maneuver battles, raids, mobile self-defence, intelligence, courier communication and trophy-resource supply. This system relied on knowledge of the forest-steppe terrain, local support and control over local communications.
Theoretical implications. The study clarifies the understanding of Kholodnyi Yar as an organized centre of irregular warfare rather than a set of accidental local uprisings.
Paper type. Theoretical, historical-analytical.
Downloads
References
Liashko, Yu. (1996–2026). Avtorska karta-rekonstruktsiia raionu diialnosti Kholodnoiarskoho povstankomu ta mists boiv kholodnoiartsiv: neopublikovanyi kartohrafichnyi material [Author’s reconstruction map of the area of activity of the Kholodnyi Yar insurgent committee and the battle sites of the Kholodnyi Yar fighters: unpublished cartographic material]. Kam’ianka.
Furmanchuk, D. M. (Comp.). (2025). Zbirnyk dokumentiv i materialiv arkhivno-kryminalnykh sprav amnistovanykh povstantsiv Kholodnoho Yaru (1918–1922) [Collection of documents and materials from the archival-criminal cases of amnestied insurgents of Kholodnyi Yar (1918–1922)]. Kyiv: Ukrainskyi instytut voiennoi istorii; TsP “Komprynt”.
Horlis-Horskyi, Yu. (2014). Kholodnyi Yar [Kholodnyi Yar]. Lviv: Spolom. URL: https://chtyvo.org.ua/authors/Horlis-Horskyi/Kholodnyi_Yar_vyd_2014/
Doroshenko, M. I. (1973). Stezhkamy kholodnoiarskymy. 1918–1923 rr. [Along the paths of Kholodnyi Yar. 1918–1923]. Filadelphiia. URL: https://diasporiana.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/books/3150/file.pdf
Liutyi-Liutenko, I. (1986). Vohon z Kholodnoho Yaru [Fire from Kholodnyi Yar]. Detroit. URL: https://chtyvo.org.ua/authors/Liutyi-Liutenko_Ivan/Vohon_z_Kholodnoho_Yaru/
Mytrofanenko, Yu. (2016). Kholodnyi Yar v istorii ukrainskoi revoliutsii 1917–1920-kh rr.: istoriohrafichna tradytsiia ta suchasni innovatsii osmyslennia [Kholodnyi Yar in the history of the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917–1920s: historiographical tradition and modern innovative interpretations]. Ukrainskyi vyzvolnyi rukh, 21, 81–116. URL: https://www.uvr.in.ua/index.php/uvr/article/view/51
Zozulia, N. M. (2017). Do pytannia pro deiaki taktychni formy povstanskoi borotby v Serednomu Podniprovi u 1918 – na poch. 1920-kh rr. (za memuaramy starshyn ta ofitseriv armii UNR) [On some tactical forms of insurgent struggle in the Middle Dnipro region in 1918 – the early 1920s (based on memoirs of officers of the Army of the Ukrainian People’s Republic)]. Humanitarnyi visnyk ChDTU. Seriia: Istorychni nauky, 27(11), 195–201.
Lunin, S. (2014, April 16). Operatsiia viisk VOKhR proty Kholodnoho Yaru u veresni 1920 roku [The operation of VOKhR troops against Kholodnyi Yar in September 1920]. Istorychna pravda.
HDA SBU. F. 5, op. 1, spr. No. 1136, sl. spr. No. 446/7971: arkhivno-kryminalna sprava shchodo uchasnykiv kholodnoiarskoho povstanskoho rukhu. T. 1–4 [Archival-criminal case concerning participants of the Kholodnyi Yar insurgent movement. Vols. 1–4].
Koval, R. (2006). Koly kuli spivaly: biohrafii otamaniv Kholodnoho Yaru i Chornoho lisu [When bullets sang: biographies of the otamans of Kholodnyi Yar and the Black Forest]. Kyiv: Istorychnyi klub “Kholodnyi Yar”.
Shcherbatiuk, V. M. (2010). Selianskyi povstanskyi rukh na Kyivshchyni 1917–1923 rr.: suchasna istoriohrafiia problemy [The peasant insurgent movement in the Kyiv region in 1917–1923: the contemporary historiography of the problem]. Ukrainskyi istorychnyi zhurnal, 3. URL: https://resource.history.org.ua/publ/journal_2010_3_186
Demartyno, A. P. (2015). Povstanskyi rukh v Serednomu Podniprovi Ukrainy (1918 – seredyna 1920-kh rr.) [The insurgent movement in the Middle Dnipro region of Ukraine (1918 – mid-1920s)] (Candidate’s thesis). Kyiv. URL: https://enpuir.udu.edu.ua/entities/publication/9c010f31-2d06-4e33-bd9c-0e06b37a3135
Demartyno, A. P. (2015). Povstanskyi rukh v Serednomu Podniprovi Ukrainy (1918 – seredyna 1920-kh rr.) [The insurgent movement in the Middle Dnipro region of Ukraine (1918 – mid-1920s)] (Abstract of Candidate’s thesis). Kyiv. URL: https://enpuir.udu.edu.ua/entities/publication/f5ec198c-4816-4b5d-aceb-7ae8fb4b7aa6
Zozulia, N. M. (2017). Svidchennia starshyn ta ofitseriv armii UNR pro zabezpechenist zbroieiu ta amunitsiieiu povstanskoho rukhu v Serednomu Podniprovi u 1918–1921 rr. [Testimonies of officers of the Army of the Ukrainian People’s Republic on the provision of weapons and ammunition to the insurgent movement in the Middle Dnipro region in 1918–1921]. Naukovi zapysky Ternopilskoho natsionalnoho pedahohichnoho universytetu imeni Volodymyra Hnatiuka. Seriia: Istoriia, 1(3), 64–68. URL: https://journals.tnpu.ternopil.ua/index.php/history/article/download/691/608/1229
Zozulia, N. M. (2018). Povstanskyi rukh v Serednomu Podniprovi (1918–1922 rr.) za spohadamy starshyn armii UNR [The insurgent movement in the Middle Dnipro region (1918–1922) according to the memoirs of officers of the Army of the Ukrainian People’s Republic] (Candidate’s thesis). Cherkasy. URL: https://chtyvo.org.ua/authors/Zozulia_Nadiia/Povstanskyi_rukh_v_Serednomu_Podniprovi_1918__1922_rr_za_spohadamy_starshyn_armii_UNR/
Zozulia, N. M., & Lazurenko, V. M. (2017). Svidchennia starshyn ta ofitseriv armii UNR pro politychni oriientatsii povstanskoho rukhu v Serednomu Podniprovi u 1918 – na poch. 1920-kh rr. [Testimonies of officers of the Army of the Ukrainian People’s Republic on the political orientations of the insurgent movement in the Middle Dnipro region in 1918 – the early 1920s]. Humanitarnyi visnyk ChDTU. Seriia: Istorychni nauky, 11(27), 187–194. URL: https://er.chdtu.edu.ua/handle/ChSTU/1948
Plazova, T. I. (2001). Povstanskyi rukh v Ukraini v 1920–1921 rr. [The insurgent movement in Ukraine in 1920–1921]. Visnyk Natsionalnoho universytetu “Lvivska politekhnika”, 431: Derzhava ta armiia, 48–54. URL: https://ena.lpnu.ua/handle/ntb/36690
Plazova, T. I. (2004). Diialnist Ukrainskoho partyzansko-povstanskoho shtabu v istoriohrafii mizhvoiennoho periodu [The activity of the Ukrainian partisan-insurgent headquarters in the historiography of the interwar period]. Visnyk Natsionalnoho universytetu “Lvivska politekhnika”, 502: Derzhava ta armiia, 47–51. URL: https://ena.lpnu.ua/handle/ntb/30720
Vasylenko, V. (2008). Pidhotovka antybilshovytskoho povstannia v Ukraini u 1921 r. (za dokumentamy HDA Sluzhby bezpeky Ukrainy) [Preparation of the anti-Bolshevik uprising in Ukraine in 1921 (based on documents from the Sectoral State Archive of the Security Service of Ukraine)]. Z arkhiviv VUChK-HPU-NKVD-KHB, 1/2(30/31), 138–196. URL: https://nasplib.isofts.kiev.ua/handle/123456789/41030
Podkur, R. Yu. (2005). Zbroinyi vystup yak radykalna forma oporu radianskii vladi v USRR v 1920-ti – pochatku 1930-kh rr. (za materialamy VUChK-HPU) [Armed uprising as a radical form of resistance to Soviet power in the Ukrainian SSR in the 1920s – early 1930s (based on materials of the VUChK-HPU)]. Istoriia Ukrainy: malovidomi imena, podii, fakty, 31, 90–102. URL: https://nasplib.isofts.kiev.ua/handle/123456789/12182
Vasylenko, V. M., & Danylenko, V. M. (Comps.). (2011). Natsionalno-vyzvolnyi povstanskyi rukh v Ukraini naprykintsi 1920–1921 rr. Anotovanyi pokazhchyk. Sprava “Petliurivski otamany” [National liberation insurgent movement in Ukraine in late 1920–1921. Annotated index. The case “Petliurist otamans”]. Kyiv: Polihrafichna dilnytsia Instytutu istorii Ukrainy NAN Ukrainy. URL: https://history.org.ua/LiberUA/978-966-02-6123-5/978-966-02-6123-5.pdf
Shynkarenko, M. I. (2023). Cherkashchyna v povstanskomu rusi u roky Ukrainskoi revoliutsii 1917–1921 rr. [Cherkasy region in the insurgent movement during the years of the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917–1921] (Master’s thesis). Cherkasy. URL: https://er.chdtu.edu.ua/handle/ChSTU/8806
Vasylenko, V. M. (Comp.). (2015). Represii proty uchasnykiv antybilshovytskoho rukhu v Ukraini (1917–1925 rr.). Anotovanyi pokazhchyk arkhivnykh kryminalnykh sprav “Osnovnoho” fondu arkhiviv tymchasovoho zberihannia rehionalnykh orhaniv SBU [Repressions against participants of the anti-Bolshevik movement in Ukraine (1917–1925). Annotated index of archival criminal cases of the “Main” fund of temporary storage archives of regional SBU bodies]. Kharkiv: TOV “Vydavnytstvo prava liudyny”. URL: https://cdvr.org.ua/26935/2016/04/22/
Vasylenko, V. M. (Comp.). (2021). Represii proty uchasnykiv antybilshovytskoho rukhu v Ukraini (1917–1925 rr.). Anotovanyi pokazhchyk sprav fondu kryminalnykh sprav “Prypynenyi” arkhiviv tymchasovoho zberihannia rehionalnykh orhaniv SBU [Repressions against participants of the anti-Bolshevik movement in Ukraine (1917–1925). Annotated index of cases of the criminal cases fund “Terminated” of temporary storage archives of regional SBU bodies]. Kyiv; Kharkiv: Prava liudyny. URL: https://library.kh.ua/kraeznavcha/represii-proty-uchasnykiv-antybilshovytskoho-rukhu-v-ukraini/
Abstract views: 0 PDF Downloads: 0
Copyright (c) 2026 Дмитро Фурманчук

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The authors agree with the following conditions:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication (Download agreement) with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
2. Authors have the right to complete individual additional agreements for the non-exclusive spreading of the journal’s published version of the work (for example, to post work in the electronic repository of the institution or to publish it as part of a monograph), with the reference to the first publication of the work in this journal.
3. Journal’s politics allows and encourages the placement on the Internet (for example, in the repositories of institutions, personal websites, SSRN, ResearchGate, MPRA, SSOAR, etc.) manuscript of the work by the authors, before and during the process of viewing it by this journal, because it can lead to a productive research discussion and positively affect the efficiency and dynamics of citing the published work (see The Effect of Open Access).










