First Winter Campaign

The First Winter Campaign was a campaign between the army of the Ukrainian People's Republic (UNR) and bolshevik forces in Ukraine during the Ukrainian-Soviet War. It began on December 6, 1919, and lasted until May 6, 1920.

The leader of the Ukrainian forces was General Mykhailo Omelianovych-Pavlenko.

Background
The First World War saw tremendous upheaval in Ukraine, and in the short period between the spring of 1917 and late 1919, three governments had taken shape in the capital, Kiev. However, the political situation was difficult because of the international pressure from Poland, and especially the Bolsheviks.

By late 1919, it became clear that conventional warfare against bolshevik forces in Ukraine had become impossible, so the Ukrainian People's Republic had decided to demobilize its military and conduct partisan warfare behind Bolshevik lines.

Participating Units
There were three main Ukrainian units - they were renamed divisions in February 1920. "Zaporizhia", commanded by General Andrii Huly-Hulenko; "Kiev", commanded by General Yurii Tiutiunnyk; and "Volhynia", commanded by Gen Oleksander Zahrodsky.

Main Battles
Because of the nature of the campaign, the armies covered very much territory. Originally the main theater of war was the Yelizavetgrad region, but as the bolshevik-Denikin front moved south, so did the campaign.

The main battles of the First Winter Campaign took place at Lypovets, Zhashkiv, Uman, Kaniv, Cherkasy, Smila, Zolotonosha, Olviopol, Holovanivsk, Haisyn, Voznesensk, Ananiv, and Balta.