The storming of Kyiv took place during the ongoing peace negotiations at Brest-Litovsk on 5–8 February 1918. The attacking formations were a part of Soviet Russia’s expeditionary force against the Central Council of Ukraine and their main aim was the capture of the capital of the country. The assault on Ukraine was a part of the undeclared war by Moscow. Before attacking Kyiv, during the winter of 1917/18, the Russian occupying forces installed their rule in Kharkiv, Dnipro (former Katerynoslav), and Poltava. The Russian forces approached Kyiv from the eastern direction towards the central bridge across the Dnieper River. Their commander was Kostroma-born Mikhail Muravyov who had fought in the Russia-Japan war of 1905 and in WWI. One would expect that a former tzarist officer would have some ‘old-school’ code or follow at least some basic rules of war, but here is what Muravyov recalled later: “We were going to establish Soviet power with fire and sword. I occupied the city and hit the palaces and churches. On January 28 Duma (Kyiv) asked for a truce. In response, I ordered them to be gassed. Hundreds of generals, and maybe thousands, were mercilessly killed … So we took revenge. We could stop the wrath of revenge, but we did not, because our slogan is to be merciless!” Standing on the left bank of the Dnieper River, the Reds shelled the city for several days firing at least 15,000 shells on the city. After that, Muravyov used poison gases that were prohibited by International Law. And only after that, the Russian Horde entered the city and started doing what it likes the best – killing defenseless and looting. Can we trace some parallels with the current onslaught of the northern barbarians into Ukraine? (To Be Continued)
You may want to read what even I. Bunin wrote about Russian nature >
