Kholodny Yar Republic
Kholodny Yar Republic (1919–1922; Ukrainian: Холодноярська Респбліка, romanized: Kholodnoiarska Respublika, lit. 'Cold Ravine Republic') was a self-proclaimed state formation, partisan movement, which ran on part of the lands of the former Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR — or Ukrainian National Republic, UNR), in the Chyhyryn district of the Kyiv province (now Cherkasy Raion of Cherkasy Oblast), in the area of the Kholodny Yar forest tract. The village of Melnyky was its capital. It had a 15,000-strong army composed of peasants and soldiers from the UNR army, which was defeated by the White Army in Podolia earlier.
Kholodny Yar Republic Холодноярська Республіка (Ukrainian) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1919–1922 | |||||||||
Flag | |||||||||
| Motto: Freedom to Ukraine – or death! | |||||||||
Kholodny Yar forest that was the center of the republic | |||||||||
| Capital | village Melnyky, Cherkasy Raion | ||||||||
| Common languages | Ukrainian | ||||||||
| Government | Republic | ||||||||
| Chief Otaman | |||||||||
• ⠀ | Vasyl Chuchupak | ||||||||
• | Ivan Derkach (uk) | ||||||||
• | Kostiantyn Pestushko | ||||||||
• | Herasym Nesterenko (uk) | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Foundation | 1919 | ||||||||
• Liquidation | 1922 | ||||||||
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| Today part of | Ukraine | ||||||||
Kholodny Yar Republic was the last territory in which Ukrainians continued to fight for an independent Ukrainian state before the incorporation of Ukraine into the Soviet Union as the Ukrainian SSR. Thus it was an important part of the Ukrainian War of Independence.
During the Soviet era, the history of this entity and its figures was silenced or distorted because, according to many researchers, it could lead to an increase in undesirable attitudes from the point of view of the authorities in society.