Kharkiv Operation (June 1919)

(Redirected from Battle of Kharkiv (1919))

The Kharkiv Operation was a military campaign of the Russian Civil War in June 1919, in which White forces captured the important industrial center of Kharkiv from the Bolsheviks, in preparation for an advance on Moscow.

Kharkiv Operation (June 1919)
Part of the Southern Front of the Russian Civil War

The advance of the AFSR in Spring 1919
Date20–25 June 1919
(5 days)
Location
Kharkiv, North-Eastern Ukraine
Result White Army victory
Belligerents
Russian State 1st Army Corps (AFSR)
Russian State Terek Division
Russian State Volunteer Army
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Ukrainian Soviet Army
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic 13th Army (RSFSR)
Commanders and leaders
Russia Vladimir May-Mayevsky
Russia Alexander Kutepov
Russia Sergei Toporkov
Russia Anton Turkul
Russia Andrei Shkuro
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Vladimir Antonov-Ovseyenko
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Anatoliy Gekker

The Battle

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After months of heavy fighting in the Donbass and Don region, the Red Southern Front collapsed, allowing the Volunteer Army to launch a major attack towards the North and West. In June, the Whites undertook a successful offensive in the directions of Yekaterinoslav and Kharkiv.

By the second half of June 1919, the main forces of the Volunteer Army (most of the forces of the 1st Army and 3rd Kuban Cavalry Corps, in total 6 infantry and cavalry divisions) under the command of General Vladimir May-Mayevsky approached Kharkiv still controlled by the Red Army, and began to prepare for the assault. The main offensive on the city was developed by forces of the 1st Army Corps of General Alexander Kutepov from the south and south-east.
The city was taken after 5 days of heavy fighting.

Results

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Denikin and his generals in Kharkiv, 28 June 1919.

As a result of the capture of Kharkiv, the Volunteer Army destroyed an important stronghold of the Red Army on its way to Kursk and Moscow. They also captured an important stock of weapons: armored cars, armored trains, machine guns and ammunition, and seized an important industrial center.
Thus, the AFSR were able to control a strategically important city, while also replenishing its resources and gaining the use of Kharkiv's industrial potential.

On July 3, Anton Denikin promulgated his Moscow Directive, marking the start of the campaign against Moscow.