Group of forces in fight with counter revolution in the South Russia
| Group of forces in battle with the counterrevolution in the South of Russia | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1917–1918 |
| Country | Soviet Russia |
| Branch | Red Guards |
| Type | Infantry |
| Part of | Task force |
| Engagements | |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Vladimir Antonov-Ovseyenko, Mikhail Artemyevich Muravyov, Rudolf Sivers |
The Group of forces in battle with the counterrevolution in the South of Russia (Russian: Группа войск по борьбе с контрреволюцией на Юге России) was a military formation of the Soviet Russian government created in the beginning of December 1917 to fight against various autonomous state formations (the Don Host Oblast and Ukrainian People's Republic) with a goal of establishing the Soviet regime.
The formation mainly consisted of Red Guard troops from Petrograd and Moscow under the command of Vladimir Antonov-Ovseyenko and Mikhail Muravyov as the chief of staff. The group consisted of some 20,000 troops.
The group started to arrive in Kharkiv on December 21, 1917, and on December 22-23, 1917, with the help of the local squads of Red Guards, it established Soviet power in the city. On December 24-25, 1917 in Kharkiv the First All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets, which proclaimed the Ukrainian People's Republic of Soviets, took place. The group included the squads of Rudolf Sivers, Yuriy Sablin, Pavel Yegorov, Grigory Petrov, and others, as well as the local squads of Red Guards.
In the beginning of January 1918, without any official declaration of war, the group initiated military actions around Kharkiv (Lozova, Synelnykove, Pavlohrad, Sloviansk). By that time the Soviet government of Russia had concluded a provisional armistice agreement with the Central Powers, seeking to end its participation in World War I (see Treaty of Brest-Litovsk). On January 2, 1918 Sovnarkom appointed Sergo Ordzhonikidze the provisional extraordinary commissar of the Ukrainian region, who arrived in Kharkiv on January 8. In January 1918, under the pretense of helping the Bolsheviks of Ukraine in establishing Soviet power, the group launched an offensive from multiple directions (Kharkiv and Katerynoslav, Bryansk, Homel) against Kiev. A cover for military actions against the Ukrainian People's Republic was a call of the People's Secretariat to an armed struggle against the "counter-revolutionary" Central Council of Ukraine. The command of the offensive was handed to the acting People's Commissar Yuri Kotsiubynsky (acting for Vasyl Shakhrai). On February 8, 1918 the group occupied Kiev and the government of Ukraine relocated to Zhytomyr. On February 9, 1918 it signed a military protection pact with the Central Powers (see Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (Ukraine–Central Powers)).
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