Symon Petliura (Oles Doniy)

In Vsevolod Petriv's memoirs, Symon Petliura, the future otaman of the Ukrainian People's Republic troops and head of the UNR Directorate, appears as an extraordinary and strong-willed, but at the same time controversial and mysterious personality. He is "a short, thin man with a pale, tired face wearing a gray military coat without adverbs and a gray 'soldier's' hat." The author's attitude toward Petliura, a skilled military leader who was respected by his Cossacks, is more positive than neutral, but there is a certain confusion that Petriv feels about the actions of this politician.
Petriv's first meeting with Petliura took place in Kyiv during the Arsenal Uprising as the otaman of the Sloboda Ukraine Kosh. This Kosh was different from other military units based in Kyiv.

"My first meeting with a representative of this Kosh, the head of the trail, a petty officer of the Red Haidamaks, made a strange impression on me," Petriv writes. - "The greasy leather pants that had lost their natural red color, the yellow short jacket, the striped hat with red brim, the shaved head with a long black herring behind the ears and a fresh bullet scar, and the motionless, self-confident iron face of the maniak, an abnormal person, as if he were a truly resurrected haidamak of the old days... I asked him: "Where is your Kosh?" A laconic answer: "Not far away." "Do you have many people?". "Enough". I said: "Man, who do you think you're talking to, we're in the same army and we have to work together." And he replied: "Don't ask me that, Colonel, I was ordered to deliver the order and I did, and I have no other orders, so I won't say anything. I know where I have to go and when my horses are rested, whether you give me fresh ones or not, I will return. If you want, write a letter to the kosh, and I'll pass it on, but I can't tell anyone anything, it's a custom of us Sloboda Haidamaks." The Hordiienko people who talked to the rest of the Haidamak cavalry trail said that they also kept quiet about anything that touched the kosh. And the rest of the Red Haidamaks looked like this petty officer."

But at the same time, Petriv speaks positively about the good military organization of the Red Haidamaks, their excellent intelligence, and a headquarters that is "free of unnecessary people." By the way, it was Petliula's Haidamaks who played a key role in the capture of the Arsenal, which was the main stronghold of those who opposed the Central Rada. But at the same time, it was Petliura who prevented the Cossacks from physically brutalizing the rebellious workers.

Realizing the disorganization of the Central Rada headquarters, Petriv did consider the possibility of self-imposed subordination to Petliura. However, the latter refused this offer: "He gave a very vague answer: He said that he had already taken on too much responsibility, so he could not interfere with the government, even though he saw its mistakes. It turned out that there were some personal misunderstandings between him and the authorities of the time. He only promised to keep in touch with us. I left then with nothing, and although I had a good impression of the Slobozhans, the vague answer of the thier leader confused me a bit, but it was difficult to understand its true reasons."

Petriv had to face the contradictory nature of Petliura's actions once again. After the Ukrainian units left Kyiv under the onslaught of Muravyov's troops, Petriv intended to join Petliura's kosh with his regiment, but the otaman "again evaded a clear answer, it was only valuable to me for the experience of how skillfully Petliura maneuvered between the peasants, his haidamaks, and some auxiliary units that joined them, for example, some "supporting stuff" of an obviously "all-Russian direction." I witnessed firsthand how the village council of Shpytky was convinced of the need to help its army and how it distributed food and fodder from a large lord's estate that had been requisitioned but not looted by the village with a full sense of duty; how the chairman of the village council paid attention to the Kosh foreman in a superior tone of voice, and the Kosh only played along, confirming the need to preserve the people's property, and in which quarter of an hour this gentle person sharply and unfriendly ordered the head of the "supporting stuff" "

After the Central Rada concluded a treaty with Kaiser Germany, Petliura abdicated his command. It was in his units that the most determined sentiments against the policy of the Ukrainian government of the time prevailed.

Victoria Skuba based on materials by Vsevolod Petriv