Petro Bolbochan
Petro Fedorovych Bolbochan was a Ukrainian military figure of Moldovan descent who was a colonel of the Ukrainian People's Army. He was the leader of Ukrainian forces in the 1918 Crimea Operation against the Bolsheviks, leading to the establishment of Ukrainian government on the peninsula and the transfer of the Black Sea Fleet to Ukraine. From November 1918 to January 1919, Bolbochan headed the Defense of Northeastern Ukraine.
Early life and career
Petro Fedorovych Bolbochan was born on 5 October 1883 in the village of Yarivka, in the Bessarabia Governorate of the Russian Empire in the family of a Moldovan Orthodox priest, Fedir Oleksiyovych Bolbochan. Fedir, also from the family of a priest, was born in the village of Lipnik, in the Bessarabia Governorate. His name came from the Romanian word Bulboacă.In 1905, he graduated from the Chișinău Theological Seminary. In 1909, he graduated from the Chuhuiv Infantry Junker School. In the same year he married Yelisavetgrad-born Maria Popescu. During the First World War, he was an officer of the 38th Tobolsk Regiment.
Ukrainian People's Army
After the Russian Revolution, Bolbochan actively began organizing Ukrainian military units and helped form the 1st Bohdan Khmelnytsky Ukrainian Regiment from Russian army units. On 22 November 1917, Bolbochan was appointed commander of the regiment. In early December 1918 the 1st Ukrainian Regiment was liquidated by order of the Bolsheviks. Despite Bolbochan's resistance, the regiment was disarmed and the barracks blown up, killing a number of soldiers. In January 1918 Bolbochan created a new military formation that became the 2nd Zaporizhzhia infantry group, later regiment. On 2 March 1918, the 2nd Zaporizhzhia Regiment, led by Bolbochan, was the first to enter Kyiv, ahead of the Imperial German Army, and took control of the city without Bolshevik resistance. The Zaporozhzhians then took control of Hrebinka, Lubny, Romodan, and Poltava. He collaborated with the Ukrainian Party of Socialist Independists.From November 1918 to January 1919, Bolbochan headed the Defense of Northeastern Ukraine.
Bolbochan was arrested for criticizing the inconsistent policies of the Ukrainian People's Republic government, convicted by a court-martial, and shot. At the time of sentencing, he was 35 years old.
A bust of Bolbochan was unveiled on the Petro Bolbochan Square at 86 Sichovykh Striltsiv Street in Kyiv's Shevchenkivskyi District on 5 October 2020. This is the first monumental sculpture in his honor in Ukraine and the world.