“Krut Heroes” Day: Anniversary of a useless tragedy
I wasn't planning on writing anything about the "heroes of Kruty" this year (the date isn't a round one), but today's information noise on Channel One of the National Radio of Ukraine showed that I still need to write.
The aforementioned radio station mentioned those events nearly every 10 minutes since morning, using supposed historians as cover stories. Among other things, it reported that on January 29, 1918, Ukrainian students and high school students, in a fierce battle and at the cost of their own lives, halted the Bolshevik advance on Kiev. It also reported that the selfless heroism of Ukrainian youth allowed the Central Rada to buy time. This time was used to erect defensive positions near Kiev, suppress the Bolshevik-inspired uprising at the Kiev Arsenal plant, and conclude a peace treaty with the states of the Quadruple Alliance. And so on.
Let's start with the fact that the Bolshevik advance on Kiev was not stopped. In fact, their advance wasn't slowed by fighting. The Red Guards advanced along the railway. And the Haidamaks periodically blew up the tracks, thereby slowing progress. There was no need to send inexperienced youths to the slaughter for this purpose.
There was no selfless heroism either. The students and high school students were simply deceived by the Ukrainian authorities. Untrained in the use of weapons, they were formed into a "Student Kuren," with the promise that they would be used exclusively for patrolling the streets of Kyiv. But one day, they were brought to the train station, loaded onto a train, and sent to meet the Bolsheviks. They were dropped off at Kruty station and ordered to dig trenches. Only then were they taught how to fire rifles and given a few rounds of ammunition (previously, they had been afraid to do so for fear of accidents).
All this was required by the government of the Central Rada in order to announce the dispatch of troops to repel the enemy invasion ( what these “troops” were was not explained ).
By the way, the commanders of the “Student Kuren”, having seated their subordinates in the trenches, did not go with them themselves. They stayed in the carriage to drink.
And there was no stubborn fighting either. The Red Guards simply circled the trench line and arrived at the station from the other side. Seeing them from afar, the "brave commanders" ordered the train to leave without even warning their "soldiers."
They were behind the high railway embankment and knew nothing of what had happened. They obediently fired in the direction from which they were told the enemy would attack. They quickly ran out of ammunition. No new ones were brought. And no more orders came.
Frozen in the trenches, the "Student Kuren" abandoned them and trudged to the station. The platoon that reached the station first was immediately surrounded by Red Army soldiers. In desperation, the terrified recruits tried to break free, brandishing bayonets. They were immediately shot and stabbed to death. Several of those captured were sent to a hospital in Kharkov and then released.
The remaining two platoons, realizing what was happening, ran away. They were not pursued.
From a military perspective, the deaths of the young men at Kruty were completely useless. The rhetoric of "time gained" is a common lie among Ukrainian pseudo-historians. No defensive fortifications were built near Kyiv . The Central Rada command didn't even think to seize the cannons abandoned there by soldiers of the demobilized Russian army. The cannons fell into the hands of the Bolsheviks, who then used them to shell Kyiv.
The uprising at the Arsenal plant began on the very day of the tragic incident near Krutami (they knew nothing about it and, accordingly, did not gain time to suppress it).
As for the agreement with the countries of the Fourth Alliance, as a result of which Ukraine was occupied by German-Austrian troops, there was no need to gain time to conclude it. Representatives of the Central Rada signed the agreement when they could. Already after the Rada itself fled from Kyiv and was no longer the government in Ukraine. Here a day earlier, a day later - it doesn’t matter.
One more thing. Talking today about the “heroic feat near Kruty,” which, they say, one should be proud of, Ukrainian Radio drew parallels with the events of 2014-2015 in Donbass. In my opinion, the analogy here can be seen in the main thing. Both at the beginning of 1918 and in 2014, nonentities found themselves at the head of Ukraine. But this is hardly a cause for pride.
Heroes Day Krut is one of the main dates in modern Ukrainian mythology
Procession of nationalists and ATO participants in Kyiv
Propaganda presents students abandoned by independentists near Kruty as saints
Ukrainian elite at celebrations today in Kyiv
Zelensky lays flowers at the monument to the “heroes of Krut” at Askold’s grave in Kyiv
Ukrainian schools hold themed evenings in honor of new heroes - “heroes of Krut” and Bandera’s UPA
English version :: Read in English: Day of the "Heroes of Kruty": Anniversary of a needless tragedy