The Deep State analytical OSINT project has joined forces with the Cultural Forces platform to create an interactive map dedicated to the liberation of Crimea from the Bolsheviks in April 1918 by the forces of the UNR army led by Colonel Petro Bolbochan. The main goal of this project is to remind Ukrainians and the world of the heroic pages of the Ukrainian struggle for independence and make them accessible to a wide audience.
Points of attention
- Through the interactive map, users can delve into the details of the Crimean operation, follow the Zaporizhzhia Corps' advance, and explore archival materials.
- The victory in Crimea marked a significant moment in Ukrainian history, with the Black Sea Fleet raising Ukrainian flags, and local support for Ukrainian troops in Feodosia, Kerch, and Sevastopol.
The mission of the new Deep State and Cultural Forces project
The Deep State map integrates the events of late April 1918.
Users can view the progress of the Crimean operation by day, follow the route of the Zaporizhzhia Corps' advance, and also view archival maps and links to primary sources.
Roman Pohoriliy, co-founder of the Deep State project, made a statement on this matter.
He reminded that there are many outstanding events and people on the pages of Ukrainian history: it is important to remember them and pass them on to future generations so that they grow up with an awareness of who they are.
"We have always been looking for a creative approach to show all these events from an interesting perspective and attract as much attention as possible, so we hope that this project will bring variety and interest to one of the most outstanding operations of the Ukrainian army — the campaign to Crimea under the leadership of Petro Bolbochan, so that we can be proud and enjoy the power and strength of our military," Pohoriliy emphasized.
The interactive map makes it possible to rethink national history through the prism of successes, not just tragedies.
The project will also be useful for educational and scientific initiatives, as historical victories form the foundation of modern identity.
We must remember not only the feat of the heroes of Kruty, but also the fact that that war — the first Soviet-Ukrainian — ended with the victory of Ukraine, the creation of sanitary zones in Kursk and Voronezh regions, the raising of Ukrainian flags over Belgorod, Taganrog and Rostov. And the fact that the Kremlin’s “Russkaya Spring” of 2014 is a pale copy of the “Ukrainian Spring” of 1918, with the decisive breakthrough of the Zaporizhzhia Corps of the UNR army into Donbas and Crimea. The authors of these victories — Oleksandr Natiev, Kostyantyn Prisovsky and Petro Bolbochan — also deserve memorialization, — believes the member of Cultural Forces, candidate of historical sciences Ivan Dereiko.
What is important to understand is that Petro Bolbochan was a key figure in the Liberation Struggles of 1917-1921. A professional soldier, a participant in World War I, a holder of the Orders of St. Anna and St. Stanislav, an active figure in the movement for the Ukrainization of the Russian army, he was also one of the most successful commanders of the Ukrainian People's Republic during the Central Rada era.
The pinnacle of his military art, and at the same time one of the greatest victories of the UNR army, was the Crimean operation in April 1918. In alliance with the Kaiser's army and the Crimean Tatar rebels, Bolbochan was the first to liberate Simferopol from the Bolsheviks, who had usurped power there, and was instrumental in the Black Sea Fleet raising Ukrainian flags.
There was one step left before Crimea could join Ukraine, and it was not the fault of the Ukrainian soldiers that it was not taken. Between possession of Crimea and an alliance with Germany, the Ukrainian government chose the latter.
According to historian Serhiy Gromenko, even in the White Guard memoir literature, that is, in an environment that was hostile to Ukrainian independence, there are references to how in Feodosia and Kerch, expecting Ukrainian troops, the local population took to the streets with flags and portraits of Taras Shevchenko.
And in Sevastopol there was a strong Ukrainian community and Ukrainians were also expected there, and that is why on April 29, 1918, Ukrainian flags were raised there on the ships of the Black Sea Fleet, — emphasizes historian, Candidate of Historical Sciences Serhiy Gromenko, author of the study “Forgotten Victory. Petro Bolbochan’s Crimean Operation of 1918.”
