| Khotyn Uprising | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Ukrainian War of Independence; the Ukrainian–Soviet War; the Southern Russia intervention | ||||||||
 Map of the uprising on January 22, 1919, before the invasion of Khotyn | ||||||||
| ||||||||
| Belligerents | ||||||||
|
|
 Kingdom of Romania |
 Ukrainian People's Republic | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | ||||||||
|
G. Bărbuță |
Gen. Constantin Prezan | Ataman G. I. Mayevski | ||||||
| Units involved | ||||||||
| ≈3 regiments |
1st Cavalry Division |
none active 60th Infantry Regiment (observing) | ||||||
| Strength | ||||||||
| 30,000+ | unknown | unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | ||||||||
|
≈11,000 dead 50,000 expelled |
159 dead 93 wounded 117 missing |
unknown dead 16 Free Cossacks captured | ||||||
The Khotyn Uprising (Romanian: Răscoala de la Hotin or Revolta de la Hotin; Ukrainian: Хотинське повстання, romanized: Khotyns'ke povstannya) was a Ukrainian-led insurrection in the far-northern tip of Bessarabia region, nestled between Bukovina and Podolia. It occurred on January 7–February 1, 1919, less than a year after Bessarabia's integration into the Romanian Kingdom. The city it was centered on is now known as Khotyn (Хотин), and is located in Chernivtsi Oblast, Ukraine; in 1919, it was the capital of Hotin County, on the unofficial border between Romania and the Ukrainian People's Republic (UNR). The revolt was carried out by armed locals, mainly Ukrainian peasants, assisted by Cossack deserters from the Ukrainian People's Army and groups of Moldovans, with some support from local Bolsheviks and White Russians. It forms part of the Ukrainian War of Independence, though whether or not the UNR covertly supported it, beyond formally reneging it, is a matter of dispute. The role of Bolsheviks, which has been traditionally highlighted in Romanian and Soviet historiography alike, is similarly debated. The Khotyn Uprising is therefore ambiguously linked to the Russian Civil War and the Ukrainian–Soviet War.
After days of guerrilla activities by peasants, a large contingent of trained partisans crossed the Dniester from UNR territory, and, on January 23, managed to capture the city, creating confusion among Romanian Army garrisons. This group then formed a "Directorate", acting as Khotyn's unrecognized government. It aimed to change the status of the county, or of all Bessarabia, ahead of the Paris Peace Conference, but remained internally divided into pro-UNR and pro-Bolshevik factions. Within days, the Directorate was toppled by the returning Romanian Army under General Cleante Davidoglu, which also began a hunt for armed peasants. Critics of the intervention count 11,000 or more as killed during arbitrary shootings and shelling of localities on both banks of the Dniester, with 50,000 expelled. Romanian Army sources acknowledge that the repression was violent, while they may dispute the body count.
Participants in the revolt were generally alienated by the UNR's inaction, dividing themselves between the Red Army and the Whites. The Khotyn Uprising was closely followed by a raid on Tighina, carried out by the Bessarabian Bolshevik Grigory Kotovsky, whose forces came to include Khotyn veterans. Such incidents secured Bessarabia for Greater Romania, seen by the Entente Powers as a guarantee against communist revolution. In late 1919, the Armed Forces of South Russia, coalescing various White entities, sketched out an attempt to invade Bessarabia, but lost ground to the Red Army. The emerging Soviet Union continued to back partisans in Hotin County during the interwar, until annexing Bessarabia entirely in 1940.