From the memories of V. Sikevych: “I felt real joy when on April the 26th 1918 at the railway station Kolpakovo, on the border of Ukrainian and Don troops, I posted a guard from the Bogdanov Regiment, two guns of the Odynytsia battery and unfurled our fla

On September the 5th, 150 years ago, Ukrainian military and political figure Volodymyr Vasyliovych Sikevych was born in the city of Tarashcha, Kyiv region. His figure is of particular interest for modern historians, because he, a tsarist colonel and later a general, a participant of two wars - the Russian-Japanese War and the First World War, proved to be a capable military leader, and despite his noble origins served in the Ukrainian People's Republic, but not in Russia. He received a number of orders and medals for his military service. He was not just a soldier, but a great tactician and strategist.

It is known that in 1918 General cornet Volodymyr Sikevych planned and carried out the most successful operation to liberate Donbas from the Russian-Bolshevik forces. In particular, on April the 2nd, 1918, the commander of the 3rd Haidamatskyi regiment, colonel Volodymyr Sikevych, headed the Slavic Group of the Separate Zaporizhia Division of the UPR Army, consisting of three infantry, artillery and engineering regiments, which had a task to liberate Donbas. On April the 15th, troops under his command occupied Barvinkove, in the Kharkiv region, and later captured Sloviansk, Bakhmut, Mykytivka, Kolpakiv station. On April 24th -30th, parts of the group went to the border with Russia, where they set a blue and yellow flag.

From the memories of V. Sikevych: “I felt real joy when on April the 26th 1918 at the railway station Kolpakovo, on the border of Ukrainian and Don troops, I posted a guard from the Bogdanov Regiment, two guns of the Odynytsia battery and unfurled our flag and stuck it on the border during their salute. Here, in fact, so to speak, I felt how the lands of Ukraine are separated from foreign lands.”

Recalling these events, Volodymyr Sikevych also wrote: "The Cossacks brought two tall pillars, painted them in the yellow and blue paint they found at the station, painted a trident on each of the two pillars, and wrote" UPR" and our native state flag was nailed to the pillars! The priest prayed and sprinkled holy water on the flags. When the Cossacks brought the pillars onto the mountain and put them in the ground, the music played our anthem, the cannons gave fireworks, and the Cossacks shouted mighty “Glory!” Later, Colonel V. Sikevych took part in the organization of the defense of the eastern borders of the Ukrainian state.