Ukrainian War of Independence - End of Hostilities, 1921

End of Hostilities, 1921

On October 12, 1921 a Soviet delegation signed an armistice and began peace talks with Poland. Meanwhile, Petliura's Ukrainian forces – which now numbered 23,000 soldiers and controlled territories immediately to the east of Poland, planned an offensive into central Ukraine for November 11 – but were attacked by the Bolsheviks on November 10. After several battles, they were driven into Polish-controlled territory by November 21. On March 18, 1921, Poland signed a peace treaty in Riga, Latvia with Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine. This effectively ended Poland's alliance obligations with Petliura's Ukrainian People's Republic. According to this treaty, the Bolsheviks recognized Polish control over Galicia (Ukrainian: Halychyna) and western Volhynia – the western part of Ukraine – while Poland recognized the larger central parts of Ukrainian territory, as well as eastern and southern areas, as part of Soviet Ukraine.

Having secured peace on the Western front, the Bolsheviks immediately moved to crush the remnants of the White Movement. After a final offensive in the Isthmus of Perekop, the Red Army overran Crimea. Wrangel evacuated the Volunteer Army to Constantinople in November 1920. After its military and political defeat, the Directorate continued to maintain control over some of its military forces; in October 1921, it launched a series of guerrilla raids into central Ukraine that reached as far east as the modern Kiev Oblast ("Kiev province"). On November 4, the Directorate's guerrillas captured Korosten and seized a cache of military supplies. But on November 17, 1921, this force was surrounded by Bolshevik cavalry and destroyed.