On January 29, Ukraine commemorates the events that took place at the end of January 1918, when the young defenders of the Ukrainian People’s Republic stopped the Bolshevik army’s offensive at the cost of their own lives.

 

The coming to power of the Bolsheviks in Russia in November 1917 posed a threat to Ukraine. They sought to establish control over our country. Finally, in January 1918, the Bolsheviks declared a general offensive against Ukraine.

 

On this day in 1918, at the Kruty railway station in the Chernihiv region, about 300 students entered into battle against an army of six thousand Bolsheviks. Many students were killed in the unequal battle, but the Ukrainian resistance delayed the Russian offensive on Kyiv.

 

The battle at Kruty was not mentioned for a long time. Only during the years of independence in Ukraine did they start talking about the courageous feat of the students. At the state level, the memory of the heroes of the battle began to be honored in 2004.

 

In 2006, the Kruty Heroes Memorial was unveiled at the scene of the events. To mark the 80th anniversary of the events at Kruty, the National Bank of Ukraine issued a commemorative coin. Events in honor of the heroes, people’s councils and reconstructions of the battle are held in different cities of Ukraine.

 

The tragic death of the students at Kruty became a symbol of patriotism and sacrifice in the struggle for independent Ukraine.