Zelenskyy and Zaluzhnyi honored memory of Kruty Heroes. PHOTOS
A ceremony of laying flowers to the memorial cross to the Heroes of Kruty at Askold’s Grave took place in Kyiv.
This was reported by Censor.NET.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy laid flowers at the memorial cross to the Heroes of Kruty at Askold's Grave in Kyiv.
The ceremony was also attended by: Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, Minister of Defence Rustem Umierov, Head of the Security Service Vasyl Maliuk, Head of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov, Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council Oleksii Danilov and Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Roman Mashovets.
Zelenskyy also honoured the memory of Mark Paslavsky, who died in August 2014 in Donbas, the Hero of the Heavenly Hundred Oleksandr Klitynskyi, and participants in the Russian-Ukrainian war Andrii Pilshchikov (Jus) and Dmytro Kotsiubailo (Da Vinci), who are buried at Askold's Grave.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi reminded that on 29 January 1918, the UPR army fulfilled its combat mission on the field near Kruty - it stopped the Russian occupiers who were rushing to Kyiv.
"106 years have passed, and today Ukrainian soldiers are once again fighting Russian invaders along the entire frontline and proving every minute that Ukraine has been, is and will remain free and independent.
We honour the memory of the Ukrainians who gave their lives in the battle of Kruty, which became a symbol of heroism and self-sacrifice of the younger generation in the fight against the aggressor. We thank everyone who is now defending the state, its independence and future," he stressed.
Commander of the Land Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi also paid tribute to the Kruty Heroes.
Fighting under the steeps
On 29 January 1918, 520 Ukrainian soldiers, including students, with 16 machine guns and one cannon, fought the Red Army troops, who outnumbered them in manpower and equipment.
The battle on the railway platform in Kruty lasted about 5 hours. In total, according to various estimates, about 70-100 people were killed on the Ukrainian side in the battle of Kruty. The losses of the Bolshevik (Bolsheviks were a far-left faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) - ed. note) troops reached 300 people. The Russian-Bolshevik attackers lost their combat capability for four days. The delay of the enemy made it possible to conclude the Brest Peace Treaty.
