On the old cemetery by the road from Litky to Semypolky, in Brovary Raion of Kyiv Region, a mound with a cross rises. Here lie the soldiers of the army of the Ukrainian People's Republic who fell in battle against Bolshevik troops in the winter of 1919. This mass grave is often called the "second Kruty", although the true history of the battle turned out somewhat different from the legend.
The legend of the junkers after Kruty
For a long time, it was believed that the battle took place in January 1918, immediately after the Battle of Kruty. According to the accounts of eyewitnesses and their descendants, a detachment of 24 junkers from the Bohdan Khmelnytskyi Kyiv Military School was retreating to Kyiv: they took the railway to Bobryk station, walked through Semypolky and reached Litky through the forest. At dawn, Red Guards entered the village, and the youths fought an unequal battle — 20 died, and another four were executed. The villagers buried the fallen in a mass grave. This version was voiced in 2008 by historian Volodymyr Ulianych.
What the archives say
The metric books of the Mykolaiv and Troitska churches of the town of Litky do not record any mass burials from 1918. Instead, they contain records of the death and burial of UPR soldiers who fell on January 18–20 (January 31 — February 2), 1919. Based on these documents, employees of the Central State Historical Archive reconstructed the events.
On January 18, 1919, Bolshevik reconnaissance killed a sentry from a regiment of the Directorate's army. The main battle took place the following day, January 19 (February 1). In it, soldiers of the 1st and 2nd Chornomorskyi kurens of the UPR army fought from the Ukrainian side; their opponents were likely Red Army soldiers of the Bohun Regiment. Fourteen UPR soldiers died in battle, and another died of wounds two days later. In total, 16 Ukrainian soldiers died and succumbed to wounds in Litky. They were buried on January 22 (February 4), 1919, in a joint mass grave in the new cemetery by the road to Semypolky. The names of only two are known — Oleksandr Korotenko from Vasylkiv uyezd and Anatoliy Kyslovskyi from Pryluky. The archives did not preserve Bolshevik losses. After the battle, they captured Litky and entered Kyiv on January 23 (February 5).
Memory
A cross was erected on the grave, and the mound became a place to honor those who fell for the Ukrainian People's Republic. People come here on the anniversary of the battle and on public holidays. In 2009, Viktor Yushchenko called the Battle of Litky a vivid example of the heroism of youth during the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917–1921 and urged to bring the names of the fallen back from oblivion.
How to get there
Litky is an old town on the Desna River in Brovary Raion, about 40 km northeast of Kyiv, near the Zalissia National Park. The mound is in the cemetery near the exit towards Semypolky. Nearby in the village, there are several more monuments and mass graves from various wars.
Tip
This is a place of memory, so please behave quietly and respectfully here. A trip to Litky is easy to combine with the Desna River and Zalissia National Park. Read more about the region in the article about Kyiv Polissia.
