The Chortkiv offensive ( Ukrainian: ''Чортківська офензива, Чортків,'' Polish: ''Ofensywa czortkowska, Czortków;'' 7–28 June 1919) also known as the June offensive, was one of the most successful counteroffensive military operations of the Ukrainian Galician Army (UHA) against the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...

during the Polish-Ukrainian War in 1918–1919. Around 19,000–20,000 Ukrainians pushed back the Poles along the entire front of the 39,000-strong Polish Army, reinforced by the

French Third Republic The French Third Republic (, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940, after the Fall of France durin ...

Goals

The Ukrainian goal of the offensive was to push the Polish Army back to the Zolota Lypa River to improve the morale of the local Ukrainians and the UHA, as well as to provide a defensible area from which to mobilize a larger force and push the Poles back past

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

(known as Lwów in Polish),

Przemyśl Przemyśl () is a city in southeastern Poland with 56,466 inhabitants, as of December 2023. Data for territorial unit 1862000. In 1999, it became part of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Subcarpathian Voivodeship. It was previously the capital of Prz ...

Chełm Chełm (; ; ) is a city in eastern Poland in the Lublin Voivodeship with 60,231 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is located to the south-east of Lublin, north of Zamość and south of Biała Podlaska, some from the border with Ukraine. The ...

Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...

and other territories claimed by the West Ukrainian People's Republic after 1 November 1918.

Ukrainian offensive

On 8 June 1919, the Ukrainian Galician Army, numbering around 19,000–20,000 men, assaulted

Chortkiv Chortkiv (, ; ; ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city in Chortkiv Raion, Ternopil Oblast, western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Chortkiv Raion, housing the district's local administration buildings. Chortkiv hosts the administratio ...

, forcing the Poles to retreat to the Holohory– Peremyshliany– Bukachivtsi line. Under the command of

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Oleksandr Hrekov, the Ukrainian forces reached Lviv, the main urban center of

Eastern Galicia Eastern Galicia (; ; ) is a geographical region in Western Ukraine (present day oblasts of Lviv Oblast, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Ivano-Frankivsk and Ternopil Oblast, Ternopil), having also essential historic importance in Poland. Galicia ( ...

and proclaimed capital of the

West Ukrainian People's Republic The West Ukrainian People's Republic (; West Ukrainian People's Republic#Name, see other names) was a short-lived state that controlled most of Eastern Galicia from November 1918 to July 1919. It included major cities of Lviv, Ternopil, Kolom ...

, although they were unable to capture it.Kubiyovych The Ukrainian forces also gained victories at Yahilnytsia (7–8 June), Vyhnanka (8 June), Bilobozhnytsia (9–10 June), Kopychyntsi (10 June),

Yazlovets Yazlovets (; ) is a village in Chortkiv Raion, Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine. It is a Roman Catholic pilgrimage centre of local significance. The village belongs to the hromada, Buchach urban hromada. It lies on the Vilchivchik river, a tributary of t ...

(11–12 June),

Buchach Buchach (, ; ; or ; ; ; ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city located on the Strypa River (a tributary of the Dniester) in Chortkiv Raion of Ternopil Oblast (Oblast, province) of Western Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Buchach urban h ...

(12 June), Terebovlya (12–13 June), Monastyryska (13 June),

Ternopil Ternopil, known until 1944 mostly as Tarnopol, is a city in western Ukraine, located on the banks of the Seret River. Ternopil is one of the major cities of Western Ukraine and the historical regions of Galicia and Podolia. The populatio ...

(14 June), Kozova (14 June), Nyzhniv (14–15 June), Pidhaytsi (15–16 June),

Berezhany Berezhany ( ; ; ; , ''Bzhezhani''/''Bzhizhani'') is a small List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ternopil Raion, Ternopil Oblast, western Ukraine. It lies about from the administrative center of the oblast, Ternopil. Berezhany hosts the administr ...

(20–21 June).Pidkova However, despite the town of Berezhany falling into Ukrainian hands, the Polish forces were able to mount an orderly retreat and prevent the Ukrainian forces from developing the offensive further, denying them ammunition stockpiles (which were badly needed by the Ukrainians) and slowing the momentum of the offensive considerably. On June 23rd, the Polish forces successfully attacked Holohory, pushing the Ukrainians back beyond the Zolota Lypa river.

Polish counterattack

As the Ukrainian Galician Army suffered from a general lack of ammunition, on 28 June the better equipped and numerically superior Polish forces broke through the Ukrainian lines at Janczyn and forced them to retreat and evacuate across the Zbruch River. Due to the support of the

in the war, the Polish Army was able to assemble a much larger and more powerful force of around 39,000–40,000 men against the Ukrainian Galician Army, and the Ukrainians were forced to return to their previous positions and abandon the cities and villages they had captured during their recent offensive. Eventually, the Ukrainian forces were forced back towards the Dnipro Valley, which was then controlled by the

Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) was a short-lived state in Eastern Europe. Prior to its proclamation, the Central Council of Ukraine was elected in March 1917 Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, as a result of the February Revolution, ...

, another nascent Ukrainian state.

Aftermath

The collapse of the Ukrainian lines at Janczyn forced the Ukrainian forces to retreat from Galicia, and, on July 16, 1919, the government and armed forces of the

moved to the territory of

further east. Despite the operational and strategic victory of Poland, the initial tactical victories of the numerically inferior Ukrainian forces against the comparatively better equipped Polish army had a profoundly positive effect on Ukrainian morale, both in Galicia and elsewhere, cementing the offensive as an example of Ukrainian military victories during the

Ukrainian War of Independence The Ukrainian War of Independence, also referred to as the Ukrainian–Soviet War in Ukraine, lasted from March 1917 to November 1921 and was part of the wider Russian Civil War. It saw the establishment and development of an independent Ukr ...

Notes

References

''Chortkiv offensive''
at th
''Encyclopedia of Ukraine''
* * Kubiyovych, Volodymyr, Kuzelia, Zenon. ''Entsyklopediya Ukrainoznavstva'' (Encyclopedia of Ukrainian studies)'', 3 volumes (1994). Kyiv. *Ihor Pidkova (editor), Roman Shust (editor),
Dovidnyk z istorii Ukrainy
", 3 Volumes,

, Kyiv, 1993-1999, (t. 1), (t. 2), (t. 3). Article

{{coord missing, Ukraine Battles of the Polish–Ukrainian War Ukrainian Galician Army Military campaigns involving Poland Battles of the Russian Civil War in 1919 Chortkiv 1919 in Poland 1919 in Ukraine June 1919