Pokrovsky Viktor Konstantinovich born in 1920. General Pokrovsky: the story of the forgotten leader of the White movement
Lieutenant General (04/04/1919, promoted by General Denikin). Graduated from the Odessa Cadet Corps (1906), Pavlovsk military school(1909) and the Sevastopol Aviation School. Member of the First World War: captain in the 1st Grenadier Regiment; military pilot - squadron commander and commander of the 12th air squadron in Riga, 1914-1917. In the White movement: on behalf of the Kuban Rada, he formed the 2nd volunteer detachment (Kuban army) of about 3,000 fighters, 01-03.1918. The very first small detachment of Pokrovsky (about 300 Cossack soldiers) inflicted a severe defeat on them (01/21-23/1918) in battles with the red units near Enem, near the village of Georgy-Afinskaya. 02/03/1918 returned to Krasnodar, which soon, 03/01/1918, was forced to leave under pressure from the vastly superior forces of the Reds. Appointed commander of the Kuban army 01.03-30.03.1918. After a meeting with the Volunteer Army of General Kornilov on March 27, 1918, in the area of the village of Ryazanskaya (village Shenjiy), the Kuban army entered integral part(3000 fighters) in volunteer army(2700 bayonets and sabers, of which 700 were wounded), and by mutual agreement, the overall command of these forces was entrusted to General Kornilov. Commander of the troops of the Kuban Territory, 04-06.1918; commander of the 1st Kuban brigade, 06-08.1918. Commander of the 1st Kuban Cavalry Division, 08.1918-01.1919. From 01/03/1919 commander of the 1st Kuban Corps, 01-07.1919. The commander of the group of troops of the Caucasian army near Tsaritsyn, captured Kamyshin, on the Volga; 07-09.1919. 09/09/1919 fell ill and surrendered the 1st Kuban Corps to General Pisarev. After recovery, he was appointed head of the rear of the Caucasian army, 10-11.1919. From 13 (26). 11. 1919 commander of the Caucasian army, replaced General Wrangel; 11/26/1919-01/21/1920. He emigrated from the Crimea on 04.1920 to Bulgaria without receiving a command post in the Russian army under General Wrangel. Killed on 11/09/1922 (by agents of the NKVD?) in Kyustendil (Bulgaria) in his office as a newspaper editor.
Baron Wrangel testifies
General Pokrovsky, promoted to this rank by a decree of the Kuban government, I knew from his work in St. Petersburg in an officer organization headed by Count Palen. At that time he was in the service of the aviation troops with the rank of staff captain. An extraordinary mind, outstanding energy, great willpower and great ambition, at the same time he was a little selective in means, prone to adventure.
Wrangel P.N. Notes. November 1916 - November 1920 Memoirs. Memoirs. - Minsk, 2003. vol. 1. p. 109
In addition to General Pokrovsky and Colonel Shkuro, a number of officers from the army arrived at the meeting of the Regional Council. Despite the presence of headquarters in Ekaterinodar, both the officers who arrived and those living in the rear behaved unacceptably loose, drank, behaved outrageously and littered with money. Colonel Shkuro behaved especially impermissibly. He brought with him to Yekaterinodar a division of his partisans, which bore the name "Wolf". In wolf hats, with wolf tails on bunchuks, the partisans of Colonel Shkuro were not military unit, but the typical freemen Stenka Razin. Quite often at night, after a drinking bout of partisans, Shkuro with his "wolves" rushed through the streets of the city with songs, boom and shots. Returning one evening to the hotel, I saw a crowd of people on Red Street. Light poured from the open windows of the mansion, trumpeters played on the pavement under the windows and Cossacks danced. At some distance stood, holding the horses in the reins, several "wolves". When I asked what this meant, I received the answer that Colonel Shkuro was "walking". In the military hotel, where we were staying, the most reckless revelry was taking place all the time. Chesov at 11-12 pm a gang of tipsy officers appeared, the songbooks of the local guards division were introduced into the common hall, and a revelry was going on before the eyes of the public. General Pokrovsky, Colonel Shkuro, and other officers usually sat at the head of the table. One of these drinking parties, chaired by General Pokrovsky, ended tragically. The convoy officer shot an officer of the Tatar division. All these outrages were carried out before the eyes of the commander-in-chief, the whole city knew about them, at the same time nothing was done to stop this debauchery.
Wrangel P.N. Notes. November 1916 - November 1920 Memoirs. Memoirs. - Minsk, 2003. vol. 1. p. 153
In September-October 1918, after the city of Maykop was occupied by the 1st Kuban division of General Pokrovsky, in the city and its suburbs, almost 4,000 inhabitants who, one way or another, were under suspicion of collaborating with the Soviet authorities. They even cut out those who simply worked at the enterprises of the city nationalized by the Bolsheviks. The massacre of the Maykopians lasted almost a month and a half without a break.
It all started with such an order from the white “hero”, Major General Pokrovsky, who was brutalized from his own impunity.
“For the fact that the population of the city of Maikop (Nikolaevskaya, Pokrovskaya and Troitskaya settlements) fired at volunteer troops, I impose on the aforementioned outskirts of the city an indemnity in the amount of one million rubles.
The contribution must be paid within three days.
If my demand is not met, the aforementioned settlements will be burned to the ground. I entrust the collection of indemnity to the commandant of the city Yesaul Razderishchina.
Chief of the 1st Kuban Cossack Division, Major General Pokrovsky.
The local monk Ilidor testified:
“On the morning of September 21, in Maykop, near the station, from the side of the fields, I saw a mass of chopped up corpses. Afterward, they explained to me that 1,600 Bolsheviks were hacked to death during the night, captured in the city garden and surrendered. On the gallows I saw 26 people.
I saw further how 33 youths were led from the tannery; because they worked in a nationalized factory. All walked barefoot, in the same underwear. They walked in a row hand in hand with each other. Officers and Cossacks followed behind and whipped them with whips. Three youths were hanged; the rest were waiting for a terrible procedure. Thirty were tied in twos and put on their knees. One of the pair was ordered to tilt his head back, the other to tilt his head forward.
When the young man did this, they cut their necks and faces with checkers, saying:
Keep your head down! Get your face up!
At each blow, the crowd swayed in horror, and a staccato groan rushed. When all the couples were cut down, the crowd was dispersed with whips.
Undercover report to the Special Counterintelligence Section of the General Staff Division under the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the South of Russia. November 1918:
“The basis for the imposition of indemnity on the inhabitants of the outskirts of Maikop and cruel reprisals against them for the gene. Pokrovsky was served by rumors about the shooting of residents at the retreating troops of General Geiman on September 20, when the Bolsheviks recaptured the city of Maykop.
After examining this issue, it was found out that the fourth platoon of an officer company was the last to retreat from the city from the tannery (Nikolaevsky district), leading a direct firefight with the chains of the enemy advancing from the eastern part of the city. Thus, in this case, it is very difficult to establish the direct participation of the inhabitants of the Nikolaevsky region in the shooting at the troops of General Geiman. The Pokrovsky district is so remote from the path of retreat of the troops that, due to its location, it could not physically take part in the shelling of the troops, not excluding, of course, the possibility of cases of single shooting during the start of an offensive on the streets of the city.
From the side of the Trinity Territory, or rather, the so-called "Niz", from the islands of the river and the banks, there were cases of shooting at the fleeing residents of the city of Maikop crossing the river, but there were no dead or wounded. This to some extent indicates that the shooting was not intense and was of a random nature.
Before the Bolsheviks left Maykop, the outskirts were repeatedly subjected to general (Afipsky Voronov's regiment), single (Abramov's Yeisk regiment) searches. The outskirts were also searched after the occupation of Maykop by a detachment of General Geiman. All this indicates that the population of the outskirts, as such, could not have weapons, and such could only be in the possession of individuals. In addition, both the Bolsheviks and General Geiman suggested that the population hand over their weapons, which were demolished in significant quantities.
Meanwhile, during the occupation of the mountains. In the first days of Maykop, 2,500 Maikop inhabitants were cut down directly during the lesson, which figure was announced by General Pokrovsky himself at a public dinner.
Those to be executed lined up on their knees, the Cossacks, passing along the line, cut their heads and necks with checkers. Many cases of execution of persons who were completely uninvolved in the Bolshevik movement are indicated. In some cases, even the certificate and petition of the institution did not help. For example, the petition of the teachers' council technical school for one worker and teacher's institute for student Sivokonya.
Meanwhile, ordinary Cossacks mercilessly robbed the population of the outskirts, taking everything they could. The attached list of what the Cossacks took in the gardens (see Bozhkov's testimony) and a copy of the complaint to the chieftain of the region, the editor of the newspaper Rogachev, sufficiently indicate the nature of the "searches" carried out by the Cossacks of the division of Gen. Pokrovsky.
Worst of all, the searches were accompanied by total violence against women and girls. Even old women were not spared. Violence was accompanied by bullying and beatings. Randomly interviewed residents living at the end of Gogolevskaya Street, about two blocks down the street, testified about the rape of 17 persons, including girls, one old woman and one pregnant woman (testimony of Ezerskaya).
Violence was usually carried out "collectively" by several people alone. Two hold by the legs, and the rest use. A survey of people living on Polevaya Street confirms the massive nature of the violence. The death toll is believed to be in the hundreds.
It is curious to note that the Cossacks, committing robberies and violence, were convinced of their rightness and impunity and said that "everything is allowed to them."
From the memories of an emigrant. N.V. Voronovich. Between two fires // Archive of the Russian Revolution. T. 7. - Berlin, 1922:
“A peasant from the village of Izmailovka, Volchenko, who came running to Sochi, told even more nightmarish scenes that played out before his eyes when Maikop was occupied by a detachment of General Pokrovsky.
Pokrovsky ordered the execution of all members of the local council and other prisoners who did not have time to escape from Maikop. To intimidate the population, the execution was public. At first it was supposed to hang all those sentenced to death, but then it turned out that there were not enough gallows. Then the Cossacks, who had been feasting all night and fairly tipsy, turned to the general with a request to allow them to cut off the heads of the condemned. The general approved. In the bazaar, near the gallows, on which the already executed Bolsheviks dangled, several wooden planks were placed, and the Cossacks, drunk on wine and blood, began to chop off the heads of workers and Red Army soldiers with axes and sabers. Very few were finished off immediately, but the majority of those executed after the first blow of the checkers jumped up with gaping wounds on their heads, they were again thrown onto the chopping block and again began to chop ...
Volchenko, a young 25-year-old guy, became completely gray-haired from the experience in Maykop.
Monument to the victims of the Maykop massacre
From the memoirs of a white general, chief of staff of the 1st Army Volunteer Corps E.I. Dostavalov:
“The path of such generals as Wrangel, Kutepov, Pokrovsky is littered with hanged and shot without any reason or trial ... However, it is generally recognized that General Pokrovsky was the most bloodthirsty in the army.”
This is just one example of a small town captured by "their nobility" during the Civil War.
The civil war was full of atrocities on both sides, that's why it is a civil war.However, for some reason, White still lost it. Why?Ask General Pokrovsky about it.
About Pokrovsky from his colleague:
“Pokrovsky moved the scouts of both brigades to Nevinnomysskaya and captured it. From there I made a sudden raid on Temnolesskaya and took it. At the same time, a Red squadron was captured and some trophies were taken. General Pokrovsky, who arrived shortly thereafter, ordered that all prisoners and even defectors be hanged. I had a collision with him about this, but he just laughed it off and laughed in response to my complaints. Once, when we were having breakfast, he suddenly opened the door to the courtyard, where several hanged men were already hanging from the ropes. “This is to improve the appetite,” he said.
Pokrovsky did not skimp on witticisms like: “nature loves a person”, “the sight of a hanged man enlivens the landscape”, etc. This inhumanity of his, especially when applied without trial, was disgusting to me. His favorite, scoundrel and scoundrel Captain Razderishin, tried in the role of an executioner to please the bloodthirsty instincts of his boss and corrupted the Cossacks, who were accustomed in the end not to put a penny on human life. This did not go unnoticed and was subsequently one of the reasons for the failure white movement».
Shkuro A.G. "Notes of a White Partisan".
Pokrovsky Victor Leonidovich (1889 - November 8, 1922, Kyustendil, Bulgaria) - lieutenant general. Member of the Great civil wars. Pioneer. In 1919, commander of the Caucasian Army, successor in this post to General Baron P. N. Wrangel. He had the ranks: staff captain (1917), colonel (January 24, 1918) and major general (March 1, 1918) - the last two were awarded by the decision of the Kuban Rada. Lieutenant General (April 4, 1919, promoted to General A. I. Denikin).
He graduated from the Odessa Cadet Corps (1906), the Pavlovsk Military School (1909, the first in graduation). He studied in the aviation class of the St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute (1912-1913), graduated from the Sevastopol Aviation School (1914).
He served in the 10th Little Russian Grenadier Field Marshal Count Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky Regiment. Member of the First World War: captain in the 1st Grenadier Regiment; military pilot - squadron commander and, since 1916, commander of the 12th air squadron in Riga. The first Russian pilot to capture an enemy aircraft with a pilot. He was awarded the St. George weapon and the Order of St. George, 4th degree.
In the White movement from the beginning of 1918. On behalf of the Kuban Rada, he formed the 2nd volunteer detachment (Kuban army) of 3,000 fighters, in January - March 1918. The first small detachment of Pokrovsky (about 300 Cossack soldiers) inflicted ( January 21-23, 1918) they were severely defeated near Enem, near the village of Georgie-Afipskaya. On February 3, 1918, he returned to Yekaterinodar, which soon, on March 13 (February 28), 1918, was forced to leave Sorokin under pressure from the vastly superior Red troops, who, as a result, got the city without a fight.
On March 14, 1918, Pokrovsky was appointed commander of the Kuban Army by the Kuban Rada and promoted to colonel, and on March 27 (13) to major general. It is not surprising, therefore, that the leaders of the Volunteer Army looked askance at the "instantaneous" General Pokrovsky. A.I. Denikin gave him the following characterization: “Pokrovsky was young, of low rank and military experience, and unknown to anyone. Be that as it may, he did what more respectable and bureaucratic people were unable to do: he gathered a detachment, which alone represented the actual force capable of fighting and beating the Bolsheviks.
After a meeting with the Volunteer Army of General Kornilov on March 27, 1918, in the area of the village of Ryazanskaya (aul Shenjiy), the Kuban Army became an integral part (3,000 fighters) of the Volunteer Army (2,700 people, of which 700 were wounded), and by mutual agreement, the overall command of these forces was entrusted to General Kornilov.
In April - June 1918 - Commander of the Kuban Territory, in June - August 1918 - Commander of the 1st Kuban Brigade. In August 1918 - January 1919 - commander of the 1st Kuban Cavalry Division, from January 3, 1919 - commander of the 1st Kuban Corps. Since July 1919 - the commander of a group of troops of the Caucasian army near Tsaritsyn, captured Kamyshin on the Volga.
On September 9, 1919, he fell ill and surrendered the 1st Kuban Corps to General Pisarev. After recovery, he was appointed head of the rear of the Caucasian army (October - November 1919). In this capacity, on the orders of General Wrangel, he led the dispersal of the Kuban Cossack Council accused of separatism, one of whose leaders, priest Alexei Kulabukhov, was hanged "for treason against Russia and the Kuban Cossacks" by the verdict of a military court.
From November 26, 1919 to January 21, 1920, he was commander of the Caucasian Army, replaced General Wrangel, who characterized V. L. Pokrovsky as follows: prone to adventure."
He was removed from his post after the complete decomposition of the troops entrusted to him under the blows of the Red Army.
He was distinguished by cruelty: according to contemporaries, where Pokrovsky's headquarters stood, there were always many shot and hanged without trial, one suspected of being sympathetic to the Bolsheviks. Modern Russian historian S. V. Karpenko gives the following “portrait” of V. L. Pokrovsky: “His terrible reputation as a hangman was emphasized appearance. A low, round-shouldered figure, dressed in an unchanging Circassian coat, a frowning forehead, a hooked bird's nose and a piercing gaze from dark eyes resembled a merciless steppe predator. The formidable sight of the officers of his personal convoy armed to the teeth - Chechens and Ingush - further thickened the atmosphere of fear around their adored boss.
He emigrated from the Crimea to Bulgaria in April 1920 without receiving a command post in the Russian army under General Wrangel. Since 1921 he lived in Varna, planned to organize the landing of armed and politically trained personnel from among the white officers on the Black Sea coast of the Kuban to organize anti-Bolshevik propaganda, sabotage and terrorist attacks. Information about the creation of a white military organization fell into the hands of the Bulgarian police (then the prime minister of Bulgaria was the left-wing politician Alexander Stambolisky, who had a negative attitude towards the white movement), which conducted searches and arrests, frustrating the landing plans. Pokrovsky was forced to flee Varna and go into hiding.
On November 3, 1922, members of Pokrovsky's organization killed Alexander Ageev in Sofia, a Cossack leader who worked for Soviet authorities and agitating the Cossacks to return to Russia. As part of the investigation of this murder, Bulgarian police (there is a version that on a "tip" from Soviet agents) arrived in the city of Kyustendil, where Pokrovsky was located. When trying to arrest the general offered armed resistance, was mortally wounded by a bayonet and soon died.
Victor Leonidovich Pokrovsky (1889, Nizhny Novgorod province- November 8, 1922, Kyustendil, Bulgaria) - lieutenant general. Member of the Great and Civil Wars. Pioneer. In 1919, commander of the Caucasian Army, successor in this post to General Baron P. N. Wrangel.
He had the ranks: staff captain (1917), colonel (January 24, 1918) and major general (March 1, 1918) - the last two were awarded by the decision of the Kuban Rada. On April 4, 1919, by order of the Commander-in-Chief V.S.Yu.R., he was promoted to lieutenant general.
Biography
He graduated from the Odessa Cadet Corps (1906) and the Pavlovsk Military School (1909, the first to graduate). He studied in the aviation class of the St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute of Emperor Peter the Great (1912-1913), graduated from the Sevastopol Aviation School (1914).
World War I
He served in the 10th Little Russian Grenadier Regiment. Member of the First World War: captain in the 1st Grenadier Regiment; military pilot - squadron commander and, since 1916, commander of the 12th air squadron in Riga. He was awarded the Order of St. George 4th degree.
Civil War
In the White movement from the beginning of 1918. On behalf of the Kuban Rada, he formed a volunteer detachment (Kuban army) of 3,000 fighters, in January - March 1918. The first small detachment of Pokrovsky (about 300 Cossack soldiers) inflicted (21-23 January 1918) they were severely defeated near Enem, near the village of Georgie-Afipskaya. On February 3, 1918, he returned to Yekaterinodar, which soon, on March 13 (February 28), 1918, was forced to leave Sorokin under pressure from the vastly superior Red troops, who, as a result, got the city without a fight.
On March 14, 1918, Pokrovsky was appointed commander of the Kuban Army by the Kuban Rada and promoted to colonel, and on March 27 (13) to major general. It is not surprising, therefore, that the leaders of the Volunteer Army looked askance at the "instantaneous" General Pokrovsky. A. I. Denikin gave him the following description:
Pokrovsky was young, of low rank and military experience, and unknown to anyone. But he showed seething energy, was bold, cruel, power-hungry and did not really take into account "moral prejudices." ... Be that as it may, he did what more respectable and bureaucratic people were unable to do: he assembled a detachment, which alone represented the actual force capable of fighting and beating the Bolsheviks.
After a meeting with the Volunteer Army of General Kornilov on March 27, 1918, in the area of the village of Ryazanskaya (aul Shenjiy), the Kuban Army became an integral part (3,000 fighters) of the Volunteer Army (2,700 people, of which 700 were wounded), and by mutual agreement, the overall command of these forces was entrusted to General Kornilov.
In April - June 1918 - Commander of the Kuban Territory, in June - August 1918 - Commander of the 1st Kuban Brigade. In August 1918 - January 1919 - commander of the 1st Kuban Cavalry Division, from January 3, 1919 - commander of the 1st Kuban Corps. Since July 1919 - the commander of a group of troops of the Caucasian army near Tsaritsyn, captured Kamyshin on the Volga.
In September 1918, the units commanded by Pokrovsky participated in the "Maikop tragedy", when about 2000 people were executed in the city, mostly captured Red Army soldiers, but also random people accused of Bolshevism.
On September 9, 1919, he fell ill and surrendered the 1st Kuban Corps to General Pisarev. After recovery, he was appointed head of the rear of the Caucasian army (October - November 1919). In this capacity, on the orders of General Wrangel, he led the dispersal of the Kuban Cossack Rada accused of separatism, one of whose leaders, priest Alexei Kulabukhov, was hanged "for treason against Russia and the Kuban Cossacks" by the verdict of a military court.
From November 26, 1919 to January 21, 1920 - commander of the Caucasian army, replaced General Wrangel, who characterized V. L. Pokrovsky as follows:
An extraordinary mind, outstanding energy, great willpower and great ambition, at the same time he was a little selective in means, prone to adventure.
On November 9, 1922, in the city of Kyustendil, on the border of Bulgaria and Serbia, one of the conscious patriots of the Russian land, General Viktor Leonidovich Pokrovsky, died from a treacherous hand. He was an energetic, hot temperament, educated, selfless, humane, inspired and fanatically devoted to the idea of fighting Bolshevism.
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> This is the same Pokrovsky who was the first of the Russian military pilots during the European war to capture an enemy apparatus with a pilot and an observer in an air battle, and thus at the very beginning of hostilities immediately covered the name of the then young Russian aviation with glory.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> This is the Pokrovsky who, amid extremely difficult conditions, was the first to raise the banner of struggle in the Kuban for the liberation of Russia from her oppressors.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> He died in the full bloom of his powers, at a time when, as a leader, he came to his old comrades-in-arms, in order to help them, breathe in, and support their fading strength and carry them to a new feat, amid the hardships of exile.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> He could not put up with the gray emigre life. The exceptional ideological spirit inherent in him, the high sense of nationalism and love for Russia always fascinated him to self-sacrifice for his dearly beloved Motherland.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> Two years of foreign life passed for the deceased in a continuous scientific work. He has thoroughly studied the current general political and economic situation in Europe and in particular Soviet Russia, writing about him a huge work of his analysis in five parts.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> It was too hard for him to live and work among the Parisian, Berlin and Viennese emigration, most of which had gone into the area of personal material concerns of life.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> At the end of 1922, he left Berlin and headed for a country where, amidst particularly difficult conditions, army cadres live - that category of Russian emigrants who bore on their shoulders all the burden of armed struggle, campaigns and evacuations, but
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> still continuing to firmly and ideologically believe in the imminent fall of the power of the Soviets - in Bulgaria. His appearance in Bulgaria caused him to be hunted by the communists.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> He was twice betrayed by them, who vigilantly followed, in the person of Chekist Chaikin, the traitor Secretev and others, this brilliant organizer. The first time he was betrayed by General Muravyov, who sold his sword to the Bolsheviks. - "Fortunately, although at the last moment, wrote V. L. Pokrovsky on October 30, 1922, but nevertheless it was noticed." I had to leave Sofia and move to the city of Rodomir. Alas! .. He escaped from one traitor, and there another one was waiting for him. And who? An officer known to him for four years. Centurion Artemy Sokolov.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> On November 7, Pokrovsky sent Sokolov to Sofia to carry out some assignments and ordered him to arrive the next day with a certain train in the city of Kyustendil, where their meeting was to take place. Before sending Sokolov, the officers who were with General Pokrovsky told the latter that they did not trust Sokolov and were afraid that he would betray him no matter how.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> - "I have known him personally for 4 years, he and everyone who is with me - people - are beyond suspicion," Pokrovsky answered.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> But the next day Sokolov did not arrive with the agreed train; this aroused even more suspicion among those who were with Pokrovsky, who suggested that he move to another city. However, he strongly rejected this proposal.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> On November 9, at about 10 pm, Chaikin's Chekists arrived in Kyustendil in cars and, together with Bulgarian soldiers, surrounded the house where Pokrovsky was staying, opened fire. Pokrovsky ran out, wounded two Chekists with shots from a revolver and broke through the attackers into the yard; here he was wounded by a Bulgarian soldier with a bayonet in the side and fell; Communists ran up, grabbed the wounded man, put him on a car and drove away. On the way, he was tortured, robbed and, finally, brutally finishing off, they threw the mutilated body into the morgue of the Kyustendil hospital.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> At the request of the relatives of the murdered man, addressed to the prosecutor of the Sofia Court on the investigation of the robbery of V. L. Pokrovsky and the torture, the consequence of which was his death, the Bulgarian authorities did not even consider it necessary to answer. The traitor Sokolov, having received 10,000 Bulgarian levs for his vile deed, remained in Sofia under the protection of the communists and their minions.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> The past of this outstanding person is very interesting. It also reveals his exceptional talents, a rare love for the Motherland and a firm, unshakable faith in the revival of Russia.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> V. L. Pokrovsky from Odessa cadet corps entered the Pavlovsk military school in 1906, from which he graduated first and then was promoted to officer in the Little Russian Grenadier Regiment. The mediocre service in the regiment did not satisfy him: he, while still quite young, dreamed of a big job, of broad activities. He devoted all his leisure time to reading, scientific pursuits, and was especially interested in aviation. He believed in its future, in its enormous importance in the war, and decided to devote himself to this area.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> In 1912, he entered the Petrograd Polytechnic Institute, in the aviation class, where he studied technology with exceptional interest. aircraft and then moved to pass practical exercises to the Sevastopol Aviation School. Having completed the course and passed the exam in November 1914, he immediately went to the Active Army, with the title of military pilot so dear to him.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> Not a month goes by without a brave pilot accomplishing an outstanding feat. One by one military awards adorn his chest. Here is a small extract from Pokrovsky's track record for just two months of his activity:
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> Military pilot lieutenant Viktor Pokrovsky, in the period from May 16 to July 15, 1915, made, excluding flights, 40 air reconnaissance, each time performing these tasks, giving the headquarters of the corps valuable information about the enemy. These reconnaissances were carried out under heavy gun, machine-gun and rifle fire from the enemy. During the indicated period of time, Pokrovsky, according to the official report, stayed in the air over the enemy for 141 hours; participated in four air battles, firing at enemy vehicles and twice preventing them from conducting reconnaissance; in addition to this, on May 16, he participated in an air battle with a German apparatus and carried out reconnaissance, despite the fact that his apparatus was damaged by an enemy bullet, and 35 miles from his positions and all the way to them was fired upon by a German apparatus flying directly overhead , and moved positions at an altitude of only 700 meters. On the 7th of June he fired on the German apparatus and forced it to descend. On June 15, he made a night flight to search for enemy batteries and found six enemy batteries. On June 27, he pursued the enemy apparatus and forced him to turn around and descend. On July 9, during reconnaissance of the rear of the enemy, which hit the engine with a bullet, the valve and the thrust of the cylinder of the Pokrovsky apparatus were turned off and, despite the fact that the cylinder was completely unusable and the engine turned off 11 miles behind enemy lines, he managed to descend on his area without damaging the device.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> On July 15, Pokrovsky accomplishes a deed so significant in terms of courage and value of the result that soon, at the suggestion of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, he was awarded the officer's cross of St. George of the 4th degree and his name appears on the pages of numerous orders, newspapers and magazines.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> It was on the Austrian front, near the Golden Linden, where the 2nd Siberian Corps Aviation Detachment was stationed, in which the deceased served.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> On the morning of July 15, Pokrovsky, together with his observer cornet Plonsky, after completing the usual reconnaissance, returned very tired to the airfield of the detachment.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> On the same day, at about noon, a large Austrian "albatross" suddenly appeared near Zolotaya Linden, which was heading for the army headquarters located not far from the 2nd Siberian Aviation Detachment, apparently with the intention of throwing bombs there.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> Pokrovsky noticed this: forgetting his fatigue, he ordered the observer Plonsky to get into the airplane. In an instant they jumped on the "farman" and the device began to take height, heading straight for the Austrian albatross. At an altitude of about two versts, almost above the very headquarters of the army, Pokrovsky entered into battle with an Austrian pilot. With accurate shooting and amazingly skillful control of the device, Pokrovsky caused confusion on the albatross and the Austrian, turning, began to leave. But Pokrovsky managed to take a position above him and began to press him to the bottom. The enemy was descending and then, fearing to sit on the tops of the forest, he was forced to descend. Then Pokrovsky hurried down 40 fathoms from the albatross and jumped out of his farman; ordering Plonsky to guard him, he himself rushed to the Austrians, who were in a hurry to set fire to their apparatus. Pokrovsky quickly ran up to the pilot and knocked him down with a blow from the butt of the revolver, and on the observer, an Austrian officer general staff, directed the Mauser. Having disarmed the officers and placing them in front of him with their hands clasped back, he personally followed them and thus brought the prisoners to the army headquarters, and then delivered a completely serviceable Austrian apparatus to the aviation detachment.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> The name of Pokrovsky became popular among the troops. In September 1915, he was urgently summoned to Headquarters, where he was given an extremely important task of reconnaissance of the enemy's deep rear. This assignment was brilliantly carried out by him.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> In January 1916, Pokrovsky, with the rank of captain, was appointed commander of the 12th Army Aviation Detachment stationed in Riga. The daily raids of the German "Taube" made the work of the detachment extremely intense, constant reconnaissance was very often accompanied by air battles. The composition of the detachment was greatly thinned, Pokrovsky himself, already wounded without that, received a concussion, a fracture of two ribs and froze his hands. For that, his detachment gained the glory of the fearless and broke the record for staying in the air.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> The revolution came, and with it the disintegration of the army. A true warrior could not endure and reconcile himself with the indelible shame of the "great and bloodless" and, leaving his beloved work, went to St. Petersburg, where he joined the organizations of Kornilov and Kolchak. After October coup, without losing faith in the cause of salvation, made his way to the Don to Kaledin, and then to"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> Kuban, - to Yekaterinodar, where he became the head of the first volunteer formations.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> The Kuban itself characterizes Pokrovsky best of all in her numerous resolutions on his election as an honorary Cossack of the cities and villages he liberated from the Bolsheviks. The simple, artless language of the resolutions of the Cossack fees calls him the hero of the Kuban, the liberator of the region from the Bolshevik fanatics, the defender of law and justice, the patron of the destitute. 95 pages Kuban Army elected him as their honorary elder. This is indeed honorary title he received from 8 Circassian auls, 7 villages of the Terek Host, 5 - Don Troops and 3 Astrakhan Troops. Yekaterinodar, Novorossiysk, Maikop, Yeysk, Anapa, Temryuk and Tuapse elected him their honorary citizen.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> By independently raising an uprising in the Kuban in December 1917, defeating the Bolsheviks in the Novorossiysk direction, organizing the heroic defense of Yekaterinodar and capturing more than 4,000 people, 16 guns, 60 machine guns, in the January and February battles, Pokrovsky, already in the position of Commander of the Troops of the Kuban Region, safely on February 28, 1918 he withdrew the Army and Yekaterinodar and on March 14 he joined the Army of General Kornilov.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> To fulfill the task of General Kornilov, he, as they say, from a horse, among all the hardships of the 1st Kuban campaign, set about organizing regular units of the 1st Kuban Cossack division. He applied a strictly thought-out plan to this matter and by May 1918 formed the first 4 regiments of this division and thereby revived the Kuban cavalry. Forming and at the same time fighting with his regiments, Pokrovsky from April to August liquidated the Batai and Taman red armies, cleared the Zadonsk region and all the Black Sea and Zakuban villages from the Bolsheviks. Participated with his division in the occupation of Yekaterinodar and, after continuous fighting, captured the cities of Temryuk, Anapa, Novorossiysk, Maikop, Tuapse and Yeysk.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> As Commander of the 1st Kuban Cossack Corps from August 1918 to February 1919, Pokrovsky defeated and captured the 11th, 12th and 13th Soviet armies and took possession of almost everything North Caucasus, with the cities - Georgievsk, Mozdok, Grozny, Kizlyar - and captured 119,000 Red Army soldiers, 171 guns, 426 machine guns and 19 armored trains.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> In February 1919, the 1st Kuban and 2nd Don Corps, under the general command of Pokrovsky, were transferred to the Don, where then the position of the Whites deteriorated greatly. He waged tireless battles on the outskirts of Novocherkassk, forced the Bolsheviks to withdraw and captured the Donetsk coal basin, the 2nd Don and Sal districts and, which is very important, completely defeated Dumenko's cavalry.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> In May 1919, Pokrovsky, as part of the Caucasian Armies, led a campaign against Tsaritsyn and in June already participated in the capture of the latter.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> Throughout the summer of 1919, Pokrovsky commanded the troops of the Volga group; broke 8, 9 and 10 Soviet armies and captured the Kamyshinsky and Volga fortified areas, up to the 1st line of Saratov forts, and captured 52,000 people, 142 guns, 396 machine guns, 2 armored trains from the Reds.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> During these battles, Pokrovsky showed exceptional personal courage and was wounded. For the occupation of Kamyshin, the Commander-in-Chief, General Denikin, promoted him to lieutenant general.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> In October of the same year, Pokrovsky was appointed the successor to General Wrangel, who left the post of Commander of the Caucasian Army.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> Commanding the Army until February 1920, when he was ordered to retreat, he defeated the 34th, 35th, 37th and part of the 38th Soviet rifle divisions.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> For all the time of command of the troops, in battles against the Soviet forces, prisoners and trophies were taken by General Pokrovsky: prisoners - 239000, guns - 454, machine guns - 1193, armored trains - 34, armored cars - 19, gunboats - 3, monitors - 6, bolinders - 7 .
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> And as a result of this incomprehensibly colossal work, long years of war, injuries, extraordinary efforts and hardships, saving hundreds of thousands human lives- betrayal, martyrdom and an orphaned, without means of subsistence, a family with three young children.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> Even the ashes of Pokrovsky have not yet been taken out of Bulgaria to Serbia, which the unfortunate widow of the deceased so asks for.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> With a punishing sword in his hand, in a crown of thorns, another knight of duty and honor left us. Turned it off bright Star in which he always believed. The ebullient life, which had such great importance in Russian national affairs."Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> It became even gloomier in the soul of a handful of his comrades-in-arms who survived.
"Microsoft Sans Serif";color:black;mso-ansi-language:RU;mso-fareast-language:
EN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> But let each of us, amid the common Russian suffering, more often recall the words of Pokrovsky, which he always said in the difficult days of the last struggle: "The darker the night, the brighter the stars." ...