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Vasyl Kyrii

Vasyl Kyrii (Kyrei) (1879–1942) was a Ukrainian and russian military figure, a general-horunzhyi of the UNR Army, head of the Military-Technical Directorate within Wrangel's army, and referent on Ukrainian affairs in Crimea (1920).

Overview

Vasyl Kyrii was born in 1879 in the city of Baturyn in the Chernihiv region. He came from a Cossack family. At the beginning of the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917–1918 he served in the UNR Army, was a general-horunzhyi and headed the staff of the Slobidskyi Kish under the command of Symon Petliura. Later, disagreeing with the agrarian policy of the Central Rada, he left the Ukrainian army and joined the Volunteer Army of Denikin, where he headed artillery supply.

In 1920, in Crimea, General Kyrii held the posts of quartermaster general and head of the Military-Technical Directorate of the Armed Forces of South russia (AFSR), and was also General Petro Wrangel's referent on Ukrainian affairs. He led diplomatic contacts and negotiations with UNR delegations (in particular, he took part in receiving the delegation of Mykhailo Lytvynenko and Levko Chykalenko in Sevastopol) and with insurgent detachments. At the end of 1920 he was evacuated to Turkey, and from 1924 he lived in Czechoslovakia. He died in Prague in 1942.

Key Details / Subtopics

  • Service in the UNR: A general-horunzhyi of the UNR Army, chief of staff of the Slobidskyi Kish during the defense of Kyiv on the Left Bank.
  • Service with the Whites (AFSR): Joined Denikin because of the loss of his family lands in the Chernihiv region; head of the Military-Technical Directorate and quartermaster general in Sevastopol.
  • Role in the negotiations with the UNR (1920): Officially responsible for receiving the Ukrainian mission in the autumn of 1920 in Sevastopol, he provided for its lodging and arranged audiences with Kryvoshein and Wrangel.
  • Emigration: Stayed in Turkey and Czechoslovakia (Prague, died in 1942).