UKRAINE GUERRILLAS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 262, 1 August 1919, Page 7

UKRAINE GUERRILLAS

GRIGORIEFF'S "GREEN GUARDS" FA cabled reference to the dreadful ,anti-Jewish pogroms which are stated , to be sweeping tlie Ukraine, stated that General Grigorieff -j-as responsible. The following article on this Ukraine general is therefore of topical interest.] Since the Allied I'vacuation of Odessa on April C great changes have taken place in the gener.il situation, writes the "Times" correspondent on the Dniester in a dispatch dated May 25. Tho factor par excellence is undoubtedly the power and growing prestige of Admiral Kolchak. Information coming from every part of Russia, tends to confirm that (ho Kolchak movement is as.fatal lo Bolshevism as it is hopeful to the Allies. I have seen copies of many Russian papers, which, while subject to the iron censorship of the most tyrannical of Governments, i.annot entirely deny the expression of the hope which is felt by the people on tho one hand and the fearfnlness of the Soviets pn tho other. After the Kolchak menace, however, tho defection of General Grigorieff must bo acknowledged to have contributed enormously to tho disintegration which is now to be observed in South-West Russia (that is to say, the part in regard to which I have most authentic news). At Hie moment of the fall of Odessa the organisation of the Bolshevik army, . especially in the south-west, had greatly improved, and the preparations along tlie Dniester front were of an alarming character, our possible resistance appearin;.' uncortain and disjointed. The most seriously menaced points continued to bn Khotin, near the Galician frontier, a point opposite Maghileff, and Bendery, although it was never expected that anything more than α-iieraonstrativo attack would occur at tho latter place. Large numbers of troops, with considerable artillory and material for crossing the river, had been accumulated at each of three points.

A Bolshevik Split; Grifrorieff declared himself Hetman of the provinces of Kherson and Tauridn, in Odessa, on or about May 11. At that time the very large number of tho socalled White Guard, that is to say, tho Soviet gendarmerie , in Odessa, either placed themselves under his direct orders or rotirod north to be able to combat him, for, on the day of his famous declaration, Grigorieff struck hvo crushinir Mows at the whole system of Boleheyik theories. Himself a convinced Bolshevist, who hns seen the futility of their ideas and the practical outcome of their practices , during tho year and a half of their development, he has come to understand that for a minority of eoi-diennt workmen to dominate a country whoro the great majority of the population are peasants is fundamentally unjust. He therefore declared himself for the restitution of tho rights of property amongst peasnnt proprietors, that is to say against community of possession. His second step was to proclaim himeelf Protector of .Religions, and only those who know Russia ami the mystical character of her, people can realise v.hat an appeal that mado to tho long-suffering Christian believers. He took up, at the ■same time, a decidedly anti-Jewish attitude, and as most of the mainsprings of Bolshevism have beon pulled l>y Jews, although very miiib. of tho time under German instigation, it will bo readily 6ecn what tho reaction is at the present moment amongst l-ho adherents of Grigorieff. The German Consul-General at Odessa, the only foreign representative who had remained, was immediately imprisoned, and pogroms began in that uufortunato city. There have been several such massacres; as to the extent and dates ot which I am unable to obtain exact information. The result o f tho Grigorieff defection iras that peasants flocked' from all parts of the Ukraine to put themselves under his protection, and his hand has increased from the 10,090 men or the end of March to some 80,000 enthusiasts at the present moment, who iiro to be known henceforth as tho ."Green Army."

Lenin's Troubles. Fighting has been going un steadily between the Red Guards ol the Soviets and Grigqrieli's men for- the past fortnight, and it has been one of the rare amusements of the Allied troops along the .Dniester to observe the explosion of 'aitillepy between the Green and Ked armies. Tiraspol, the twin city of Bendery, and just across the river from tin.* Allied centre, is still in the hands of the lied Crtinrd, and has put up an implacablo fight against Grigoriclf under the conii mand of Kolasnikoff, a former sergeant !in tho Russian army. One regiment ot i Iwhisiiikofi's troops is known as the ! Bessanibskia, and is composed of deI sellers from Bessarabia. j Tho troubles of Lenin, however, do not I end here. He luis very many thorns in • the Ukraine, one of the most piquant of ! which is his new quarrel with Kakovski, ! the famous Rumanian renegade who lias ; boon terrorising the Dniester region l'os , i so many months, and now' pretends that J tho regime of the Soviets is becoming tou bourgeois. The advance of the Rumanian and Polish troops cannot fail to bring Ukrainian matters to a crisis, and it would appear that Pedum must eventually put himself in the train of his former subordinate Grigorieff. Famine and the. rapacity oM:ho Red Guards have done much. Uucssa, for instance, has gone from bad to worse at » headlong mice since the departure of the Allies. , 0? course, tho first thing the Bolshevists iljii was ~u> take over all the houses and apartments of the upper classes and insta.l themselves therein, obliging the family of owners to reside, in one room. Tho promised Jood relief from tlic Ukraine, however, did not come. As long as tho lied Guards were rampant | the peasants refused to revoal any.hid'••li "stores. The dearth of coal has been | so great that there has not been eon 1 even to run tho water supply machinery, whioh has caused a water famine.