Name Sydir Kovpak | Rank Major general | |
 | ||
Allegiance Russian Empire
Soviet Union Commands held Putyvl partisans and allied partisan units
1st Ukrainian Partisan Division Battles/wars World War I
Brusilov Offensive
Kerensky Offensive
Russian Civil War
Buguruslansky Offensive
Belebeyskaya Offensive
Ufa Offensive
Kiev Offensive
World War II Awards Cross of St. George (3rd, 4th Class)
Medal of St. George (3rd, 4th Class)
Order of Lenin (4)
Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, 1st Class
Order of Suvorov, 2nd Class
Order of the Red Banner
Medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War", 1st class Other work various top positions in government of Soviet Ukraine Died December 11, 1967, Kiev, Ukraine Battles and wars Brusilov Offensive, Kerensky Offensive, Russian Civil War, Kiev Offensive, World War II | ||
Years of service 1914–1925
1941–1945 | ||
Sydir Artemovych Kovpak (Ukrainian: Сидір Артемович Ковпак; Russian: Си́дор Арте́мьевич Ковпа́к, Sidor Artemyevich Kovpak), (June 7, 1887 – December 11, 1967) was a prominent Soviet partisan leader in Ukraine.
Contents
Biography
Kovpak was born to a poor peasant family in Kotelva village in Kharkov Governorate, Russian Empire (in present-day Ukraine). For his military service in World War I, he was awarded two Crosses of St. George personally by the Emperor Nicholas II of Russia (an award for exceptial military heroism). After the Russian Revolution he joined the All-Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and fought for the Red Army partisan units against the German forces, as well as against Denikin's White Army in a Vasily Chapayev's cavalry division. In the interwar period he was a head of the local government in the town of Putyvl, Sumy Oblast (province).
World War II
At the time of the German invasion of Soviet Ukraine partisan units led by Sydir Kovpak waged guerrilla warfare against Axis forces originally in partisan strongholds in Sumy and Bryansk regions but later its operation spread deep into German occupied territory including Kiev, Zhytomyr, Rivne, Homyel, Volyn and other regions. These partisan units also fought against the nationalist Ukrainian Insurgent Army. In 1944 partisans under Kovpak's leadership raided enemy forces throughout western Ukraine and Belarus and even reached Romanian border regions during the Carpathian raid inflicting heavy casualties on the Germans.
Kovpak mastered guerrilla tactics and was awarded Hero of the Soviet Union title twice. In the summer of 1943 Germans managed to hunt down and kill Kovpak's second in command Semyon Rudnev who was replaced by a new right-hand man Petro Vershigora who would later become a writer and dedicate his books to Kovpak's underground resistance.
Sydir Kovpak was promoted to the rank of Major General in 1943. According to the memoirs of his lieutenant Vershigora, his promotion and General's stars were airdropped to his partisan unit's position deep behind the front lines. After the end of the Second World War Sydir Kovpak held key positions in the leadership of Soviet Ukraine, including Vice Chairman of the Supreme Court of Ukraine in 1947 and Supreme Council of Ukraine in 1967. He also was a member of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union for the 2nd through 7th convocations.
Books
Movies
Kovpak was portrayed (by Konstantin Stepankov) in Soviet film trilogy Duma o Kovpake (Дума о Ковпаке, Poem of Kovpak):
A TV documentary Его звали ДЕД (He was called GRANDFA) (Ukrainian language, produced by TRK Era, director Oleksiy Barbaruk-Trypilsky, 36 min, screened in 2011) documents Kovpaks life during the war.