The Kiev Arsenal January Uprising (Ukrainian: Січневе повстання, romanized: Sichneve povstannya), sometimes simply called the January Uprising or the January Rebellion, was a Bolshevik-organized armed workers' revolt that started on 29 January [O.S. 16 January] 1918, at the Arsenal Factory in Kiev during the Ukrainian–Soviet War. The goal of the uprising was to sabotage the ongoing elections to the Ukrainian Constituent Assembly and to support the advancing Red Army. The forces of the Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) managed to quell the uprising by 4 February [O.S. 22 January] 1918.
Start of the Ukrainian-Soviet War
On 25 December 1917 Bolsheviks in Kharkiv proclaimed the establishment of the Ukrainian People's Republic of Soviets and declared the Central Rada to be illegitimate. As a consequence, two centres of power emerged in Ukraine: the Central Rada in Kyiv and the Soviet government in Kharkiv.
On 7 January 1918 Bolshevik troops started an open invasion of Ukraine. After establishing control over the Left-bank part of the country, a 9,000-strong force commanded by Mikhail Muravyov started an offensive against Kyiv. The long-anticipated 1918 Ukrainian Constituent Assembly election was held on 9 January 1918. The Bolsheviks won only 10% of the total votes, but the elections were suspended due to the ongoing Ukrainian-Soviet War as practically all of left-bank Ukraine was occupied by the Soviet forces headed by Vladimir Antonov-Ovseyenko. According to the Third Declaration (Universal), the Constituent Assembly was planned to meet on 22 January, but this was postponed until the end of military conflict. On 19 January, the Soviet government dissolved the Russian Constituent Assembly, while just a day prior, the government state security forces (Cheka) opened fire on a peace demonstration in support of the constituent assembly. On 22 January, another peace demonstration in Moscow was dispersed by gunfire as well.
The Socialist Central Rada in Kyiv suffered from lack of popular support, as its policies were widely seen as unconsequential. Kyiv's working classes were generally hostile to the government, meanwhile many members of the intelligentsia were discouraged due to the Rada's rhetorics being ideologically similar to the Bolsheviks. Meanwhile the army was falling apart due to mass desertions, with the remaining staff being unreliable and susceptible to Bolshevik propaganda. In late December Mykola Shynkar, the Socialist commander of Kiev Military District, refused to provide quarters for the Republican Regiment commanded by Petro Bolbochan, blaming the unit of being "reactionary".
Upon learning about Muravyov's advance on Kyiv, the city's Bolsheviks decided not to waste any more time and started planning a revolt in order to support the invading Soviet forces in cooperation with Left SRs. They decided to initiate it once the Soviet forces started to approach the city in order to draw away some of the Ukrainian military forces from the front lines and help the Red Army to advance. The Bolsheviks had used this tactic in other Ukrainian cities, such as Katerynoslav (current Dnipro), Odessa, Mykolaiv, and Yelizavetgrad (current Kropyvnytskyi). The Arsenal Factory was chosen to be the center of the riot.
Initially, no serious measures were taken by the Central Rada government to prevent the uprising. The situation in Kyiv was becoming increasingly tense amid the continuing advance of Bolshevik troops on the city. As a result, anti-Bolshevik officers were inclined to act on their own account. On 7 January unknown soldiers kidnapped Leonid Pyatakov, the leader of Kyiv's Bolsheviks, from his own flat. The Central Rada reacted and ordered an immediate investigation of the case, which failed to bring any results.
To prevent possible riots, on 18 January a few platoons of the Free Cossacks commanded by Mykhailo Kovenko entered the territory of the Arsenal Factory, where the Bolsheviks were gathering, and confiscated a great amount of weaponry, arresting several Communist activists. The Kievan Bolsheviks' propaganda newspaper, Golos Sotsial-Demokrata, was shut down along with several other publications. Because of damage to the equipment, Arsenal stopped its operations, and authorities planned to confiscate the coal ore in order to completely shut down the factory.
On 22 January the Central Rada issued the Fourth Universal, officially declaring Ukraine's full independence. This event encouraged the Bolsheviks to intensify their preparations for the uprising.
On 28 January, a general assembly of workers at the Arsenal issued a protest against the military authorities' decision to confiscate all coal from the factory. The protest was met with general sympathy from the employees, and this fact was used by Bolshevik agitators. The factory committee approved a decision not to accept the authorities' demands and decreed to provide weapons to the workers.
On the same day, a meeting between representatives of the Kyiv Committee of the Russian Social Democratic Party (Bolsheviks), the local Soviet and workers of the Arsenal Factory was organized on the premises of Kyiv Commercial Institute. The Arsenal delegation proposed to initiate a revolt with the aim of deposing the Central Rada and establishing Soviet power in the city. Members of the Shevchenko Regiment, Sahaidachnyi Marines Kurin and several other military units present at the meeting promised to support the uprising. A revolutionary committee was established in order to coordinate the operation.
Soldiers of the Shevchenko Regiment, who were guarding the warehouse with ammunition confiscated from the Arsenal, managed to retrieve the weapons to the factory. There they were joined by staff captain Syla Mishchenko, one of the commanding officers of Sahaidachnyi Kurin and a member of the Bolshevik Party. Mishchenko became the commandant of the factory and would head a military force of 1,500 workers and soldiers during the uprising.
Kyiv's Bolshevik leaders Jan Hamarnyk, Andriy Ivanov, Isaac Kreisberg, and others, who had been planning to delay the uprising until the Red Army would come closer to Kiev, had no other choice but to follow it. The headquarters of the revolt were established at 47 Velyka Vasylkivska Street.
1st battalion (kurin) of Sahaidachny Regiment (Syla Mishchenko)
Several units of Bohdaniv battalion (kurin) (Kysel)
Units of Shevchenko Regiment (warrant officer A. Port)
Red Guards units of Arsenal Factory
Red Guards units of Demiivka artillery factory (Vasyl Bozhenko)