Bezruchko, Marko

Bezruchko, Marko [Безручко, Марко; Bezručko], b 31 October 1886 in Velykyi Tokmak, Tavriia gubernia, d 10 February 1944 in Warsaw, Poland. Military tactician, brigadier general in the Army of the Ukrainian National Republic. Bezruchko graduated from the General Staff Academy in Saint Petersburg in 1914 and fought in the First World War. In 1918 he was chief of operations of the General Staff of the UNR Army, and in April 1919 he became the chief of staff of the Sich Riflemen Corps. From January 1920 he commanded the 6th Sich Riflemen Division and participated in the Kyiv campaign and the defense of Kyiv. He distinguished himself in the battles against the Red Army on the Vistula River (particularly in the defense of Zamość). During the August and September offensive in 1920 he commanded the center group of the UNR Army. In 1920–4 he held the posts of defense minister, deputy minister, and chairman of the Supreme Military Council of the Government-in-exile of the Ukrainian National Republic. In 1931–5 Bezruchko served as president of the Ukrainian Military History Society in Warsaw. He is the author of Ukraïns'ki sichovi stril'tsi v borot'bi za derzhavnist' (Ukrainian Sich Riflemen in the Struggle for Statehood, 1932).

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 1 (1984).]