Bolbochan, Petro

Bolbochan, Petro [Bolbočan], b 5 October 1883 in the village of Hytets, d 28 June 1919 in Balyn near Kamianets-Podilskyi. (Photo: Petro Bolbochan.) Colonel in the Army of the Ukrainian National Republic. In the fall of 1917 Bolbochan became commander of the First Ukrainian Republican Regiment of the Second Serdiuk Division (see Serdiuk guard divisions). In 1918, as commander of the First Zaporozhian Division, which was stationed in Kharkiv, he participated in the Crimean campaign. Under the Hetman government Bolbochan was commander of the Second Zaporozhian Regiment. The Directory of the Ukrainian National Republic appointed him in the fall of 1918 commander of the Zaporozhian Corps and of the entire UNR Army in Left-Bank Ukraine. After the army retreated to Right-Bank Ukraine, he was relieved of his command and sent to Galicia (January 1919). Charged with insubordination for attempting to take over the command of the Zaporozhian Corps in Proskuriv on 9 June 1919, he was found guilty by a military court and executed.

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