Kiev Offensive

Lunched on 25 April 1920, the Kiev Offensive was personally commanded by Józef Piłsudski. Between the Pripyat River and the Dniester River it was to crush the southern concentration of the Bolshevik troops before the arrival of reinforcements from the interior of Russia and their reaching combat readiness to strike in the west. The allied forces consisted of approx. 60,000 Polish soldiers and approx. 4,000 Ukrainian ones. Early May saw the liberation of strategically located towns in Podolia: Vinnytsia and Zhmerynka (with major artillery storehouses, food storehouses, military hospitals, and rolling stock), where the locals enthusiastically welcomed the arriving troops. Vinnytsia, a town on the River Boh, was selected as the interim capital of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.

In the photograph Symon Petliura inspecting detachments of the URL army in May 1920. (Wikimedia Commons)
9 May 1920 saw a parade of Polish and Ukrainian troops in Kiev. On the liberated territories began the formation of the civilian and military structures of the Ukrainian state. Meanwhile, fierce fighting for the Kiev stronghold continued on the left bank of the Dnieper River. That was when Budyonny's 1st Cavalry Army launched an attack on Podolia. Poles remained in Kiev until 13 June 1920. (WBH)
On the night of 5–6 May 1920 the 3rd Army, commanded by General Rydz-Śmigły, launched a direct offensive in the direction of Kiev. In the morning of 7 May the Polish reconnaissance squad drove into the Kiev city center in a streetcar. During the next hours the detachments of the 3rd Army captured the entire city. The Polish forces crossed the Dnieper River and made a stronghold on its eastern bank. (public domain)