The Tragedy in Mykolaivsk-on-Amur, or How the Far Eastern Ukrainians Were Annihilated
- Володимир Дубовський
- Sep 2
- 14 min read
«One fool hid her children among the pigs, well, we sent them off together with the piglets for slaughter. We first took this fool with us to the city, but on the way we threw her out because she turned out to be sick...»
This is not a quote about crimes committed by russian occupiers in Ukraine today or by German occupiers during World War II.
These are the memories of one of the moscow bolsheviks, sent as punitive forces to the Far East, where the descendants of Ukrainian settlers, together with the indigenous autochthonous peoples, tried to create a state independent from russia. Russia and its historians, as the legal successors of the USSR, dryly call this event the «Nikolaevsk Incident». The same title is used in the russian Wikipedia article. In my article, I want to tell about the horror that unfolded in one of the Far Eastern cities more than 100 years ago.
The city of Miykolaivsk-on-Amur (called Miykolaivsk until 1926), named after Saint Nicholas, was the largest port on the Amur River from 1860 to 1920. In 1856, by decree of Alexander II, the Primorsky Region was formed, which included Kamchatka and the lands along the lower Amur. The Miykolaivsky post, which received city status, became the capital of the new region.
Here is what the writer Anton Chekhov recalled after visiting this city:
«...many kinds of people from russia and foreign adventurers came, settlers were attracted by the extraordinary abundance of fish and fur»
However, a few years later, Vladivostok was founded, where the main port was moved, and Miykolaivsk-on-Amur began to gradually decline.
But it declined only until the late 1880s, when the city became a center of gold mining, and in just 2–3 years its population increased 5.5 times! Migrants came to the city again, the provincial theater and cabarets gathered audiences again, and local merchants expanded their shops. Gold mining and subsequent economic growth gradually attracted settlers, and by 1897 the population reached 5,668.
From 1896–1899, a boom in the fishing industry began in Miykolaivsk-on-Amur. Shipbuilding revived, enterprises for barrel production, lumber processing, and other industries were created. The city became the second most important Far Eastern port after Vladivostok.
By 1913, the population of the city reached 14.4 thousand people. There were 2,136 buildings, and a network of trade schools and craft schools was re-established. Soon Miykolaivsk once again became a regional city—this time the center of Sakhalin Region.
By the 1917 revolution, the city population reached at least 20 thousand people. Here are, by the way, the census data for the city:
20,203 people, of whom:
13,758 – Malorosses (Ukrainians);
2,621 – Velikorosses (Muscovites);
2,082 – Tungus;
480 – Tatars;
232 – Japanese;
356 – Yakuts (Sakha);
201 – Chinese;
122 – Jews;
62 – Americans;
44 – Koreans;
34 – Germans;
21 – Georgians;
190 – representatives of other ethnicities.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Ukrainian national movement began to rise in the Far East. In 1914, the first Ukrainian organization in Mykolaivsk-on-Amur was established – the «Mykolaivsk Hromada». The organization opened a small club where theatrical performances were staged and Ukrainian national holidays celebrated.
In 1917, the head of the hromada became a local resident, a descendant of Ukrainian settlers from the Chernihiv region of Ukraine, owner of the local bookshop, Andrii Yeremeyev. Yeremeyev was also elected as a delegate and participated in the All-Ukrainian congresses of the Far East that took place afterward, representing the Ukrainians of Mykolaivsk-on-Amur.
In the spring of 1918, the local hromada formed self-government bodies, created the first self-defense units and local police. Later, the residents of Mykolaivsk-on-Amur, at meetings, signed an agreement with the government of the Far Eastern Ukrainian Republic and sent it with their representatives to the city of Vladivostok. Elections to the local council were held.
In August 1918, local self-defense units did not allow armed units of the White movement into their territory. According to contemporaries, there was a small skirmish after which the White movement troops were refused support, being told that local residents had no intention to participate in the Civil War on the side of the Whites. However, they were allowed to trade, replenish supplies, and, if desired, stay for the winter.
In the winter of 1918, troops of the Japanese Imperial Army entered the city, and a garrison of 350 soldiers from the 14th Infantry Division under Major Ishikawa was stationed in Mykolaivsk-on-Amur. At that time, there were also between 200 and 450 Japanese civilians living in the city.
The total armed forces in the city at that time were:
500 – Mykolaivsk-on-Amur Hromada self-defense unit under Andrii Yeremeyev. They had no artillery; weapons consisted mostly of melee weapons and hunting carbines.
350 – soldiers of the Japanese Imperial Army under Major Ishikawa. The unit had two small artillery pieces, incendiary rocket launchers, and more modern weapons than the self-defense unit.
An agreement was concluded between the Japanese and the local authorities, under which the Japanese military was stationed in the city and obliged to ensure the safety not only of the Japanese population but also of other residents of Mykolaivsk-on-Amur.
Events of January 1920
On January 3, 1920, Mykolaivsk was besieged by a partisan detachment of 3,000 reds under the command of Yakov Tryapitsyn and Timofiy Naumov. The Bolsheviks had 10–15 artillery guns at their disposal, as well as two cavalry units totaling about 300 riders.
The partisan detachment mostly consisted of people born in the European part of russia: Ryazan, Moscow, and Nizhny Novgorod provinces. Commanders Yakov Tryapitsyn and Matviy Naumov were also not local to the Far East.
Yakov Tryapitsyn: born in Muromsky district of Vladimir province. Before the revolution, he worked as an assistant machinist on a steamer in Nizhny Novgorod, was a veteran of World War I, reaching the rank of ensign. During the Civil War, he was sent by the bolsheviks to command the Amur front.
Matviy Naumov: Tryapitsyn’s deputy, from the city of Tver, also a committed bolshevik.
Immediately after the siege began, a rebellion of bolshevik supporters erupted in the city, but it was quickly suppressed by the Japanese garrison and the forces of the local Zelenyi Klyn militia. The number of participants was small; all were detained and handed over to local authorities. After judicial proceedings, all detainees were released, with no penalties applied other than confiscation of weapons and a two-day arrest.
The fighting for the city began on January 21, 1920. In the first days, despite their numerical superiority, the reds were losing and forced to retreat. Later, having gained support from local Chinese residents and using cavalry, they captured the fortress of Chnirrah in the city’s outskirts by January 25.
Immediately after taking the fortress, the bolsheviks began an artillery bombardment of the city. Members of Mykolaivsk’s self-defense forces and supporters of the Far Eastern Ukrainian People’s Republic (UDVR) started mobilizing city residents to retake the fortress. However, Major Ishikawa, commander of the Japanese garrison, unexpectedly refused to participate in the assault, citing Japanese neutrality. He explained his decision with a declaration of non-involvement in the Russian Civil War, agreed upon between Japan and the bolshevik government.
As a result, after the Japanese capitulated, a ceasefire was signed on February 28, allowing bolshevik units to enter the city. In return, the bolsheviks promised to guarantee the safety of the Japanese population and their property. Following this, Tryapitsyn’s detachment entered Mykolaivsk.
Immediately upon entering the city, the bolsheviks, having captured members of the self-defense force, began arresting the wealthiest and most influential citizens of Mykolaivsk according to a pre-prepared list. This included members of the local Ukrainian community as well as individuals who had signed a letter requesting protection from the Japanese garrison. All detainees were imprisoned in the city jail.
Some community members managed to avoid punishment and hid in buildings occupied by the Japanese garrison. Despite maintaining neutrality, the Japanese did not allow the bolsheviks onto garrison grounds.
Tryapitsyn feared that once the ice on the Amur River melted, the Japanese would send reinforcements from Sakhalin Island. Reports also indicated that in local villages, bolshevik attempts at propaganda and mobilization led by Naumov were failing. Among the locals, there was a prevailing idea of uniting with the remnants of Mykolaivsk’s self-defense, the local Tungus population, and the Japanese garrison to resist the bolsheviks.
Because of this, Tryapitsyn and Naumov decided to disarm and capture the Japanese garrison. On March 11, 1920, bolshevik headquarters chief Timofiy Naumov presented an ultimatum to the Japanese demanding partial disarmament.
With the support of the Ukrainian community members, the Japanese garrison staged a surprise counterattack.
On the night of March 11–12, the Japanese unexpectedly opened fire on Tryapitsyn’s headquarters, launching rockets. A large part of Mykolaivsk was set on fire. In the attack on the bolsheviks, along with the Japanese garrison, most able-bodied men from the local population also participated.
Head of the headquarters Naumov was killed, and the secretary Pokrovskiy-Chornyk shot himself, fearing retribution. Tryapitsyn, wounded in both legs, was carried out of the burning headquarters by comrades. The bolsheviks entrenched themselves in a nearby stone building to organize defense. According to bolshevik accounts, in the first moments Tryapitsyn thought all was lost and asked comrades to shoot him.
During the first two days, the initiative remained with the local residents and the Japanese garrison. Later, command was taken by the mining regiment commander Ivan Budrin, who arrived from the settlement of Kerbi with a unit formed from mine workers, mostly Great Russians.
Residents of nearby villages attempted to support the insurgents, but they were stopped by a well-armed detachment of Chinese partisans who had wintered in the city outskirts and had agreements with the bolsheviks.
Eventually, the numerical superiority of the bolsheviks prevailed. In the four days of fighting, the Japanese garrison together with Mykolaivsk’s self-defense forces was completely destroyed. The bolsheviks lost between 300 and 800 men due to surprise and loss of control during the first day of battle.
Major Ishikawa, with the remnants of his garrison, hid in the Shimado store, while Mykolaivsk’s self-defense forces under Andriy Yeremeyev sheltered in the community club building. Both buildings were doused with kerosene and set on fire; anyone who tried to escape was shot. Severely wounded Major Ishikawa was personally killed by Ivan Budrin. Yeremeyev and other defenders from Mykolaivsk who took up arms against the bolsheviks also perished.
After the fighting ended, the bolsheviks destroyed and burned the Japanese quarter. The destruction was accompanied by murders, especially by criminal and semi-criminal elements, including the so-called «Sakhalins»—former Sakhalin convicts. Around 80 women from the Japanese colony were killed during these events.
During the battles on the night of March 13, the bolsheviks slaughtered all the prisoners of the city jail, including supporters of the independent Zelenyi Klyn, as well as other detainees, including bolsheviks who had even misstepped. Among the killed were Archpriest Serapion (Chernykh), former head of the zemstvo administration Kaptsan, and the former governor of Sakhalin, Baron von Bunge.
On March 15 at noon, the last group of Mykolaivsk residents capitulated. Most of the Japanese were killed in combat. Almost the entire Japanese colony (834 people) was exterminated by the bolsheviks. Along with women and children, about 1,500 members of the Mykolaivsk community were killed. Their property—movable and immovable—was confiscated and partially looted.
During the fighting, a large part of Mykolaivsk was destroyed by fire. 117 captured Japanese soldiers, as well as 11 Japanese women, were placed in prison. Twelve Japanese women married to Chinese men survived because Chinese families hid them.
Among foreign nationals, the English manager of one of the city's largest fisheries, John Fried, was arrested and later executed by the bolsheviks on charges of counter-revolutionary activity.
After the defeat of the local self-defense forces and the Japanese garrison, the bolsheviks imposed the rules of war communism in Mykolaivsk: cooperatives were nationalized, money was abolished, equalized supplies were introduced, and other measures implemented. They used confiscated property from officials of the former tsarist and local UDR administration, the bourgeoisie and intelligentsia, and the Japanese colony.
However, looting and violence by semi-criminal elements, unrestrained by the local militia or VNK, caused outrage even among some bolsheviks. Discontent also spread among local men, former soldiers of the Chnirrah fortress garrison, and some Far Eastern bolsheviks.
The dissatisfied were led by Ivan Budrin, commander of the mining regiment. Despite being a party bolshevik, Budrin, a native of the Far East, disagreed with the policy of Tryapitsin and soon led a conspiracy against him.
Budrin actively prepared a conspiracy against Tryapitsin, but on April 22, 1920, by order No. 66 of the commander-in-chief of the People’s Revolutionary Army G.Kh. Eyhe, Yakov Tryapitsin was appointed commander of the Okhotsk Front. According to this order, all partisan detachments under him were converted into units of the Far Eastern People’s Revolutionary Army. On April 23, Tryapitsin, having received the majority of votes at the garrison assembly, arrested his opponents, including Budrin.
News of the destruction of the military garrison and the massacre of the Japanese colony in Mykolaivsk shocked Japan and became the pretext for the Japanese government to launch a massive invasion of the Far East, attempting to justify its actions to the world community.
The night of April 4–5, 1920, became the time of a Japanese attack, supported by part of the Zelenyi Klyn partisans, on bolshevik authorities and military garrisons in Khabarovsk, Vladivostok, Spassk, and other Far Eastern cities. The Japanese captured these cities, isolating Tryapitsin’s Okhotsk Front from the rest of the armed forces of the Far Eastern People’s Revolutionary Republic.
In May 1920, the Japanese command, sending troops from Khabarovsk to Mykolaivsk, received support from a detachment of supporters of the Ukrainian Far Eastern Republic led by Mykola Shevchenko, a local resident and son of a priest from Chernihiv province. At the same time, Japanese ships, taking control of Northern Sakhalin, entered the Amur estuary and approached the Chnirrah fortress.
On May 22, 1920, realizing the inevitability of an attack from both sides by anti-bolshevik forces and the defenselessness of Mykolaivsk, Tryapitsin began negotiations with the Chinese consul Zhang Wenhuan and Commodore Chen Shiin for joint action against the Japanese. However, the Chinese, despite pressure, refused to participate in the fighting.
Having received no instructions from the central staff of the UDR army, the Okhotsk Front command on April 10, 1920, decided to evacuate the population to the village of Kerbi and destroy the town of Mykolaivsk, as well as the Chnirrah fortress, to prevent the Japanese from establishing a military base. Tryapitsin stated: «It will be very demonstrative to foreign states if we burn the city and evacuate the population.»
According to the bolsheviks and Russian Wikipedia, the mass evacuation began on May 23 and ended on May 30, 1920. The main part of the Mykolaivsk population and the partisans were transported by steamships to the Kerbi area. However, it remains a mystery how the bolsheviks managed to transport and move at least 15,000 people across the Amur and 250 kilometers of taiga, and why none of the evacuees were ever found after this operation.
Questions about the evacuation vanish when one learns what actually happened and how this «evacuation» was carried out. Below are memories of the bolsheviks themselves about the days of the «evacuation,» taken from materials of an investigation later conducted by the Japanese side:
«Our headquarters decided to wipe from the face of the earth the human scum that hindered the realization of ideals for which the best minds of humanity had laid down their heads. Technically, this caused a number of difficulties, since gunfire could attract the attention of the Japanese, who might take measures. Other methods of killing were to some extent disliked by headquarters, and it was decided to kill with cold weapons.»
«The local girls did not appeal to me, wild, kicked like mares, but the Japanese women were quiet, obedient, calm.»
«All the local kulaks! Each had several cows, horses, cellars, and barns bursting with food, and if you came to them and asked for supplies for our detachment, they would immediately lie and say there was nothing.»
«Along the road on the snow lay the bodies of killed people. Pools of blood blackened. When I asked who these people were and when they were beaten, Kostin answered angrily: «We started hitting the bastards, and now they are lying here, enough for us, we just started».»
A participant of the Mykolaivsk events, a bolshevik named Aussem, when later asked why these senseless executions occurred, replied:
«These are trifles. These people are social scum, and there is no reason to ask such questions.»
Here are additional excerpts from the memoirs of participants and witnesses of the horrific events that took place in Mykolaivsk:
«The city was gripped by terror. Beatings continued. People were taken out to the Amur River like sheep, placed on barges and dugouts, carried to the middle of the Amur, and there they were stabbed with bayonets, cut with sabers and axes, beaten on the head with fish mallets, and thrown into the water. Women and girls were handed over from prison to the Bolsheviks—for their amusement.»
«Tryapitsin said he would leave a desert for the Japanese, without residents and without people. The city froze, seeing that the final hour had come, and there would be no mercy for anyone.»
«After finishing with the city, we went to the villages. After burning one village, in the next we found no one; the local peasants had gone somewhere into the taiga to the Tungus, and there was no way to pursue them.»
«One fool hid her children among the pigs, well, we took them along with the piglets and disposed of them. We initially brought this fool into the city with us, but threw her out along the way because she turned out to be sick…»
And here is an excerpt from the last radio message of the commander of these atrocities, Yakov Tryapitsin, sent to the Bolshevik headquarters:
«Villages along the entire coastline and the lower Amur have been burned. The city and the fortress have been destroyed to the ground, large buildings blown up. On the site of the city and fortress, only smoking ruins remain, and the enemy, coming here, will find only piles of ash and corpses. We are leaving.»
On the night of May 31, with the explosion of the last surviving fortress, Chnirrah, this act of intimidation was completed, and Tryapitsin and his bandits retreated into the taiga near the village of Kerbi.
At that time, Mykolaivsk had 1,200 households, over 300 stone buildings, and about 20,000 residents. The Bolsheviks burned and blew up everything—literally everything—turning the city’s landscape into an apocalyptic wasteland. The number of residents who failed or were unable to escape the city and became victims of this cynical massacre amounted to at least ten thousand people.
Soon, the detachment of Tryapitsyn, pursued through the thickets of the Amur floodplain, would be arrested along with the entire staff by decree of the regional executive committee of the Bolshevik Far Eastern Republic and handed over to the Sakhalin regional police for trial. By a simple vote, Tryapitsyn and his aides were executed.
According to eyewitness accounts:
«...in the dirty bushes close to human dwellings… on the edge of the poor village of Kerbi, under a burial mound, bound with ropes, shackled with anchor chains, anarchists, maximalists, and communists — Tryapitsyn, Lebedeva, Zhelezin, Otsevilli-Pavlutski, Trubchaninov, Sasov, and Kharkivsky — found their final resting place. Were it not for a tiny simple cross, common on the poor cemeteries of orphaned paupers, erected by an unknown naive pure soul, no one would have thought that here, in a pit for filth, mutilated, bloodied, spat on, and cursed people lay…».
Later, after the final incorporation of the Far East into the USSR, the city would receive the suffix On-Amur, and the Soviet authorities would rebuild it, yet it would remain a small town, more like a settlement.
The city would never regain its former glory as the largest port on the Amur.
In March 2022, one hundred years after the atrocities in Far Eastern Mykolaivsk, the russian army would commit the same brutalities in Kyiv Oblast. What happened a hundred years ago in the Far East and in 2022 resulted in the murder of innocent civilians from the Ukrainian population.
But beyond the atrocities themselves, there is another tragedy: in Kyiv Oblast, the atrocities against Ukrainian citizens were also carried out by units from the Far East, including the 64th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 35th Army of the Eastern Military District, the 155th Separate Marine Brigade of the Pacific Fleet, and the 5th Separate Tank Brigade of the 36th Army of the Eastern Military District. These units, together with other formations of the russian armed forces, effectively conducted ethnic cleansing, just as the Bolsheviks once did in the Far East.
All of this is the result of the Bolsheviks’ victory a hundred years ago: they suppressed the movement for the independence of the Ukrainian Far East and erased from memory those who survived the ideals of the Far Eastern Ukrainian Republic.
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