The Chornyi Lis Republic () was a short lived state in modern-day Ukraine that existed in 1919–1922 during the Russian Civil War. It encompassed the area of what is now Oleksandrivka in Kirovohrad Oblast, and its capital was .

History During the Ukrainian People's Republic, which lasted from 1918 to 1923, Chornyi Lis was allied with the Kholodny Yar Republic, a fellow microstate. These two states are listed among at least two dozen "peasant republics" in Ukraine alone during the Russian Civil War.

The Republic was led by rulers called otamans, named after Cossack rulers. Until 1921, Otamans Philip Khmara and Mykola Kibets-Bondarenko led the rebellion. Otaman Denis Gupalo was the leader in 1922. In 1920, as a result of the Red Terror, the Znamianka Uprising was launched, led by these otamans.

The otamans enjoyed significant support from the locals. Due to fact that the otamans were hard to defeat, the Cheka launched a special operation to hunt down and capture the otamans and their supporters.

By the end of September 1922, most of the leaders of both Chornyi Lis and Kholodny Yar were arrested by the Cheka. They were caught in Zvenyhorodka, attending a fake conference of local rebel leaders that was actually set up by Cheka infiltrators.

However, even as most of the otamans were caught, the Chekist "Sotnik Zavyryukha", a fake rebel group, continued to operate across the Chornyi Lis and Kholodny Yar, capturing remaining rebels that resisted after the arrest of their commanders. By 1923, the last rebels were cleared out.

Many people who experienced the era of the republics were killed during Stalinist repressions, and the local communist authorities destroyed evidence. In the later years of the USSR, the remaining information was classified by the Soviet Union. In 2008, it was declassified. Chornyi Lis was listed as part of the Green Army in those records.

References

Sources http://ukrlife.org/main/evshan/reness3.htm http://www.golos.com.ua/article/1189080982.html http://www.vechirka.com.ua/history/xxcen/18111744.php http://www.ukrcenter.com/library/read.asp?id=419&page=4

https://ukrajinskij-natsionalistichnij-r.webnode.com.ua/news/respubl%D1%96ka-chornogo-l%D1%96su/ http://ndis.cdu.edu.ua/index.php/selianski-respubliky-1917-1921-rr https://vk.kr.ua/putivnyk/tourist-objects/natural/5897-chorniy-ls.html