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Nikolay BukretovMajor General of the General Staff.
Country:
 Russia |
Content:
Early Life and Military Career
Nikolai Andreevich Bukretov was born in 1876 as a conscript Cossack of the Kuban Cossack Host, descended from Georgian Jewish mountaineers. He graduated from a technical college in Tiflis, attended the Moscow Infantry Cadet School, and the Nicholas General Staff Academy. In 1911, he became a полковник (colonel) and an instructor at the Tiflis Military School.
World War I and Revolution
During World War I, Bukretov served as a staff officer with the Kuban Plastun Brigade. He earned a St. George's Cross for his valor in the Battle of Sarikamish. In 1915, he was promoted to генерал-майор (major-general). From 1916, he commanded the 2nd Kuban Plastun Brigade. In late 1917, he became commander of the Kuban troops and a member of the Bych government. He resigned early in 1918.
Civil War
Bukretov declined to participate in the Ice March and engaged in dairy farming during the Bolshevik occupation of Yekaterinodar. After the Volunteer Army captured Kuban, General Denikin refused his services, but Bych appointed him chairman of the food supply committee. In 1919, General Pokrovsky arrested him for alleged bribery and abuse of power.
Kuban Ataman
In early January 1920, the Kuban Rada elected Bukretov as Voyiskovoy Ataman (military ataman). After the evacuation of Novorossiysk in March 1920, he retreated with most of the Kuban troops along the Black Sea coast to the Sochi area. In April 1920, he traveled to Sevastopol for talks with General Wrangel, where he resisted the transfer of Cossack units from the Caucasus coast to Crimea.
Exile and Legacy
Despite finally assuming command of the Kuban troops, Bukretov continued to oppose their deployment in Crimea, resulting in the surrender of most forces to the Bolsheviks. He resigned as ataman, handed over the булаву (ceremonial mace) to engineer Ivanis, and fled with the Kuban Rada to Georgia. Bukretov emigrated to Constantinople, where he resided until 1922, remaining on the rolls of the General Staff of the Russian Army Abroad.
