Kovpak was born to a poor
Ukrainian peasant family in
Kotelva village in
Kharkov Governorate,
Russian Empire (in present-day
Ukraine). Kovpak is of
Zaporozhian Cossack descent. For his military service in
World War I, he was awarded two
Crosses of St. George personally by the
Emperor Nicholas II of Russia (an award for exceptional military heroism). After the
Russian Revolution he joined the
All-Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and fought for the
Red Army partisan units against the
German forces, as well as against
Denikin's
White Army in
Vasily Chapayev's cavalry division. In the interwar period he was a head of the local government in the town of
Putyvl,
Sumy Oblast (
province).
World War II At the time of the
German invasion of Soviet Ukraine partisan units led by Sydir Kovpak waged
guerrilla warfare against
Axis forces originally in partisan strongholds in
Sumy and
Bryansk regions but later its operation spread deep into German-occupied territory including
Kyiv,
Zhytomyr,
Rivne,
Homyel,
Volyn and other regions. These partisan units also fought against the
nationalist Ukrainian Insurgent Army. In 1944 partisans under Kovpak's leadership raided enemy forces throughout
western Ukraine and
Belarus and even reached
Romanian border regions during the
Carpathian raid inflicting heavy casualties on the
Germans. Kovpak mastered guerrilla tactics and was awarded
Hero of the Soviet Union title twice (1942; 1944). In the summer of 1943 Germans managed to hunt down and kill Kovpak's second in command
Semyon Rudnev who was replaced by a new right-hand man
Petro Vershigora who would later become a writer and dedicate his books to Kovpak's underground resistance. Sydir Kovpak was promoted to the
rank of
Major General in 1943. According to the memoirs of his lieutenant Vershigora, his promotion and General's stars were airdropped to his partisan unit's position deep behind the front lines. After the end of the
Second World War Sydir Kovpak held key positions in the leadership of
Soviet Ukraine, including Vice Chairman of the
Supreme Court of Ukraine in 1947 and
Supreme Soviet of Ukraine in 1967. He also was a member of the
Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union for the 2nd through 7th convocations. == Books ==