Foma Kozhyn was born into a peasant family, at the end of the 19th century, in the village of
Katerynivka, in the
Katerynoslav province of the
Russian Empire (modern-day
Donetsk Oblast,
Ukraine). In December 1918, he became the commander of an insurgent detachment and, at the beginning of 1919, he became commander of the machine-gun team of the 13th Soviet Regiment. He served as commander of a machine-gun regiment and brigade. Despite the integration of the insurgents into the
Red Army, tensions between the two factions heightened over time, culminating with the insurgents being declared outlaws by the Bolshevik government in June 1919. On 20 June 1919, in the region of ,
Nestor Makhno took command of the machine-gun team from Foma Kozhyn, who was being actively hunted by the commissars. On 27 June, the Red Special Detachment headed by arrived in Kichkas to arrest Kozhyn, but during the arrest they were captured by Kozhyn's machine gunners and shot. In the face of assaults by both the Reds and the Whites, the insurgents resolved to retreat into the west. During the reorganisation of the
Revolutionary Insurgent Army in the autumn of 1919, Kozhyn was assigned command of a machine-gun regiment and 300 infantry. Following their victory over the
Volunteer Army at the
Battle of Peregonovka, the insurgents swept throughout
southern Ukraine and captured most of the region from the
White movement. On 12 October 1919, Kozhyn led his machine-gun regiment in the occupation of
Yuzivka, where he stayed for three to four days, before withdrawing. When Bolshevik cells began to form within the ranks of the Insurgent Army, as part of the
Polonsky conspiracy, Kozhyn's machine gun regiment was one of the only units in
Oleksandrivsk that remained free of Bolshevik influence, alongside
Fedir Shchus' cavalry regiment. When
conflict broke out between the Bolsheviks and Makhnovists in early 1920, Kozhyn continued to lead his machine-gun regiment in the 3,000-strong insurgent core, as part of a period of sustained
guerrilla warfare. After the ratification of the
Starobilsk agreement, which established an alliance between the Bolsheviks and Makhnovists, the insurgents were able to retake their capital of
Huliaipole, before being ordered to continue with their
offensive operations. While Makhno himself remained behind in Huliaipole, Kozhyn and his machine-gun regiment continued on, as part of the detachment led by
Semen Karetnyk. Along the way, the insurgent detachment captured Oleksandrivsk and
Melitopol, pushing the
Russian Army all the way back to
Crimea. On 9 November,
Mikhail Frunze ordered the Insurgent Army to cross the
Syvash. Early in the morning, Kozhyn's machine gun regiment followed
Oleksiy Marchenko's insurgent cavalry over the crossing, under heavy fire, which seriously wounded Kozhyn himself. Once the crossing was made, the insurgents and other units of the Red Army managed to drive back the
Russian Army into a retreat. An attempted counterattack by the
Kuban Cossacks, led by , was repelled by Kozhyn's machine-gun regiment. This reinforced the Soviet flank and allowed them to continue their offensive, eventually forcing the White movement to
evacuate from Crimea. A report by
August Kork, commander of the
6th Red Army, attributed a leading role in the Soviet victory to Kozhyn's machine-gun regiment. Following the Soviet victory over the White movement, the Bolsheviks turned on the Makhnovshchina, attacking the Crimean insurgent units. Karetnyk himself was assassinated, but his detachment managed to escape from the Bolshevik assault in Crimea. The insurgents shifted once again into guerrilla warfare, with Kozhyn leading an isolated detachment against the Red Army. In March 1921, the detachment led by Shchus and Kozhyn managed to reestablish contact with
Nestor Makhno, who subsequently ordered them to rendezvous with other insurgent units in
Poltava. In May 1921, Kozhyn made the rendezvous, which drew together 2,000 cavalry and multiple infantry regiments, in order to attack Bolshevik
requisitioning units in
eastern Ukraine. Over the subsequent months, the insurgents faced continuous losses, with many being captured or killed. On 22 July 1921,
Roberts Eidemanis telegraphed the Red Army command in
Kharkiv and demanded the execution of Foma Kozhyn, who was lined up before a
firing squad and shot. ==References==