The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-11-07

the Ukrainian and BOsheviSt Armies, I managed to reach Kieff, whence I have just returned, travelling again by aeroplane. When we set out from Loutsk, in Poland, there was much uncertainty as to who held the an cient capital. Equally reliable re- ports along the Polish -Volhynian frontier as well as reports current a few days earlier in Warsaw placed the city in the hands of the Ukrain- ian leader Petlura or Denikin, or even asserted that 1t was still in the hands of he Borshev.ks, who had occupied 1t in January. Upon land ing I found that Denikin was in se- cure possession, and had been for a fortnight past The story of the talk ing of Kieff has probably reached you In some form before now. The facts in the briefest outline are that at three o'clock on Sunday afternoon, August 31, Denikin's troops, under the command of General Bredoff after three days hard fighting with the BoIsheviks, entered the city from the east and northeast. Five hours earlier Petlura's troops had come in, advancing from the south.
 Bredon called upon hrauss, the former German General who is now directing PetIura's military opera ttons, to withdraw the Ukrainian force. Krauss, whose strength wsa considerably less then that of Denikin, compiled, evacuating during the Sunday afternoon and night The defense of Kieff by the Bolsheviks was surprisingly stubborn. Lettish and Chinese troops. the best soldiers at Trdtsky's disposal, had been prev ious1y transferred to the Dnieper
 
 bers, while several divisions of re- cent graduates of the Bolshevik nili- trry schools at Moscow and TVer were also employed, and proved ef- fective. General Kamenieff, of the former Russian Command, who di- Tected the Bolshevist operations, and probably had fifty thousand men with perhaps 250 guns at his disposal for the defense of the city, also managed to get into action a greater number of technical appliances, such as arm cured motor-cars, aerOpldnes, and the like, than Denikin's army ever encountered before.
 Double Bombardment.
 For the thirty-six hours proceed ing it's recapture Kieff was subjected to a double bombardment, the effects of which are visabIe everywhere. Pet 1ura, availing himself of his German guns German ammunition, and Ger man artlIerymen, virtually shelled his way into the city. and at the same time the Bolshevists, realizing that they could not hold the city, began firing upon it from a fleet of tweny- seven monitors they had on the rtv- CT. At no time did Bredoff shell the city, and there was not counter at tack from the Bolsheviks in the hope of regaining Kieff which, for more than seven months has been, together with Moscow and Petro- grad, one of the three major strong holds of Leninism. Since August S1 the Volunteer Army has pushed westward, establishing a protective line about thirty miles beyond the city, Although the main direction of the Bolshevist retreat was north westward towards Moscow. Kameni- eff sent tolerably numerous force to the southwest to make an attempt upon Jitomir, which was held by Petlura. In flying over Jitomtr I could plainly see the long column of Bol- shevist troops moving along the Kieff road towards the town.
 However, these collateral military movements have not been the chief concern of Den1ken's representative at Kieff since the Volunteer Army
 
 anxiety has been, as he admitted to me, that he should receive some sig nal from the Poles. In KIeff 1t was not appreciated that within the Pol ish lines there was no certainty of the truth of the report of Deniken s victory, and that the Poles. fearing g that the Bo1sheviks were still in pos session, were wary of attempting to establish contact with the city. A young Polish aviator who flew me over, Lienutenant Weber, attached to the French squadron, now doing service in Poland, made the first ac- tua1 junction between the armies o1 Pi1sudskf and Deniken, and when, a few moments after our landing, we presented ourselves before Bredoff Weber was enthusiastically received by the General as likely to be the bearer of an official offer of coop eration from the Poles. Bredoff was keenly disappointed. and did not en- deavor to hide his disappointment when he discovered the fact that Weber-s sole function was to convey your correspondent over the bandit. infested territory of Podo1fa and Vol. hynia, and over the BolsheTist lines
 DenfIken and the Poles.
 The General. however. at once go . into direct communication with Den  fken's headquarters at Taganrog. ant a reply was promptly received from General Romanoffsky. the Chief O the Staff of the Volunteer Army. Th' essence of the message was that Den 1ken considered the Polish army a' an ally against the cesy.-.Ion enc my, Bolshe*isfh, and was wiling t. treat with it's commanders on friend 5y terms, but that Petiura must b. cd a. General Deniken cana5t conclude pact with men who have bene trait ors to Russia" That afternoon al order was issued that all the Volun teeF troops and the Poles mus 1eneefeFth be treated as allies, bu the -'etfuFisns should be offered fe the choice of being disarned 0 leaving Russian soil. In short, Den iken has avaiied himself of the frs opportunity that offered to inv1t Polish cooperation. and it is nor