Controversies of The Polish–Soviet War - Property Destruction

Property Destruction

Similar to the Polish side, the Soviet government raised complaints on every occasion in diplomatic notes addressed to the Entente. One note stated that during the Soviet advance the retreating Poles, disappointed by their military misfortunes, engaged in "vengeful vandalism", as in Borisov where the Poles, following their retreat, shelled the city with artillery from another bank of the Berezina River "killing hundreds of people and leaving thousands without shelter." Another joint diplomatic note issued by Soviet Ukraine and Soviet Russia to the Entente blamed the Poles for heavily damaging Kiev including its civilian and art objects, such as St. Volodymyr's Cathedral, a charge the Poles denied, admitting only to the Kiev bridges destruction, claimed necessary to slow the Red Army (the bridges survived multiple hostilities and conflicts prior to Polish occupation of Kiev). That particular note seems to be based on Leon Trotsky's telegraph, and Trotsky himself admitted parts of it were false.

Around the same time, on 7 June – two days after breaking Polish front line – Budyonny's 1st Army destroyed the bridges in Zhytomyr, wrecked the railway station and burned various buildings; Budyonny's troops would both spread terror and wreck infrastructure, to delay Polish army and disrupt it logistics, over the coming month in West Ukraine and East Poland.