The head of Defense of the Okhotsk district of the Siberian Volunteer Squad is Captain Boris Mikhailovich Mikhailovsky

Runev Andrei Olegovich Senior Laboratory Assistant of the Department of History and Arctic Research, Institute of Humanitarian Studies and Problems of Small Peoples of the North SB RAS 677000, Russia, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Yakutsk, Kurashova str., 43, sq. 198 andrederune@inbox.ru

Mikhailovsky Boris Mikhailovich was born in 1890, in the village of Cherny Anuy, Biysk district, Altai province, in the family of a doctor.^[20] According to one source, Mikhailovsky's nationality is Jewish.^[7] According to others, he is of Polish origin. ^{[13, pp. 374-375]}

In 1912, he graduated from the agronomic department of the Tomsk Polytechnic University, and after that he served as a land surveyor.^{[15, p. 573]} L. O. Yuzefovich mentioned that Mikhailovsky is a "classmate" of A. N. Pepelyaev in the cadet corps.^{[20, p. 30]} He is echoed by historian N. S. Larkov, who refers to S. P. Zvyagin. However, Mikhailovsky is not listed among the graduates of the "First Siberian Emperor Alexander I Cadet Corps", which graduated from A. N. Pepelyaev in 1908.^[12] There is no doubt that Mikhailovsky was familiar with Pepelyaev even before the revolution. But the acquaintance will take place only after the beginning of the First World War, which Mikhailovsky met as a land surveyor in the Kuznetsk district of the Tomsk Province. After signing up as a volunteer in Tomsk, he was sent to the 42nd Siberian Regiment under the command of Colonel Shchutsky.

Here, in the 42nd Siberian Rifle Regiment, the commander of the mounted reconnaissance unit, Lieutenant A. N. Pepelyaev, becomes the head of the Mikhailovsky.^{[15, p. 573]} Other officers of the Siberian squadron also served in this regiment: the chief of supply of the squadron, Lieutenant Shnaperman N. F., and the clerk Katanaev A. A., the chief of transport of the squadron.^[27] Little is known about serving in the regiment and participating in military operations. Until 1915, he was at the front as part of a regiment, then he was wounded and sent to Irkutsk, where, in addition to treatment, he graduated from the Irkutsk Military School and received the rank of lieutenant.^{[15, p. 573]}

 Doctors recognized Mikhailovsky fit for non–combat service, and in 1916, after a course of treatment, he served in the 39th Siberian Rifle regiment, which participated in operation Polish sack (loss of Poland) 07/15/1915 — 09/22/1915 and in the 2nd Battle of Marashesti (Romanian Front) 08/19/1917 - 08/22/1917^[8], as regimental adjutant.

Shortly after the February Revolution, Mikhailovsky was seconded to the Tomsk Provincial Land Committee. Before the establishment of Soviet power, he was engaged in the formation of new volost land bodies, and with her arrival he lost his job. He got a job as a lecturer in agronomy for Tomsk cooperatives and at the same time became the head of one of their officers' underground organizations ^[20], which numbered up to 800 officers in its ranks and was considered the largest in Tomsk. According to his political views, Mikhailovsky's organization was of the Socialist-Revolutionary type, and the chief himself was a member of the Socialist-Revolutionary party. And even then Mikhailovsky was considered an associate of Pepelyaev, since the general himself, if not attributed to the Socialist Revolutionaries, was accused of sympathizing with the party of social revolutionaries.^{[4, c. 160]}

The first Soviet government in Tomsk, established on December 6 (December 19), 1917, was dissolved in May 1918 after the performance of the Czechoslovak corps. Mikhailovsky served as the Tomsk district commissioner, but the abolition of commissariats by a decree of the Council of Ministers of the Russian government, instead of the post of provincial commissioner, introduced the post of governor of the province, which was occupied by Lieutenant Mikhailovsky as temporarily acting, and in January 1919 he was approved by the governor of the Tomsk province by the Supreme Ruler of Russia A.V. Kolchak and in February received the rank of captain. At that time, an active red guerrilla movement began in the territory of Kuzbass, fueled by the discontent of the population with Kolchak's policy.

In May 1919, peasants sympathizing with the Reds raised an armed uprising. In response, the Kolchak government and Mikhailovsky commandeered several detachments, among which was the detachment of Captain Surov. The future head of the partisan detachment of the Maysky and Amginsky districts played a key role in suppressing the uprising and was accused by the editor of the Tomsk newspaper Sibirskaya Zhizn, A.V. Adrianov, of the atrocities of the Surov detachment. The Minister of Internal Affairs V. N. Pepelyaev, concerned about the growing discontent around Surov, on June 24, 1919, instructed the governor of the Tomsk province Mikhailovsky to collect and report information about Surov. Two days later, Mikhailovsky's prepared report on Surov's activities during the uprising of the Mariinsky District was in the minister's hands.^{[6, p. 188]}

In his report, Mikhailovsky characterized both Surov and his actions on the positive side. V. N. Pepelyaev was satisfied with the work done, and Mikhailovsky remained in the position of governor of the Tomsk province until the fall of Admiral Kolchak's power, that is, until December 1919^{[10, p. 156]}

After the fall of Kolchak's government, the 1st Siberian army begins to disintegrate, its individual units go over to the side of the Bolsheviks, and panic began in Tomsk. As a result, by order of December 16, 1919, A. N. Pepelyaeva begins the evacuation of the remaining loyal units from Tomsk. And on December 17, 1919 Pepelyaev with the remnants of the army in the number of 400 people leaves the city by train. Another group of White Guards, which included a special forces detachment led by the governor of Tomsk province B. M. Mikhailovsky and Captain V. A. Surov, a non-commissioned officer school led by Colonel N. F. Shnaperman^{[11, pp. 226-227]}, also left the rebellious city on their own on horseback along the Irkutsk highway. Soon, in early 1920, the special forces detachment of the Tomsk province of Captain Mikhailovsky together with General A. N. Pepelyaev joined the 3rd Barnaul Regiment. With battles and illnesses, but maintaining discipline and unity of command, the remnants of the Siberian Army retreated several thousand kilometers along the Yenisei, Angara, Ilim, Lena rivers and across the ice across Lake Baikal.^{[11, p. 238]} In Transbaikalia, Pepelyaev's army was finally disbanded. Some of the officers went to Harbin, the former governor of the Tomsk province, while in exile, worked first as a loader and then as a draftsman.^{[15, p. 573]}

After the visit of the Yakut representatives, who managed to convince the general that the Yakut region was engulfed by an anti-Bolshevik uprising and the rebels needed competent military leadership, A. N. Pepelyaev in the summer of 1922 began organizing a squad, actively attracting volunteers mainly from among his former colleagues and subordinates from the Central Siberian Corps. Colonel Shnaperman, Lieutenant Malyshev and Captain Mikhailovsky, who carried out recruitment in Vladivostok, actively helped Pepelyaev in organizing the "Militia of the Northern Region"^{[2, pp. 309-314]}.^{[21, p. 30]}

The motives that led Mikhailovsky to join this campaign are not known to us. Is this dictated by the plight of Russian emigrants, primarily White Guard soldiers and officers, or by the desire to restore order in Russia by returning to their homeland?

After landing at the port of Ayane, Mikhailovsky remained in the city waiting for the second replenishment in the person of Major General Vishnevsky, who landed in Okhotsk in early October. Then he, Captain Gerasimov and staff Captain Rassolov were seconded with a group of officers and soldiers as a guard team to the city of Okhotsk on October 6, 1922 ^{[24, l. 192]}

What did Okhotsk represent? It is a small port, where about 280 Russians and 650 people of other nationalities lived at the end of the 1910s.^[16] There was a radio telegraph line Yakutsk–Okhotsk, which established communication with Yakutsk, Irkutsk, Primorye, Amur Region and Chukotka. There were foreign companies in Okhotsk: the American Olaf Swanson, the English Hudson Bay and the Japanese Nihon Moohi. These companies are often cited as the main sponsors of all the "white bandits" of the district as a whole, and sponsors of the "Pepelyaevshchina" in particular. Barter trade: in exchange for furs, essential goods were exchanged, since the problem of supplying the regions of Chukotka and Kamchatka existed in the state order until the 1930s. The harsh Sea of Okhotsk was covered with ice, which did not allow for constant navigation, but only seasonal navigation. In addition, there were rich gold deposits in the Okhotsk area. Thus, Okhotsk, being a small town, was of great economic importance for the region. There were also warehouses of the Yakut merchant Nikiforov, stuffed with furs. And according to Soviet and modern researchers, a confrontation unfolded around these warehouses. During the 5 years of the Russian civil war, power in Okhotsk changed hands 3 times. Before the arrival of Pepelyaev's squad in Okhotsk, the Bochkarevites felt like masters in the city in the faces of commandants Colonel Bozhakov and foreman Lesnikov, who replaced him. The Bochkarevites, in view of their disregard for the population, were not popular with him, for the same reasons, the Pepelyaevites were skeptical of their presence. General Vishnevsky, receiving news of the outrages committed by the Bochkarevites, hurried to get rid of the remnants of "adventurous people who displeased the population, because they laid a heavy burden on him."^{[3, p. 24]} A heavy burden is understood to be levies imposed by the Bochkarevites. Therefore, it was necessary to correct the situation, which otherwise could harm the reputation of the Siberian squad. The vigilantes were skeptical about the remnants of the Bochkarev forces. This attitude, however, was mutual. The external manifestation was expressed by the fact that after the introduction of the word "brother" in the address to the rank (brother general, brother captain, etc.), the Bochkarevites deliberately began to joke that it was not far from "brother" to "comrade". "A great agreement and mutual distrust" is how the relationship between the remnants of Bochkarev's forces and representatives of the Siberian volunteer squad was described by Staff Captain Rassolov. ^{[23, l. 4o]}

The selection of a candidate for the post of head of the city garrison, apparently, was due to the fact that Mikhailovsky had sufficient experience in administrative management as a former governor of the Tomsk province. Captain Mikhailovsky began performing his duties on October 17, 1922, when a detachment of 45 officers and soldiers arrived in the city of Okhotsk.^{[3, p. 24]}

Major General Vishnevsky paid close attention to the situation of Okhotsk. He considered it necessary to create a permanent governing body, in which, in addition to the specially authorized VYAONU and the head of the Okhotsk department appointed by the government of the Amur Zemsky Krai, a military representative of the squad in the person of the head of the garrison should be present.^{[3, p. 24]} According to Vishnevsky, this form met the requirements of the current situation and contributed to effective interaction between civil administration bodies and representatives of the squad, maintaining a balance between the National Autonomous Region and the Amur government. In addition to its economic and political importance, Okhotsk also had social significance. Later in his memoirs, G. Grachev would point out that Okhotsk is better connected with Yakutsk and they had mutual information. ^[5]

Based on the above, and also to prevent panic among industrialists and the population, Okhotsk and Ayan were declared a rear area by circular No. 504 of October 7, 1922, although it was originally supposed to be a frontline area. Captain Mikhailovsky also owes his appointment to the post of head of the garrison of the city of Okhotsk to Major General Vishnevsky, who at that time was the head of the military rear area of the Ayan - Okhotsk coast. According to Grachev, in addition to the powers of the head of the garrison, with the consent of Kulikovsky, without informing Lieutenant General Pepelyav, Captain Mikhailovsky received the right to exercise control over the actions of civil departments. In addition, General Vishnevsky obliged him to organize the supreme power in the Okhotsk region.^{[3, p. 24]}

General Vishnevsky assigned the following tasks to the head of the garrison of the city of Okhotsk:

1. Eliminate the garrison, which consisted of the remnants of the detachment of yesaul Bochkarev. Members of the detachment of military sergeant Lesnikov were sent to Ayan to General Vishnevsky, where they had the opportunity to continue the fight or were sent to Vladivostok to the chief of staff of the Zemstvo Army of the Amur Zemsky Krai.

2. Organize the security and garrison service, replenish the garrison with volunteers, perform all subsequent tasks set by General Vishnevsky of an operational, military-administrative and administrative nature and, if possible, create a quartermaster for the expedition of the detachment.

3. In cases that affect the interests of volunteer squads, the head of the garrison, together with representatives of the civil administration, is supposed to resolve issues in the field of civil administration. ^{[3, p. 24]}

The balance of political forces in Okhotsk began to change after the liquidation of the Far Eastern Republic. The form of government in the city, which included Sokolov as a representative of the already defunct Amur government, ceased to be relevant. Therefore, by order of the commander of the squad on January 10, 1923, Captain Mikhailovsky was appointed chief of defense of the Okhotsk district and became the commissioner of General Pepelyaev at the National Security Council with the right to have a decisive vote on all military, as well as financial issues, when collecting and spending funds on supplies and contentment of the squad.^{[23, L. 87]}

The regional officials approved the transfer of Okhotsk under the authority of Mikhailovsky at a meeting of the Provisional Yakut Regional Administration, held on February 5-6, 1923, where Deputy Chairman of the Regional Administration Afanasyev, his members Palov and Sofronov, as well as Mikhailovsky and officers were present. The minutes of the meeting recorded the following decision: "Having given a number of reasons that would complicate the situation if power were transferred to the region (the population is mainly Kamchadals and Russians ...) before organizing an independent state education, the meeting DECIDED: To maintain the actual situation and leave the whole business of managing the area on the Okhotsk coast in the hands of a representative of Lieutenant General Pepelyaev and the chief here defense of Captain B. M. Mikhailovsky".^{[26, l. 85]} Thus, the oblasts legalized the actual power of the squad in the district. This concession became possible, probably, after the Amga operation, which raised the authority of the squad.

Subsequently, as the Soviet side claims in its decision of the military tribunal of the 5th army, in December 1922, the activities of Captain Mikhailovsky were reduced to arbitrariness. The expression of his policy was the mastery of industrial and manufacturing enterprises of the region, which had state significance. The surrender of the captured mines under the contract to representatives of the American mining corporation "Charlie Morey". In addition, Mikhailovsky took over all the property that was already under the jurisdiction of the former head of the Okhotsk district Sokolov and representatives of the Yakut administration and, through its sale to foreign firms, supplied the Siberian volunteer squad and the detachment of General Rakitin with food and uniforms. Having assumed the civil administration of the Okhotsk district, Mikhailovsky disobeyed Pepelyaev's order to transfer civil power to a representative of the governor of the Yakut region and, in order to keep the district under his control, resorted to convening a congress of local residents, which was supposed to establish independent management of the Okhotsk district.^{[13, p. 372]}

Thus, General Pepelyaev expanded the powers of the head of the Okhotsk garrison, elevating him to the post of chief of defense of the Okhotsk district. Therefore, it seems doubtful that the commander of the squadron could not have known about Mikhailovsky's affairs in the city.

On the other hand, the testimony of Staff Captain Rassolov indicates that Captain Mikhailovsky really made an attempt to create an independent management body in Okhotsk from the "oblasts". Staff Captain Rassolov was part of the detachment of Captain Gerasimov, who was appointed chief of the armed Forces of the Northern Districts by order No. 47 of February 13, 1923, Lieutenant General Pepelyaev and Captain Mikhailovsky. The task of Captain Gerasimov's expedition was to travel from Oyamikon and Moma through Verkhoyansk to Allaikh, establish contact with the rebels and partisans, unite and coordinate them. In addition, an oral order was received from Captain Mikhailovsky. In Oyamikon and Moma, Captain Gerasimov must assemble a gathering at which delegates will be selected and sent to the Okhotsk Constituent Congress.^{[23, l. 4-5]}

 Subsequently, the tasks set by Captain Gerasimov were not fulfilled. The scattered partisan detachments did not obey the squad, due to their lack of unity of command. As for the organization of the Okhotsk Constituent Congress, according to the Soviet side, an attempt to establish independent management of the Okhotsk region was thwarted by Colonel Khudoyarov, organizing an uprising. The result was the expulsion of Mikhailovsky and his assistant Captain Nudatov from Okhotsk. Subsequently, Mikhailovsky was returned to his post with the help of General Rakitin. ^{[2, p. 311]} On the part of the Pepelyaevites, this uprising is not mentioned anywhere, there is only information indicated by Strod that the bandit Yanygin committed a small coup in Okhotsk with the help of Bochkarevites and former soldiers from Korobeynikov's army. G. Grachev, as a person who clearly dislikes the head of the Okhotsk garrison, in early May 1923, only dramatically mentioned there is some intrigue in Okhotsk and chaos.^[5]

There is nothing surprising in the chaos. The fight was almost over, the squad was defeated and drained of blood, and the outcome became clear to the local population. In the testimony of Staff Captain Rassolov, there is also no information that indicated that the congress did not take place because of the "uprising of Colonel Khudoyarov." Oyamikon, says Rassolov, was completely under the influence of the campaigners in the region and did not send representatives. Nasleg Tarym-Yurag sent his representative Dmitry Ivanovich Krivoshapkin, who, on his return from the congress, was "accidentally" killed by a sentry of the Oyamikon regional administration, Peter Arbatsky. The townsfolk believe that the murder is completely intentional. Also, in addition to the opposition of the "oblasts", Captain Gerasimov failed to complete both tasks due to lack of food – one of the main problems of the expedition of A. N. Pepelyaev.^{[23, l. 4-5]}

The idea to make Okhotsk separate from the regional administration belongs not to Captain Mikhailovsky, but to General Vishnevsky, the head of the rear. Circular No. 504 of October 7, 1922, took the first steps in this direction, when the head of the Okhotsk garrison was given the right to interfere in civil administration if it affected the interests of the squad. The attempt to establish a congress is a continuation of this policy. Especially after the fall of Vladivostok. General Vishnevsky drew attention to the serious situation of Okhotsk. In his opinion, VYAONA was torn away from Okhotsk. Back in January 1923, the assistant commander offered to send his representative with special powers to help Captain Mikhailovsky, since the latter, due to the prevailing circumstances, could not cope with extensive tasks. According to Vishnevsky, General A. N. Pepelyaev began to realize the situation only after the deterioration of the Siberian squad caused by a number of defeats, including the loss of Amga, and its retreat to the Port of Ayan, where food was scarce, and sent E. K. Vishnevsky to Okhotsk.^{[3, p. 50]}

It is worth noting that the pepelyaevites were skeptical of both the soldiers of the regional administration and the administration itself. Staff Captain Rassolov assessed the VIAONA as an organization incapable of active action, in which even its own soldiers do not believe, but serve it solely because of a good salary. Strode believed that Kulikovsky and the oblasts initially had different goals: the former sought to master Yakutsk, while the VYAONU simply wanted to earn money by exporting Furs, and Okhotsk, occupied by the squad, interfered with trade.

Despite the obvious contradictions between the Autonomous Region and the squad, which manifested themselves more and more every day, especially at the front, Mikhailovsky, according to the cash register of the Autonomous Region for 1923, as head of the department and the Okhotsk military district, made transfers of securities and cash in favor of the regional administration. From February to April 1923, funds in the amount of 5,406 rubles were transferred on behalf of Mikhailovsky, in favor of the VIAONU. Partly in gold rubles, partly in securities. But on April 13, 1923, the book emphasizes that Mikhailovsky "refused" to pay.^{[25, l. 1–5o]} Probably because of an attempt to seize power in Okhotsk by the remnants of the forces of cornet Korabeynikov and yesaul Bochkarev under the leadership of Yanigin. No specific date is indicated, it is only reported that one night Yanigin disarmed the garrison of Okhotsk and seized power. But soon rumors reached Okhotsk that the Pepelyaevites were returning from Yakutsk after the loss of Amga in March 1923. The news of the return of the squad did not allow Yanygin to plunder the city, and he hurried back to Bulgino from where he came, simultaneously returning weapons to the Pepelyaevites, since he was rightly afraid of retaliatory actions from the general.^{[18, pp. 186-187]}

The defeat of the squad in Sassyl-Sysyy finally upset the shaky relations with the North Caucasus, conflicts began. The government hastened to disown Pepelyaev's failed campaign as soon as possible. There is evidence of a deterioration in these relations, both on the part of the squad and on the part of the oblast officials. The leader of the Yakut rebels, S. T. Novgorodov, in his appeal accuses the chief of defense of the Okhotsk region and some Russian monarchist officers of confrontation with the North Caucasus. As a result, Captain B. M. Mikhailovsky, foreman P. P. Shulepov, captain V. P. Nikolaev were sentenced to death by firing squad of 15 Yakuts, including members of the National Security Council A. S. Efimov and himself for surrendering Verkhoyansk to the Reds without a fight and stealing valuable furs.^{[1, p. 838]}

There are many contradictions in this story of the "shootings". Mikhailovsky, according to his political views, was a socialist revolutionary, and captain Nikolaev was an officer of Bochkarev's detachment. The relationship between the Bochkarevites and the Pepelyaevites was not characterized as trusting. In addition, in a letter from a certain Ivan Pavlov, it is reported that a certain Bochkarevsky officer Nikolaev tried to arrest him as a state criminal. The Bochkarevites blamed Pavlov for being related to the case of Khanygin (Khapilin), the surrender of Verkhoyansk to the Reds, while taking away furs. On this basis, according to Ivan Pavlov himself, the Bochkarevites recognized him as a state criminal and issued an order for execution.^{[24, l. 27-28]} In this letter there is no mention of Mikhailovsky or the squad, only about the persecution of the Bochkarevites. Thus, only Novgorodov speaks about the "executed" without details and facts. They only talk about the upcoming punitive operation, and it is led by some captain, whose name Novgorodov has forgotten. As for Novgorodov's appeal itself, it is an agitation directed against the Siberian volunteer squad, where the leader of the insurgency complains about Pepelyaev, Vishnevsky and Rakitin, that Mikhailovsky moved VYONA, usurped power in Okhotsk, Captain Gerasimov, who led the investigation into the murdered representative Krivoshapkin, for supervision. Novgorodov's narrative fits into Strode's thesis, which he formed as follows: "The Yakut People's Regional administration, having received the first news about the failures of the squad near Yakutsk, began to disown the Pepelyaevites, stating that no one invited them to Yakutia. It hastened to establish contacts with the Yakut public, which cooperated with the Soviet government, hoping that this would help justify its counterrevolutionary deeds in the future."^{[18, p. 187]} This was reflected in Novgorodov's letter in the following lines: "Now General Pepelyaev, Vishnevsky, Rakitin appeared on the scene, who, according to rumors, obey the VYAON..."^{[22, l. 29]}

The appeals were not limited to the aggressive attacks of the VIAONU against the squad. In May 1923, three times representatives of the Yakut Oyamikon partisan detachment came out to staff Captain Rassolov, demanding to hand over the received furs in favor of the regional government and go "on all four sides", otherwise they threatened to be responsible to the oblasts.^{[23, l. 4o]} The oblasts did not dare to open a forceful confrontation. In general, the claim of the XIAONU was based on resentment that they were left on the sidelines, they were prevented from selling furs. Dissatisfied with these circumstances, the regional officials began to obstruct the squad and set up the local population against the "newcomers".

In early April, General Rakitin returned with the remnants of his detachment,^{[18, p. 186]} which was disbanded not long before his return and numbered 30 Russian volunteers.^{[22, l. 17]} These remnants contributed to the further demoralization of the garrison and the formation of three sides in the person of Mikhailovsky, Khudoyarov and Rakitin, between whom a struggle for the possession of merchant Nikiforov's warehouses with furs unfolded. Unfortunately, there is no information that revealed this conflict in detail. Strode only mentioned that Rakitin maintained armed neutrality between Khudoyarov and Mikhailovsky.

On April 26, an expeditionary detachment of S. S. Vostertsov's Red Army soldiers set off from Vladivostok towards Okhotsk in order to eliminate the remnants of the squad located in Ayan and Okhotsk. Vostretsov's first target was Okhostk, a capture that became a priority because of the Okhotsk radio station, through which the squad intercepted telegrams from Vladivostok. Later, the reds will find them at the Okhotsk headquarters of the squad.^{[19, p. 44]} The remnants of the squad did not have the opportunity to leave Okhotsk due to the season., Under the best circumstances, the squad could count on evacuation only at the end of June. Therefore, Mikhailovsky and Rakitin had to wait for either the arrival of foreign merchant schooners or the arrival of the Reds. The Reds came earlier. Vostretsov's landing force landed on June 4, 1923 and aimed at the Okhotsk garrison. Having approached the headquarters of the squad in the early morning of June 5, Vostretsov took possession of it. Shortly before the operation, Vostretsov intercepted a messenger from a non-commissioned officer who passed on information about the garrison. However, Vostretsov could not do without losses, a shootout began on the street because of the raised alarm. The centers of resistance of the squad in the city were located across the Kukhtui River, where the officers' houses and the soldiers' barracks were located. The volunteers defending the barracks location put up strong resistance, the Red attack choked, the battalion commander, the platoon commander and several Red Army soldiers were killed. And only after Vostretsov ordered grenades to be thrown at the barracks, the resistance was suppressed, and the surviving pepelyaevites laid down their weapons. Among the defenders in the barracks building were Captain Mikhailovsky and Sokolov. The second center of resistance, located in one of the officers' houses, continued to fire back. And the Reds again, choking on the attack. Having lost another platoon commander, a squad commander and several Red Army soldiers, Vostretsov decided to send parliamentarians who convinced the officers to lay down their arms.^{[19, p. 44]} 78 Rakitin people were captured, including Captain Mikhailovsky, as well as Colonel Vargasov.^{[11, p. 279]}

Immediately after Okhotsk, Vostretsov went after General Rakitin, who, according to the official version, shot himself, becoming the last dead general of the Russian civil war. In Ayan on June 17, Vostretsov persuaded the commander of the squad to surrender without bloodshed. An important role in these negotiations was played by the captured Colonel Vargasov, who informed General Pepelyayava about the fall of Okhotsk. This was the end of the story of the Yakut campaign by the Siberian Volunteer Squad. Its participants were awaiting a military tribunal in Chita, which in January 1924

In January 1924, the court of the military tribunal in Chita, which convicted the main persons of the squad under part 1 of Article 58 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR. Captain Mikhailovsky was sentenced to death by firing squad.

But the sentence was commuted to a 10-year prison term in the Alexandrovsky Central of Irkutsk. According to some information, in 1925 Mikhailovsky served his sentence in Chita, from where he wrote letters to A. N. Pepelyaev.^{[11, p. 279]} But in September 1926, due to the deterioration of his health caused by tuberculosis, he was released early. Together with his wife, Mikhailovskaya Victoria Appolinarovna, he moved to Chita, returning to the profession of land surveyor.^[7] 9 months later, Mikhailovsky was detained again.

In June 1927, on the basis of several denunciations, the board of the OGPU of the USSR sentenced Mikhailovsky to 10 years in labor camps under Article 58-10 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR. Mikhailovsky was allegedly exiled to the Solovetsky special purpose camp, located on the territory of the Solovetsky Islands of the Arkhangelsk region.^[17] After the end of his term in Solovki, he returned to Chita. His further fate is unknown, he was allegedly repressed during the purges of 1937-1938. In 1989, Mikhailovsky was completely rehabilitated by the prosecutor's office of the Chita region.^[7]

Thus, the role and participation of Captain Mikhailovsky in the Civil War and in the Yakut campaign were considered. It is worth noting that as the head of the Tomsk province during the reign of Kolchak and the head of the Okhotsk district, Mikhailovsky received an ambiguous assessment.

As the governor of the Tomsk province, he was described as a militarist, a product of the First World War and the Civil War, who was not afraid to suppress speeches and carry out punitive operations. In civil administration, he was distinguished by an authoritarian approach, and he himself was alien to democracy. With his conflicted nature, he has done more harm than good.^[6] Such an assessment misses the context of time: democracy in the army and in wartime is impossible, as demonstrated by the sad experience of the introduction by the provisional government of Russia of Order No. 1 on the democratization of the army. In this regard, Mikhailovsky tried more to establish an order, without which the functioning of state entities is impossible: "in the province, the ignorance and ill-mannered people, the complete lack of a concept of civil discipline. The revolution destroyed everything reasonable. However, we will be able to restore order with a firm hand."^[9] Other authors, on the contrary, emphasize that, despite the strict management, he fought with his actions against the arbitrariness of the same punitive detachments of Captain Surov, who in August 1919 unlawfully arrested members of the Mariinsky Zemstvo district council. After a commission hearing organized by Mikhailovsky, the members of the county zemstvo board were released from arrest.^{[15, p. 293]}

In the Yakut campaign of General Pepelyaev, Mikhailovsky, like the rest of the squad, found himself in difficult conditions when the struggle In Yakutia was actually over. Contemporaries of these events assessed the activities of Captain Mikhailovsky extremely negatively. One of the leaders of the Yakut insurgency, Novgorodov, accused Mikhailovsky of usurpation of power, as did the Soviet side, saying that Mikhailovsky was engaged in arbitrariness. A civilian figure sent by the Amur authorities together with Sokolov, G. Grachev, also negatively assessed the head of defense of the Okhotsk district. Grachev believed that while the squad was overcoming the hardships and hardships of the campaign, intrigue was playing out in Okhotsk, and the head of the Okhotsk garrison lived in a big way, arranging evenings. In general, he fancied himself the governor-dictator of the Okhotsk region and caused irreparable damage to the reputation of the squad, alienating the anti-communist public.^[5] Grachev's claims, which after the fall of Vladivostok, together with Sokolov, were pushed away from managerial activities, are similar in spirit to Novgorodov's complaints. Soviet historian A.P. Fetisov calls the reign of Captain Mikhailovsky the worst that happened to the city during the five-year period of the Civil War.^{[19, p. 44]} As an argument, Fetisov cites extortion, which was inherent in any government of Okhotsk. Under Soviet rule, after the history of the campaign of the squad, the Tunguska uprising broke out, the causes of which were, as K. K. Baykalov would later establish, exorbitantly high taxes and fees. As for modern authors in the person of Yuzefovich, although he admits that the current situation in the Okhotsk region was not so unambiguous, he generally agrees with Grachev regarding the governor-dictator, calling Mikhailovsky a colonial administrator.

Summarizing the above, it is worth adding that Captain Mikhailovsky, as a man of his time, made a difficult journey: as a land surveyor, he voluntarily participated in the First World War as a front-line soldier, and after the revolution, he became not the last officer in the Civil War and the Yakut campaign.

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