The Battle of Wołodarka was a clash between the Polish Army and Siemion Budionnyi's First Cavalry Army. It took place between 29 and 31 May 1920, near the Ukrainian village of Volodarka, in the course of the Polish Offensive on Kiev during the Polish-Soviet War. Before the battle After the Polish Army captured Kiev on 7 May 1920, it became apparent that Józef Piłsudski's plan to fight a major battle against the Soviet armies in Ukraine had failed. The Soviets avoided battle, withdrew from all of right-bank Ukraine, and also gave up its capital. At the same time, Red Army headquarters ordered Siemion Budionnyi's battle-proven 1st Cavalry Army to relocate to Ukraine, begin an offensive, and outflank the overstretched Polish forces and Symon Petlura's small contingent of Ukrainian People's Republic troops. The Soviet advance finally began on 26 May 1920, with the Red 12th Army and Komdiv Iona Yakir's Corps crossing the Dnieper River and attacking the weakest part of the Polish defenses. The assault began the same day as the reorganization of the Polish forces in the area, and was initially aimed at the Polish 7th Infantry Division, the weakest and least battle-proven Polish unit. In addition, the Polish defenses were weakened by the relocation of a large part of the Polish forces to northern Polesie, where Piłsudski was preparing defenses against possible Russian attack. The following day, Budionnyi's 1st Cavalry Army joined the assault and attacked the Polish 6th Army's 13th Infantry Division. The Soviets planned to outflank the Poles and Ukrainians by forming two giant pincers advancing separately toward Bila Tserkva and Khvastiv. However, apart from the fresh and battle-proven units of the First Cavalry Army, the Russian commander of the Southwestern Front, Komandarm Alexander Ilyich Yegorov, had only the 12th Red Army, reinforced with fresh, untrained recruits, which had been badly beaten during the Soviet retreat from Ukraine only a month earlier. Due to this, the planned offensive could not begin on all fronts at once, and the mobility of the troops was limited. On 29 May 1920 the commander of the Polish 3rd Army ordered a counterattack. Lt. Col. Stefan Dąb-Biernacki's newly formed Wasilków Group was to attack the Yakir Group before it could attack the weakened 7th Division. The assault was successful, and the group — comprising a single (5th Legions) infantry regiment, reinforced with one battalion of the elite 1st Legions Infantry Regiment,