Battle of Ovaro

The Canin Battalion, part of the wider Brigate Garibaldi partisan unit, entered the cities of Chialina and Ovaro at 16:00 CET, 1 May 1945. The Battalion, upon trying to intimidate the Cossacks within the area and demanding for them to lay down all of their arms, was met with fire and even some grenades at around 21:00 CET. The battalion was forced to retreat to Chialina in order to reorganize.^[8] A night of planning followed,^[8] during which various partisan-aligned Georgian units started to mobilize from Comeglians towards Clavais and Barc in order to join with the partisans. The total number of Georgian troops is estimated to be around 670 troops, with Princess Miriam and Giorgio Lolua leading 600 and 70 troops respectively.^[7]

In the first hours of 2 May 1945, it was decided by partisan commander Alessandro Foi that an explosive had to be put in the proximity of Ovaro's barrack, occupied at the time by the Cossacks. Soon after that, the plan was pursued by the Georgian partisans who blew up the barrack where numerous of the Cossacks' wives and children were hiding, killing 42 of them and injuring 26.^[8][9][10] The attack by the partisans, including the Brigate Garibaldi, the Osoppo Brigade and the "Stalin battalion" (the Georgians) had begun.^[6][8] On that day, the Cossacks had already decided to retreat from the town with their families and head towards Austria. However, despite being taken by surprise by the partisan assault, they reacted with fire and even repelled the attacks.^[9]

Upon getting news of incoming reinforcement and experiencing significant losses, including Georgian commander Akaki Uruschadse, the partisans retreated. The Cossacks then pursued reprisal on the local population before retreating,^{[7][8][9][11]} killing up to 89 civilians (including Gemona del Friuli) and setting the town on fire.^[11][12] In response to the attack, other reprisals took place in nearby communities still occupied by the Cossacks, such as Avasinis, where up to 63 additional civilians were killed. By the start of the next day, the Cossacks had left.^[10]

On 3 May 1945, the CLN in Tolmezzo tried to intimidate the Cossacks to surrender by using small military standoffs and political pressure. However, the Cossacks stated they would only surrender to an Anglo-American military commander as they headed towards the border crossing with Austria, with the partisans unable to stop them.^[10]

The population in the affected areas was divided. Some of them wanted harsh consequences on the Cossacks, whilst some assumed an apologetic attitude towards them, stating that the one's at fault were the partisans due to their attack on the barrack where Cossack civilians were located.^[10]

With the Allied offensive in Italy advancing, the Cossacks of Carnia started to withdraw from the region and relocated to the Plöcken Pass, where on 9 May 1945, they surrendered to British troops upon crossing the border into Austria, in Lienz. Most of them were sent to the Soviets for trial, who in turn deported them to the gulags.^[13] Most of them would die.^[5]