Osipenko Incident

The Osipenko Incident was a confrontation between the 15th Company of the Hezhen Army and armed Slavic insurgents that took place on 25 June, 1977, in the town of Osipenko. The incident, which resulted in the death or capture of all insurgents fighting that day and the destruction of much of Osipenko, heightened already brewing tensions between the Hezhen Federation and the Federal Republic of Estovakia, and was a prominent factor in the eventual outbreak of war between the two nations.

By June of 1977, Hezhe was already well into the process of integrating the former Khabarovsk Krai into its federation, and had deployed the 15th Company, under the command of Captain Irkesi Xie, to escort civil personnel in overseeing the annexation. Later that month, in light of rising tensions with Estovakia, a brigade was dispatched to reinforce Xie's company. By that time, however, reports were already reaching the Hezhen authorities in Khabarovsk of a heavily armed group of Russians entering Khabarovsk through its border with Magadan, which was being annexed by Estovakia at the time; shortly thereafter, the militants seized the town of Osipenko, and Xie led a detachment to the town to deal with the incursion.

The militants were instructed to disarm and leave the town, but negotiations broke down when the Hezhen troops were fired upon, injuring Captain Xie in the first minutes of the attack. Hezhen troops then moved into the town to secure it and neutralise the militants, resulting in a brief firefight that proved catastrophic for the infrastructure of Osipenko due to the militants' use of rocket-propelled grenades. Nevertheless, all insurgents in Osipenko were killed or captured, and the ruined town liberated; displaced civilians were accommodated in neighbouring towns and Hezhen bases until Osipenko was rebuilt.

The Osipenko Incident was a stark low point in the rapidly declining diplomatic relationship between Estovakia and Hezhe. The federation accused Estovakia of responsibility for the attack, either sending the insurgents themselves or arming them, and later raised the incident as a motivating factor in the ultimatum that preceded the conflict in Magadan. Estovakia denied charges of responsibility, but a formal investigation was never launched into the events of that day.