The Starving March (Russian: Голодный поход) was the retreat of the Orenburg Independent Army under command of generals Alexander Dutov and Andrei Bakic in the winter of 1919–1920 from the area around Kokchetav over Sergiopol, through Kazakhstan towards Semirechye on the Kazakh-Chinese border.
On December 13 Karkaralinsk was taken by the Red Army and Dutov's troops departed from Sergiopol towards Semirechye and the Chinese border.
The troops retreated in the sparsely populated, barren terrain, and had to spend the night in the open air.
Long day marches allowed the bulk of the army to stay ahead of the enemy, but stragglers were often attacked and killed by Kazakhs.
When the Red Army approached, they crossed the Chinese border between March and May 1920 together with the 4,000 Semirechye Cossacks, to be interned.