Hajduk Dimitar Yurukov

Dimitar (Mite, Mitse) Yurukov, also known as Yuruka, was a Bulgarian hajduk and revolutionary from Macedonia who played an important role in the Kresna–Razlog Uprising.

In October 1878, Yurukov joined the uprising and operated in the Karshiyak area, controlling the western bank of the Struma River. According to the historian Todor Strahinov, during the fighting in the Kresna Gorge, when Turkish attention was focused there, the voivodes Zlatko, Ivan Atanasov and Mite Yuruka realised that no Turkish troops or bashi-bazouks stood before them. They began acting boldly, taking the Bulgarian villages in the area, including Ribnitsa, Gorema, Starchevo, Palat, Yakovo and Petarchkata.

In 1885, immediately after returning from a raid into the Ottoman Empire, Yurukov and Stoyan Bogdantsaliyata commanded a 110-strong detachment in Kyustendil that took part in the Serbo-Bulgarian War. They distinguished themselves in the battles at Braykyovtsi and Slavinya, and Yurukov was awarded a silver Cross of Bravery.

That same year, Yurukov participated in Adam Kalmikov’s campaign of revolutionary detachments as a deputy voivode, alongside Tashko Voivode from Magarevo, Riste Voivode from Slansko and Kolyo Voivode.