In 1918, to fight the rule of Pavlo Skoropadskyi in the Mariupol district of the Yekaterinoslav province, the local Greeks – the Rumeíka and the Urums – formed several rebel groups.

In Starohnativka, a detachment was formed headed by Vladimir Feofanovich Takhtamyshev, which operated in the area of Stary Kermenchik, Novo-Petrikovka, Novo-Karakuba and Bolshaya Yanisol.

[1] In February 1919, the headquarters of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine united most of the Greek detachments.

[2] On February 21, 1919, the commander of the 2nd Ukrainian Soviet Army, Anatoly Evgenievich Skachkoru [ru], issued an order to form the 1st Zadneprovsk Division.

[4] At the end of June 1919, the 9th Regiment occupied a part of the front stretching from Berdyansk to the village of Pokrovskoye.