[1][2] Known as a ruthless general with no mercy, he took an active part in the Circassian genocide.

[3] Born in 1750 in the noble family of Antonovich in the Kharkiv region, he studied at Kiev.

He participated as an ordinary Cossack raider in the Russian-Turkish War of 1768–1774.

With the settlement of the Black Sea troops in the Kuban, he was appointed on December 22, 1799, as a military chieftain in the border with Circassia.

[3] During his command, the Black Sea Cossacks organized countless similar raids against the Circassians.