Initially, it was stated that the arrival of the Red troops in Ukraine was due only to the need for the advancement of Soviet troops on the Ukrainian railroad that were heading against the rebellious Russian Whites under Alexey Kaledin, which had occupied Rostov-on-Don on 15 December.

In December 1917 the Leninist government was not yet ready for a full-scale war against the Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR).

On the night of 10 January, local Red Guard units unexpectedly disarmed the two regiments of the UPR (2,700 bayonets), which had been trying to preserve dual power (UPR and Bolsheviks) in the city for 20 days.

Some 300 disarmed UPR soldiers wished to join the socialist revolution and were enlisted in the Soviet Army as an independent unit, the regiment of the Red Cossacks.

Kharkiv became the capital of the Ukrainian People's Republic of Soviets until 19 April 1918, when German units and the UPR Zaporozhian Division under Petro Bolbochan's command took Kharkiv from the Bolsheviks.