Semen Hryzlo was born sometime in the late 1880s in the town of Katerynopil, Zvenigorod uyezd, in the Kiev Governorate, and worked as a scribe and teacher at a local rural school.

[citation needed] In February 1918 the Hryzlo's Cossacks were successful in defeating several units of the 8th Russian Army near the rail station of Bobrynsk.

After the mutiny he returned home to the Cherkasy land where he wagedguerrilla warfare against the Bolsheviks' presence, reestablishing the Free Cossacks formations.

[citation needed] By the end of 1920, Hryzlo had allied with the otamans Kvitkovski and Petro Dereshchuk under the leadership of Andri Huly-Hulenko.

As members of the Kholodny Yar they managed to defeat the 45th and the 47th Soviet Infantry divisions, selected units of the 1st Cavalry Army, and Grigory Kotovsky's brigades.