He studied at the Pavel Military School and the Nicholas General Staff Academy.
He participated in the Russo-Japanese War from 1904 to 1905, as commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 88th Petrovsk Infantry Regiment.
On 9 September 1917 he was fired and imprisoned in Berdychiv Prison, but 2 days later he was released and enlisted in the reserve of the Kiev military headquarters.
In December 1918, he was enlisted in the Red Army and became a member of the commission for the study and use of the experience of war.
In 1919, he spent several months in prison charged with membership of a clandestine organization.