[3] When the insurgents captured most of southern Ukraine, Polonsky became part of the Bolshevik underground, which aimed to subvert the influence of the anarchists.

[7] Polonsky even rose to the rank of commander of the Nikopol Military District, but he was dismissed by November, due to his spreading of Bolshevik propaganda.

[9] On 2 December 1919, Polonsky attended a meeting with the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine,[10] in which the conspirators laid out their plans for Makhno's assassination.

[11] They planned to lure the high command from a conference to Polonsky's apartment, claiming it to be a party celebrating his wife's birthday.

[16] On 5 December 1919, the five conspirators were led to the banks of the Dnieper, where they were shot by Semen Karetnyk, Aleksandr Lepechenko and Hryhory Vasylivsky.