 In 1919, when Ukraine was under communist rule again, Artyom was appointed People's Commissar for Agitation and Propaganda, but later in the year he was transferred to Bashkiria (modern name Bashkortostan), as Chairman of the Society for Aid to Bashkiria.He was therefore one of the first Bolsheviks to hold power in a predominantly Moslem part of the former Russian empire.In 1920, he returned to the Don basis as chairman of the Miners' Union.