 As he approached the Red Army in the Makhnovsky region, he again proposed to seek a military-political agreement with the Bolsheviks, subject to the recognition of the independence of the Yekaterinoslav and Tauride provinces.Like other leaders of the Makhnovists, with the resumption of reprisals by the Reds on January 11, 1920, he moved to an illegalist position, left the army at the end of January and left for Novospasovka.Together with the majority of the Novospasovskaya group, he opposed the armed struggle against the Soviet regime.