Biography
The Otaman was born as Nychypir Servetnyk in a small village of Zastavlia (still stands today) of Novo-Ushytsia uyezd in the Podolia Governorate. Servetnyk served in cavalry in the region of Kherson and participated in Russo-Japanese War in the Russian Far East serving in the Trans-Baikal Host. After his discharge he served as a gendarme in the town of Proskurov, Podolia Governorate.
Servetnyk volunteered to the army with the outbreak of the First World War and was enlisted as a Praporshchik (see Rank structure) to the 56th Infantry Regiment in 1914. In course of war he was awarded the Cross of St. George for bravery. Servetnyk eventually rose to the rank of Staff Captain (Russian: Штабс-капитан) in the 58th Prague Infantry Regiment (1917) and changed his surname to Grigoriev. During this period he became a member of Eser (Socialist-Revolutionary) Party. Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, he supported the socialist-oriented Ukrainian Central Rada of the Ukrainian National Republic. He served in the reorganized National Army of Ukraine and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
Read more about this topic: Nikifor Grigoriev
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