After signing the Treaty of Brest on January 27 (February 9), 1918 between Ukrainian People’s Republic (UPR) and the Central Powers, with the military help from allies UPR troops drove Bolsheviks away from the territory of Ukraine. On April 29, 1918, a coup d'etat took place in Kyiv and Pavlo Skoropadskyi became Hetman (leader) of the Ukrainian State (Ukrayinska Derzhava). During his rule Pavlo Skoropadskyi was backed by Germany and Austria-Hungary.
After Germany capitulated in the First World War on November 11th, 1918, Soviet Russia annulated the Treaty of Brest between Russian and Germany and started preparing for the second invasion of the territory of Ukraine. The Temporary Labour-Peasant government of Ukraine was created in Moscow on November 17th, 1918, which in December 1918 launched its offensive against Ukraine without any prior notification of war. Responding to the aggression of Moscow on Janiary 16th, 1919, the Directorate of Ukraine declared war on the Soviet Ukraine. By spring 1919 the majority of the territory of Dnieper Ukraine was occupied by the Soviet troops. The Volunteer Army under the command of A.Denikin in July 1919 launched its offensive, and by the end of August 1919 it took over the territory of southern and eastern Ukraine together with the city of Kyiv. The third offensive of Bolshevik troops on the territory of Ukraine began in the end of November – in the beginning of December 1919 and ended with capturing the major part of Ukrainian territory that used to be under Russian rule.