under a red flag. Towards its very end, the uprising was apparently led by an UNR politician, I. Siyak. Whether or not UNR Ataman G. I. Mayevski also contributed to this expedition remains a topic of contention. Historian Ion Gumenâi sees him as an actual commander of the rebel troops; a similar verdict was advanced by a collective of authors from the State Archives of Chernivtsi, who suggest that Mayevski distributed arms to the Bessarabian Directorate. Potylchak favorably quotes academic and UNR political figure Dmytro Doroshenko denying that the revolt had any assistance from Mayevski. Scholar Jonathan Smele argues that the UNR, "at a critical point of the Soviet–Ukrainian War, could not afford to become embroiled in conflict with Romania". An explicit order from the UNR General Staff banned the Podolia Army Corps from intervening to assist the uprising. In his memoirs, however, Doroshenko hints that the UNR's 60th Infantry Regiment was moved to Zhvanets specifically in order to help the rebel expedition, or at least to cover its retreat in case of a Romanian counterattack. Stănescu claims that the UNA directly assisted the rebels with constructing a makeshift bridge at Ocnița. Major M. McLaren of the Royal Navy, who was mistakenly arrested by the rebels as a Romanian spy, reports that no UNA troops were on show, though noting the passing presence of Cossacks with an undisclosed allegiance. Ukrainian officials strongly disavowed rebels when they transported 6 Romanian prisoners into UNR territory. Their reaction was not registered by the Romanian Army, who responded by capturing 16 Free Cossacks from Tiraspol as hostages. Violent repression Overall, Liskun's incursion was quickly rejected by the returning Romanian Army. In the early stages of the rebellion, it acted out on its previous warnings, repeatedly shelling the Podolian villages of Nahoriany and Kozliv. During this interval, Davidoglu's troops were joined by various units, including the entire 37th Infantry Regiment, which moved from Bacău to Noua Suliță, and the machine-gunners of Bălți. On January 28–30, the regrouped units, under Colonel Victor Tomoroveanu, forced rebels out of Noua Suliță, Nedăbăuți, Dăncăuți and Cliscăuți, reaching Anadol; other groups retook Rucșin and Rașcov. A state of siege was imposed in neighboring Bukovina, before troops from there could be marched into Hotin County; "already on February 1, the insurgent forces were pushed back over the Dniester, and internal rebellions were repressed". A force still answering to the Khotyn Directorate