Kharkiv and three days before the capture of Kyiv by the Red Army, Hryhoriv agreed to recognize the suzerainty of the government of the Ukrainian SSR and the command of the Red Army in Ukraine. He also agreed to transform his troops into regular units. The units commanded by him took the name of the 1st Trans-Dnieper Brigade and in a short time forced the forces loyal to the Directorate to withdraw from Kryvyi Rih, Znamianka and Yelizavethrad. Hryhoriv's move to the side of the Red Army forced the Ukrainian People's Army to withdraw to Podolia and Volhynia. On 2-10 March 1919, Hryhoriv fought a fierce, ultimately victorious battle for Kherson against the Allied interventionists. Then, on 15 March, acting against the orders of the Ukrainian Front's commander Vladimir Antonov-Ovseyenko, he captured Mykolaiv, which was actually controlled by the local Bolsheviks. On 6 April 1919, Hryhoriv's brigade captured Odesa, which had been abandoned the day before by French intervention troops. On the spot, Hryhoriv allowed his troops to commit looting and transport the stolen goods to their place of origin. Anti-Bolshevik Uprising The successes achieved by Hryhoriv meant that, after the capture of Odesa, he was appointed commander of the newly-established , and he was proposed to be awarded the Order of the Red Banner. At the same time, his attitude and the conduct of his troops aroused increasing criticism among local Bolshevik commanders, especially when Hryhoriv unexpectedly did not support 's troops on their march towards Tiraspol. Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko, fearing for both Hryhoriv's loyalty and that of Nestor Makhno's anarchists, decided to entrust him with the prestigious task of marching against Romanian forces in Bessarabia. During a meeting with Antonov-Ovseenko, Hryhoriv attacked the policy of the Bolshevik authorities in Ukraine, particularly food requisitions, but ultimately committed to leading his troops in towards Bessarabia. However, Hryhoriv actually sent his troops for a three-week "rest", allowing the soldiers to return to their places of origin. His brigade scattered throughout Kherson, taking weapons, equipment and supplies, and for the next three weeks his soldiers engaged in looting. They also committed antisemitic pogroms and murdered of activists of local party committees. Hryhoriv's troops then stopped recognizing the Bolshevik command. They began to distribute leaflets, which called on peasants to fight against the Bolsheviks in the ranks of "otaman Hryhoriv's partisans". In Yelizavethrad, Hryhoriv's troops destroyed the party headquarters and disarmed a Red battalion.