 When German armies occupied Ukraine and installed the Hetmanate regime, Mikhnovsky opposed the rule of "hetman" Pavlo Skoropadskyi, but refused to take part in a coup to topple him.In late 1918 the Socialist Directory took power in Kiev.Mikhnovsky considered the new government to be extremist and incompetent and his party plotted to replace its leadership either with colonel Petro Bolbochan or Sich Riflemen leader Yevhen Konovalets.