 The latter were mercilessly exterminated along with widespread abuse and robbery of the civilian population.The situation having escalated that far, open hostilities followed.Skirmishes and attacks occurred in different towns and regions throughout the country, the most prominent of which was the capture of Konotop by Cossacks of the Nizhyn and Chernihiv Regiments headed by Hryhoriy Hulyanytsky, a colonel of Nizhyn.