 After the death of Vasyl Chuchupaka, the Kholodnoyarsk Republic was headed by the Deputy Chief Otaman, Ivan Derkach, a member of the Kholodnoyarsk Insurgent Committee.He commanded the armed forces of the Kholodny Yar region during the anti-Soviet uprising in the spring and autumn of 1920.In March 1920, the Steppe Division of the UPR Army, numbering between 12,000 and 18,000 men, liberated Kherson from the Bolsheviks and led a successful offensive to the west (via Bilozerka) along the Kamyanka-Yehradivka-Ruzhychiv-Chyhyryn line.