In July 1917, Mathilde and her son escaped the disturbance in Saint Petersburg, joining Andrei in Kislovodsk. However, they could not live together as Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna was reluctant to acknowledge their presence. Andrei found separate living arrangements for them while he settled in a different villa with his brother Grand Duke Boris, who arrived in September. During the period of the provisional government Grand Duke Andrei, his brother and mother lived mostly undisturbed in Kislovodsk, protected by local Cossacks. In the summer of 1918, the Bolsheviks tightened their grip on members of the former Imperial family. They ordered the assassination of those imprisoned, including Tsar Nicholas II and his immediate family. Seventeen of the 52 Romanovs living in Russia were executed during the red terror.