In the late 1920s he was arrested and spent 2 years of penal labour at the Berdyansk agricultural labour colony. On his return to Kharkiv he became interested in the bandura after hearing the blind kobzar, Pavlo Keleberda, playing on the streets. In 1931 he enrolled in bandura classes and studied with Hnat Khotkevych in the second group of students established at the Kharkiv worker's conservatory. In 1933, after the classes were closed, he continued to study privately with Khotkevych and soon became a close friend of his family.