Brest, Belarus
In December 1917, peace talks between the Central Powers and the Ukrainian People's Republic and Bolshevik Russia began in Brest. According to the Brest Peace Treaty, signed on February 9, 1918 in the White Palace of the Brest Fortress, Brest, Kholm and Podlasie became part of the UPR. In March 1918, the Kholm Provincial Eldership (province) was formed as part of the Ukrainian People's Republic, and Brest became its administrative center. Ukrainian periodicals were published in the city: "Ridne slovo", "Mir", "Visnyk Kholmskoho gubernialskoho starostva". In 1918, a local troupe (Vasyl Dmytriyuk, Bigunivna, G. Drozd, Prokop) staged Ivan Kotlyarevsky's Natalka Poltavka in Brest, and the funds raised went to Turkevych's orphanage. On December 1, 1918, the founding congress of the Enlightenment was held in Brest.