At the end of October 1919, the Makhnovists captured the armored train "Soldier" from the
Armed Forces of South Russia and renamed it the "Memory of Hryhorii Makhno", after
Nestor Makhno's brother
Hryhorii Makhno, with Lontsov appointed as commander of the armored train. On the armored train, "Armored train in memory of the freedom fighter comrade Hryhorii Makhno" was written in red paint over the old inscription. Since at that moment the Makhnovists had once again declared themselves allies of the Soviets, reports of the seizure of the armored train, as a significant victory over the
Denikinites near
Bakhmach, appeared in the Bolshevik press: "... in the Bakhmach region, we captured the Denikin armor train from an English factory called Orm "(model name of locomotive)." On 10 January 1920, seeing the approach of the Bolsheviks, Lontsov left
Zaporozhye on his armored train and went to
Nikopol. After the occupation of Nikopol, Lontsov fled from execution in
Gulyaypole on 12 January. The armored train was captured by the soldiers of the
45th Rifle Division under the command of
Iona Yakir, who renamed it the "Communist Coal Miner" (commanders - F. Bosyuk, then, from September to October 1920, A.P. Tsupov-Shapilsky). Phillip Bosyuk managed to repair the armored train, install three artillery pieces on it (instead of the ones damaged by the Makhnovists), one of which, however, had a damaged aiming mechanism. In addition, under his leadership, the railway track and bridges were restored to ensure the operation of the train. Bosyuk died in a shootout, having gone on reconnaissance on a boat along the Dnieper. Under the command of Alexander Petrovich Tsupov-Shapilsky, the armored train took part in battles with
Wrangel's troops, first on the Nikopol-Apostolovo sector against the cavalry of
Ivan Gavrilovich Barbovich until September 27, 1920, and on September 30 near Mirovoye station. == References ==