Tuhia he haere tonu mo tenei irava - I whanau te Ruhia, a Nikolai Stepanovich Nikitchenko i te 17 o Tihema 1901 i Starodub, Chernigov Governorate. I te Pakanga a Ruhia, i uru a Nikitchenko ki te ope Whero i te whakataunga o Unecha i te 27 o Oketopa 1918 ka tukuna hei tangata o te ope Whero ki te roopu o te rangatira o te wehenga 1 o Ukraine. I te wehenga, i whawhai ia i te Raki ki te Tonga ki te Ope Tautoko. I te Hui-tanguru 1919 i whara ia, ka noho ki te hohipera tae noa ki Hune. I muri i te whakaoranga i te marama o Hune i tukuna ia ki te wehenga whakaora o te 19th Reserve Rifle Regiment i Bryansk, i reira i mahi ai ia hei kaiawhina kaihauturu i roto i te wehenga mataaratanga o te wehenga mai i te Hui-tanguru 1920. I te marama o Tihema 1920 i whakawhiti atu ia ki te 22nd Rifle Regiment i Liski hei kaiawhina kaihauturu i roto i te roopu tirotiro. I te 22, i whawhai ia ki te whakakore i te tutu a Kolesnikov e tata ana ki Ostrogozhsk. I te Paenga-whawha o te tau 1921 i tukuna ia ki te ako i te 27th Oryol Infantry and Machine Gun Command Course. I a ia e tamariki ana, i whawhai ia ki te whakaekenga o Tambov Rebellion
i waenganui i Mei me Noema o taua tau.