The consequences for the Bolsheviks were worse than what they had feared in December. The Central Powers repudiated the armistice on February 18, 1918, and in the next fortnight seized most of Ukraine, Belarus, and the Baltic countries in Operation Faustschlag. The 1st Red Guard Brigade of Siberian riflemen under Iskritsky's command attacked positions of German troops on February 23, 1918. Today this date is celebrated by us as Defender of the Fatherland Day. On March 3 Chicherin signed the treaty. Thus the new Soviet government agreed to terms worse than those they had previously rejected.