"Azard" joined the 2nd Destroyer Division of the Baltic Fleet on commissioning, being employed on screening operations of the fleet, convoy escort and patrol. "Azard" sided with the Bolsheviks following the October Revolution, joining the Red Fleet. In March 1918, Germany intervened in the Finnish Civil War, landing a division of troops (the Baltic Sea Division) to reinforce the Finnish White forces. The advance of the Germans and White Finns soon threatened the port of Helsingfors (now Helsinki), where the Baltic Fleet was based. On 10 April 1918, the Bolsheviks managed to evacuate most of the Baltic Fleet, including "Azard", to Kronstadt in the "Ice Cruise", despite much of the Baltic still being ice-bound.