Petr Yul’evich Kiselis was born in what is now is the Republic of Lithuania. In 1906, he attended courses at the Central School of Technical Drawing, a school managed by artist Barron Aleksander Stieglitz. Kiselis continued his studies between 1907 and 1908 at the Drawing School Society for the Encouragement of the Arts. From 1910 to 1912, he again enrolled (under the surname Kissel) in the Central School of Technical Drawing. From 1913 to 1916 (under the surname Kisselisov) he atte...

The publishing arm of the All-Russian Bureau of Military Commissars (VBVK) is historically considered to be the Bolsheviks' first centralized political organ for the Red Army. It was formed in April 1918 when the People’s Commissariat for Military Affairs issued a decree on the creation of military councils (soviets). This action established commissariats for military matters at the rural, provincial and district levels, and it also formed the All-Russian Bureau of Military Commissars that became th...