after kharkiv had been taken by the red guards for two days, the other all-ukrainian congress of soviets finally took place. the session opened in the noble assembly building. on , the congress declared the creation of the ukrainian people's republic of soviets and established as its governing body the central executive committee of ukraine (cvk of soviet ukraine). on the first session of the cvk of soviet ukraine took place, electing its presidium and commissions. yukhym medvedev of the ukrainian social democratic labour party was elected as the chairman of the cvk. on the same day, the soviet government established the people's secretariat of ukraine, an organisation similar to its main rival, the general secretariat of ukraine. additionally, a telegram was telegraphed to the russian sovnarkom concerning the establishment of soviet power in ukraine.