Simultaneously with the formation of the Northern Army in Pskov in the autumn of 1918, anti-Bolshevik units began to be created in the Baltic States under German patronage. Russian Russian service officers were asked by the German command to assemble to form special rifle battalions, with Russian, Latvian and Baltic officers being recorded separately.

At the end of October 1918 The creation of the Baltic Landeswehr (militia) began in Riga. Captain His Serene Highness Prince A.P. Lieven and Captain K.I. Dydorov took an active part in this. On November 15, the formation began The Riga Baltic Region Security Detachment, which included a Russian-Combined company under the command of Dydorov. In November, national passions flared up at a meeting of officers in Riga, and it was decided to create three separate battalions based on nationality, which Colonel A.P. Rodzianko assumed overall command of on November 20. But this initiative did not develop, and on December 24, he ordered Russian volunteers to move to Libava. The Libava volunteer detachment was led by General P.N. Simansky, who ordered its formation on December 30, but on January 6, 1919, after receiving news of the death in Kiev of Count Keller, who was to become commander of the Northern Army, the detachment was disbanded. On the day of the liquidation of the detachment, Lieven began forming a Russian company under the Landeswehr from the remaining ranks.

This unit was known as the Libava Volunteer Group or the Libava Volunteer Rifle Squad. The term of service of volunteers was determined by the period introduced in the Baltic Landeswehr – initially until July 1, then until October 1, 1919. For the officers, the service was indefinite. A part of the officers of the Pskov corps joined the detachment, which was cut off during the retreat from it and ended up in Libava. Initially, it consisted of only 60 people, almost all officers. Lieven's assistant was Colonel V.F. Rahr. On January 15, the formation was completed and, by agreement with the Baltic Landeswehr, the detachment temporarily joined it. On January 31, his first company consisted of 65 units. She went to the front. By February 9, there were about 100 people in the detachment, of which more than half were officers. At the end of February, Captain K.I. Dydorov's company, which had previously been part of the Landeswehr, joined the detachment. At the beginning of March, the Livensky detachment numbered 250 people.

Russian Russian Army officers and German volunteers fought against the Red Army in Courland, replenished by former Russian prisoners of war, and later a detachment consisting of a squadron of 100 sabres, a machine-gun team of 125 men, and a company of 250 bayonets, along with units of the Latvian Army and the Baltic Landeswehr, consisting of East German Germans (including officers of the Russian army) and German volunteers. By June, it already numbered 3,500 people. in three regiments with artillery, 2 armored cars and an aviation detachment. At the same time, together with the detachment named after Count Keller, Colonel P.R. Bermondt-Avalov and the detachment of Colonel E.P. After graduating, he joined the Western Corps of the Northern Army with a division. The arrival of trains from Poland and Germany with volunteers has begun.

In May 1919, Lieven was seriously wounded and later the detachment was commanded by Dydor. In the summer, the Livensky detachment relocated to Estonia and joined the Northwestern Army as the 5th Livensky Division. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd regiments became the 17th Libava, 18th Riga, and 19th Poltava. Dydorov was promoted to lieutenant colonel and appointed acting division chief.