Viktor Antonovich Grigoriev is many things: brave, courageous, and certainly an opportunist. When he was called to leave his hometown of Omsk and serve in the Red Army, he fought tooth-and-nail, staying in battle with frostbite and later ramming an enemy tank with his own. It was only logical for him to later join the Black League's army after this pointless struggle, but he was never particularly dedicated to the League's cause.
Grigoriev cleverly survived the intrigues between the three West Siberian cliques as a low-ranking officer until the war with the anti-communists of Onega, when he was one of the first to jump off the sinking ship and side with the enemy.
He might have been humiliated back home, but that did not concern him once he was appointed mayor and warlord of Omsk. Grigoriev may be a mere puppet of the government in Onega he answers to, but as long as he keeps control, all is fine.