Sirko's Sloboda-Dnieper Campaign
| Sloboda-Dnieper Campaign | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Left-Bank Uprising | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Sirko's Cossacks |
.svg){kind=small} Tsardom of Russia | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Ivan Sirko |
Grigory Romodanovsky Fyodor Repka † | ||||||
The Sloboda-Dnieper Campaign was organised and carried out by Zaporozhian Cossack rebel leader Ivan Sirko against Tsardom of Russia as part of Left-Bank Uprising, from 4 March to May 1668.
Prelude
[edit]In 1668, Ivan Sirko held a position of Zmiev colonel. As the uprising against Tsar begun, Sirko himself became convinced of the injustices that "Moscow boyars and voivodes" were guilty of committing. Sirko established contacts with Cossack rebel leaders, particularly with Petro Doroshenko and advocated for Cossack rights.[1] Evidence suggests that Ivan Sirko could’ve been among instigators of the uprising and planned it during late 1667.[2]
Campaign
[edit]On March 4, 1668, Sirko launched a series of revolts in Merefa, Tsareborisov, Mayatsk, Valki, Chervonyi Kut and Torsk salt lakes.[1][2] On March 11, Sirko headed to Kharkiv with the goal of capturing it. Kharkiv governor Lev Sytin was concerned about Sirko’s activities and informed Prince Grigory Romodanovsky about this, with same sentiment being expressed by Chuhuiv governor. Romodanovsky reassured Chuhuiv governor that Kharkiv population remained loyal and he should maintain contact with Sytin, while also taking punitive actions on traitors from Cherkasy.[1] Sirko abandoned his plan to capture Kharkiv due to lack of local support.[2] Kharkiv part of Sloboda Ukraine including Tsareborisov, Mayatskaya, Zmiev, Valki and Murafa took Sirko's side. The rest of the large settlements remained loyal to the tsar.[3] However, Sirko still achieved a level of success in Kharkiv, with the killing of Tsarist Kharkiv colonel Fyodor Repka.[4] Sirko was nevertheless forced to retreat to Poltava, which had been previously captured (on February 5), because Romodanovsky himself was preparing to act against him.[5]
After his campaign in Sloboda, Sirko headed to Dnieper Ukraine. Sirko defeated Russian troops near Okhtyrka and Poltava.[6] On April, Sirko captured the Borove settlement. On May, Sirko captured the Kolontaiv and Martova settlements. After his campaign, Sirko went across the Dnieper to meet with Doroshenko in Chyhyryn.[1] Sirko's entire campaign was aimed at propagandizing Bryukhovetsky, in order to expel the Russians from the region,[7] this propaganda was not successful.[8]
Aftermath
[edit]Sirko managed to achieve local success near Kharkiv, Okhtyrka and Poltava.[9] However, his attempts to move the uprising to really large centers ended in failure.[10] Ivan Bryukhovetsky attempted to capitalize on Sirko’s military success, trying to get more colonels to his side, saying that Ivan Sirko went over to his side and already driven out Russian troops from "many Ukrainian Slobozhan cities".[11] Sirko's incomplete success was temporary, as he did not take Kharkiv, and the Russians regained control of the region.[12] Later, disagreements began in the Cossack camp, due to the fact that Sirko refused to support the Tatars.[citation needed] Sirko eventually abandoned his role as a rebel leader and returned to the Sich, as it became clear he won't be able to gather large enough forces.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Dmytro Yavornytskyi (2004). Tvory. Tandem-U. p. 350. ISBN 966-7482-31-6.
- ^ a b c Kolovrat-Butenko, Yuri (2017). Ivan Sirko in the history of Zmiev (In Ukrainian), p. 13.
- ^ Babulin 2021, pp. 53–56.
- ^ Notes of the Ukrainian Scientific Society in Kyiv. Book 3 (In Ukrainian) [1], p. 141.
- ^ Russian Biographical Dictionary (Wikiteka), Сирко, Иван Дмитриевич v. 20, 1912
- ^ Yuriy Mytsyik (1999). Otaman Ivan Sirko (In Ukrainian). Zaporizhzhia: Tandem-U.
- ^ Davies 2007, p. 153.
- ^ Velikanov & Lazarev 2020, p. 203.
- ^ a b Б. І. Сушинський (2004). Козацькі вожді України. Історія України в образах її вождів та полководців XV-XIX. Vol. 1. Одеса: ВМВ. p. 390. ISBN 966-8286-22-7.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link) - ^ Florya 2013, pp. 311–312.
- ^ Владимир Павлович Загоровский (1980). Изюмская черта (In Russian), p. 14.
- ^ Great Russian Encyclopedia (old ed.) Серко, Иван Дмитриевич
Bibliography
[edit]- Florya, Boris N. (2013). Внешнеполитическая программа А. Л. Ордина-Нащокина и попытки ее осуществления [A. L. Ordin-Nashchokin's foreign policy program and attempts to implement it] (in Russian). Moscow: Индрик. ISBN 978-5-91674-267-1.
- Babulin, Igor (2021). Война за возвращение Украины 1668-1669 [War for the return of Ukraine 1668-1669] (in Russian). Moscow: Русские витязи. ISBN 978-5-907245-37-2.
- Davies, Brian (2007). Warfare, State and Society on the Black Sea steppe, 1500—1700. London: Taylor & Francis Group. ISBN 0-203-96176-5.
- Velikanov, Vladimir S.; Lazarev, Yakov A. (2020). Царские воеводы и гарнизоны на Украине 1654-1669 [Tsarist voevodes and garrisons in Ukraine 1654-1669] (in Russian). Russian Academy of Sciences: Ratnoe delo. Moscow: Русские витязи. ISBN 978-5-907245-00-6.