On the hetman Ivan Mazepa’s escape to Swedish camp: some new documents of the Field Chancery of Alexander Menshikov

Abstract

The escape of hetman Ivan Mazepa to the Swedish camp was totally unexpected for the Russian government and thus changed radically the political situation in Ukraine, which was, in Autumn of 1708 – the first half of 1709, the site of one of the most important stages of the Russian-Swedish struggle during the Great Northern War 1700–1721. The Russian authorities did their best to stabilize the situation, and Mazepa tried to win support of the Ukrainian Cossacks by any means possible. The first weeks of the hetman’s stay in the Swedish camp have always been the focus of attention for scholars who study this decisive point in Russian-Ukrainian relationships in the Early Modern period. Testimonies of prisoners of war and deserters play an important role in the reconstruction of those events. This publication presents four such documents, extracted from the archives of the field chancery of Alexander Menshikov. There are testimonies of prisoners of war from the Swedish army, but the most important ones are protocols of interrogation of Cossack-deserters from the camp of Ivan Mazepa, including mercenaries from the infantry regiment of the colonel Jakov Pokotilo and Stefan Romanchuk, the Cossack of Gadiach regiment. The most detailed description of Mazepa’s steps and actions during first weeks after his treason was made by Kornej Savin, the sotnik of Priluky regiment. All documents are published for the first time.

Received: 21.10.2023.

Citation
Kochegarov K. A. On the hetman Ivan Mazepa’s escape to Swedish camp: some new documents of the Field Chancery of Alexander Menshikov // Slavic Almanac. 2024. No. 1–2. P. 345–356 (in Russian). DOI: 10.31168/2073-5731.2024.1-2.19