![]() Today, Khortytsia, the wooded island in the Dnipro where the Cossack Sich stood, is a Ukrainian military base, surrounded by a minefield. Helmeted soldiers stand at sandbagged checkpoints on the highway bridges which cross it. The Russian empress Catherine II ordered the destruction of the Sich in 1775, ending the Cossack Hetmanate or proto-state and consolidating Russia’s domination over Ukraine. Catherine went on to conquer Tatar Crimea and to found Odesa, calling her Ukrainian possessions Novorussia. Vladimir Putin has focused his assault on the same lands today, nearly 250 years later.īut Putin did not reckon with the Cossack spirit. ![]() ![]() When President Volodymyr Zelenskiy refused the US offer to rescue him at the start of the war, he exemplified Cossack spirit.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |