Iurii Khmelnitskii

Born circa 1641; died 1685 in Kamenets-Podol’skii. Hetmán of the Ukraine (1659–63); youngest son of B. Khmel’nitskii.

Khmel’nitskii carried out the will of the starshina (cossack officials) associated with the Polish szlachta (nobility). In 1660, after defeats by Polish troops at Liubar, Chudnov, and Slobodishche, the starshina forced him to sign the Slobodishche Peace, which subordinated the Ukraine to Poland once again. As a result of a popular uprising against the Polish aggressors, Khmel’nitskii gave up the position of hetmán in 1663 and became a monk. He was charged with treason by P. Teteria in 1664 and was imprisoned by the Polish authorities; he was freed in 1667.

In 1673, Khmel’nitskii was captured by Crimean Tatars and sent to Istanbul, where he renounced his monastic vows and became an obedient servant of the sultan’s government. During the Chigirin Campaigns of 1677 and 1678 he was appointed hetmán, and he later became “prince of the Little Russian Ukraine”; in 1685 he was named hetmán of the Ukraine. Khmel’nitskii was murdered by order of the sultan’s government.