Zaporizhzhia Sich
Cossacks are genuinely a uniquely Ukrainian phenomenon. For centuries, people from all sorts of social groups came to the vast steppes of the Wild Field in search of freedom. Hence, in the borderlands, a whole community of free warriors appeared, who were self-governed and fought for their native land.
An impetus to the Cossacks' development was given by the Prince and adventurer Dmytro Vyshnevetsky, aka Bayda. His fortification on the Dnieper River became the first Zaporizhzhia Sich – a legendary Cossack fortress. Later on, the Sich changed its location due to various circumstances, with seven or eight total Sich settlements according to various estimates.
Over time, the Cossacks transformed into a powerful military and political organization. They were powerful enough to besiege Moscow and force the tsar to sign an extremely unfavorable peace treaty at the beginning of the 17th century.
The Sich acted as if it were a sovereign state. In the middle of the 17th century, the Cossacks won their official independence and established a unique state entity – the Army of Zaporizhzhia, governed by democratic principles. Many current Ukrainian settlements are former Cossack wintering territories. For example, modern Lysychansk was a Lysychy Bairak wintering area. Sloviansk was a Tor settlement, and Mariupol was a Cossack Domakha fortress. Donetsk is located on the territory of the former Oleksandrivka and Krutohorivka, and Luhansk was a Kamiany Brid and Krasny Yar wintering area, and the Verhunka hamlet.
These daring and free warriors could not help but draw attention. The Habsburgs built relations with the Cossacks, and even the Pope established contacts. Zaporizhzhian warriors were also recruited for European wars. For example, in 1683, one of the most important battles in history was fought, when the Ottomans attacked Vienna. A thousand-strong army, including Cossacks, rushed to help the Austrians. The Vienna defeat put an end to the Turkish campaigns in Europe, and the grateful Austrians erected two monuments and a memorial plaque to the Ukrainian warriors.
But then the Muscovites decided to destroy the Cossack freedmen for good. In 1775, their troops treacherously surrounded the Zaporizhzhian Sich and destroyed it. But the memory of fearless warriors heroically fighting for their land has lived on for centuries.