President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced the intention to erect a monument to Hetman Ivan Mazepa in Kyiv, Ukrinform reported.
Speaking during the Constitution Day celebrations, Zelensky stated that the scale of Mazepa’s historical personality fully merits a grand monument in the capital. According to Ukrinform, the president has already identified the location.
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“The scale of this figure deserves a full-fledged monument in the capital of our state. I believe that the perfect place for him exists. It has existed since December 2013 on Shevchenko Boulevard, and I am sure that where Lenin fell, Mazepa will stand firmly,” Zelensky declared.
The president emphasized that the installation of the monument will serve as a symbol of the restoration of historical justice and the veneration of a key architect of Ukrainian statehood. He praised Mazepa as an outstanding state and military leader, a generous patron, and the visionary head of the Cossack state.
In addition to the main monument, Zelensky noted that a bust of Ivan Mazepa has been unveiled at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. This gesture symbolizes the Hetman’s profound connection to the spiritual and cultural development of Ukraine.
In a follow-up statement on Telegram, Zelensky elaborated on the significance of the Lavra placement.
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“Ukraine will always protect its history. It will preserve and defend the memory of those who created our state, defended its freedom, and worked for its future,” the President wrote. “From now on, a bust of the great Ukrainian Ivan Mazepa –one of the most prominent Ukrainian hetmans, statesmen, and patrons – stands in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.”
Zelensky highlighted that it was under Mazepa’s direct patronage that the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra acquired much of its majestic architectural appearance. During his rule, new walls and fortifications were erected, churches were extensively renovated, and the monastery’s printing and book-publishing capabilities flourished.
“His contribution has forever become part of the history of this shrine,” Zelensky concluded. “Today we honor a great historical figure and restore historical justice. Because a nation that respects its own history always preserves its independence and its state.”
Who Was Ivan Mazepa?
Ivan Stepanovych Mazepa (c. 1639–1709) was a towering figure in Eastern European history, serving as the Hetman of the Zaporozhian Host and head of the Cossack Hetmanate from 1687 to 1709.
Educated in Western Europe and at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Mazepa’s long rule was characterized by a period of profound economic, political, and cultural revival known as the Cossack Baroque era. He was a prolific patron of the Orthodox Church, funding the construction and restoration of dozens of churches and monasteries across Ukraine, including the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and St. Sophia Cathedral.
While he maintained an alliance with the Russian Tsardom for much of his reign, his relationship with Tsar Peter I the Great deteriorated as Russian administrative and military reforms threatened the autonomy of the Hetmanate.
During the Great Northern War, in a bid to secure Ukrainian independence from Russian dominance, Mazepa allied himself and his Cossack forces with King Charles XII of Sweden in 1708. Following the defeat of the Swedish-Cossack army at the Battle of Poltava in 1709, Mazepa retreated to the Ottoman-controlled Principality of Moldavia, where he died shortly after.
For centuries, Russian imperial and Soviet historiography vilified Mazepa as a traitor, and the Russian Orthodox Church anathematized him. However, in independent Ukraine, he is widely revered as a national hero and a visionary statesman who fought for the country’s sovereignty.
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