Head of the Lavra Reserve Explained Why Mazepa Betrayed Moscow

Bust of Mazepa in the Lavra. Photo: Lavra Reserve

The director of the "Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra" reserve Maksym Ostapenko explained why Hetman Ivan Mazepa betrayed Peter I. He spoke about this in an interview with Sonya Koshkina on the LB Live channel.

"Mazepa realized that Muscovy, and later the Russian Empire, merely disguised itself under European standards while remaining Horde-like to its very core. Understanding what threat loomed over Ukraine, he was the first to challenge this force — fully aware of all the consequences for himself," Ostapenko stated.

According to the official, in the current war between Ukraine and Russia, "the figure of Mazepa is one of the key ones, because everything began with Peter I and Mazepa."

He also added that "Peter I and the entire Russian elite considered everyone else to be nothing more than slaves," and that Ukraine's enemies over three centuries "always start with Mazepa": "Mazepists, Petliurites, Banderites."

As the UOJ reported, Zelensky told where a monument to Mazepa will be erected in Kyiv.

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