Petro Dorofiyovich Doroshenko (; ; ; 1627–1698) was a Cossack political and military leader, Hetman of Right-bank Ukraine (1665–1672) and a Russian voivode.
Background and early career
Petro Doroshenko was born in Chyhyryn into a noble Cossack family with a strong tradition of leadership. His father, a Registered Cossack, held the rank of colonel, and his grandfather Mykhailo held the bulava ( to 1628) as hetman of the Registered Cossack Army.
Though it is not known where Doroshenko studied, there is no doubt that he received an excellent education. Doroshenko became fluent in Latin and Polish and had a broad knowledge of history. In 1648 Doroshenko joined the forces of Bohdan Khmelnytsky in the 1648-1657 uprising against the Polish domination of Ukraine. In the earlier stages of the uprising Doroshenko carried out both military and diplomatic roles. He primarily served in the Chyhyryn regiment, where he held the rank of artillery secretary, eventually being appointed colonel of the Pryluky regiment in 1657. When Khmelnytsky died in 1657 Doroshenko supported the election of General Chancellor () Ivan Vyhovsky as Khmelnytsky's successor. Between 1657 and 1658 he helped Hetman Vyhovsky (in office: 1657-1659) to suppress the pro-Russian uprising of Iakiv Barabash and Martyn Pushkar, a bloody fratricidal conflict which resulted in some 50,000 deaths.
The Zaporizhian Hetman Pavlo Teteria (in office: 1663-1665) promoted Doroshenko to the rank of his chief (general) yesaul in 1663. Doroshenko became the leader of the Cossack starshyna (senior officers) and of the elements within the ecclesiastical authorities who opposed the 1654 Pereiaslav Agreement between the Cossacks and the Tsardom of Russia. Supported by Crimean Tatars and by Ottoman Turkey in 1665, Doroshenko crushed the pro-Russian Cossack bands and eventually became Hetman of Ukraine (Right-bank Ukraine) on 10 October 1665.
Hetman
Hetmancy and Treaty of Andrusovo
Poland withdrew from the right-bank Ukraine due to numerous peasant and cossack uprisings, whose rebels sought to secure their liberties with military support from countries other than Poland and Moscow. They found it in the realm of the Ottoman Empire, the Crimean Khanate. In the beginning the first Hetman recognized by Crimea was Sotnyk (captain) Stepan Opara from the Medvedesky company. However, that same summer of 1665 he was replaced by Doroshenko. In order to strengthen his new position, Doroshenko introduced reforms in hope of winning the respect of the rank and file Cossacks. Doroshenko would often organize general councils where he would listen to the lower classes' opinions. And in order to rid himself of the dependence on the starshyna (senior officers), the hetman created the Serdiuk regiments which consisted of 20,000 mercenary infantry units who took orders only from him. When his hetmancy began, Doroshenko, like all Right-bank hetmans, followed a pro-Polish line, but he quickly changed this policy upon hearing the signing of the 1667 Treaty of Andrusovo. The treaty officially divided Ukraine between Russia and Poland, with Russia gaining sovereignty over Left-bank Ukraine and Poland acquiring Right-bank Ukraine. Once the news reached Doroshenko, he reportedly suffered a seizure upon learning of Ukraine's partitioning. Doroshenko quickly deserted his pro-Polish position and decided to seek aid from the Ottoman Empire.
War with Poland and Turkish alliance
In the fall of 1667 Doroshenko, with support of Crimean Tatars, defeated the Polish forces at the Battle of Brailiv (Brailiv) in Podolia. After the battle, Doroshenko's opposition, led by the Kosh Otaman Ivan Sirko and Tatars stopped his further advance against Poles. With the Right-Bank seemingly secured, Doroshenko and his men crossed into Left-bank Ukraine and supported an uprising of Ivan Briukhovetsky against Russia.
Following Briukhovetsky's execution, Doroshenko was proclaimed the hetman of all Ukraine on . As Doroshenko was reaching his zenith of power after successfully reuniting Ukraine, his numerous enemies united against him. The new Polish offensive forced him to return to the Right-bank Ukraine, appointing Demian Mnohohrishny acting hetman of the Left-bank. Doroshenko managed to secure the release from Polish captivity of the Metropolitan of Kiev, Galicia and all Ruthenia — Yosyf Tukalsky-Neliubovych — who moved his seat to Chyhyryn.
