Did you know that Principal Scribe Vasyl Kochubey and Poltava Colonel Ivan Iskra tried to escape, before being executed and buried in Kyiv-Pechersk Monastery?

Kochubey and Iskra wrote the denunciation and addressed it to the Russian tsar. In March 1708, they knew, from people loyal to them, that Hetman Ivan Mazepa wanted to seize and punish them for what they did. That is why they tried to disappear from Poltava region. Ivan Iskra left Poltava to join Vasyl Kochubey, who was hiding in Dykanka. Together they headed off to Bohodukhiv, trying to get to the large commercial settlements. But Russian military escorted them to Smolensk and Vitebsk from there. From Vitebsk they were transported to Porichchya village, where they were interrogated by Russian Chancellor Count Gavrilo Golovkin and Vice-Chancellor Petro Shafirov. Interrogations were accompanied by torture. After that, the detainees were sent to Borshchev (Borshchahivka), the village near Bila Tserkva, where Mazepa was stationed at that time.

Captions for the illustrations:

1. Vasyl Kochubey in prison. A scene from “Mazepa” silent movie, 1909.

2. Monument to Kochubey and Iskra in Kyiv. Photo, early 20th century.