Left-bank Ukraine

Left-bank Ukraine is bordered by the historical regions of Right-bank Ukraine to the southwest, Zaporizhzhia to the southeast, Sloboda Ukraine to the east, and Polesia and White Ruthenia to the north.

Largest cities are Kyiv (eastern part), Chernihiv, Poltava and Kremenchuk.

History

Since the Middle Ages, the region formed part of the Khazar Khanate, Kievan Rus', Mongol Empire, Golden Horde, Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland.

The term appeared in 1663 with the election of Ivan Bryukhovetsky as the hetman of Ukraine in opposition to Pavlo Teteria. Bryukhovetsky was the first known "left-bank Ukraine" hetman over the area, that was under the Russian influence.

Up until the mid-17th century, the area had belonged to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Treaty of Pereyaslav of 1654 saw the region tentatively come under Russian control, when local Cossack leaders swore allegiance to the Russian monarchy in exchange for military protection. Russian sovereignty over the area was later reaffirmed in the Treaty of Andrusovo (1667), and the Eternal Peace Treaty (1686) between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Tsardom of Russia.

Under Russian rule, the left-bank Ukraine initially enjoyed a degree of autonomy within the Tsardom (from 1721, Imperial Russia) as the Cossack Hetmanate, which was slowly withdrawn throughout the eighteenth century when the Zaporizhian Sich was destroyed.