History of Ukrainian Kursk Region: from Settlement by Ukrainians to Russification

History of Ukrainian Kursk Region: from Settlement by Ukrainians to Russification

In recent days Ukrainian news has often mentioned the small, now-peripheral town in Kursk Oblast on the border with Ukraine — Sudzha. However, until 1765, when the Cossack system in Sloboda Ukraine was abolished, Sudzha was a sotnia town of the Sumy Cossack regiment of Sloboda Ukraine.

Modern Kursk Oblast is part of the historical region of Kurschyna, which unites the territories of today’s Kursk, Belgorod, and parts of Bryansk oblasts of the Russian Federation. Part of Kurschyna lies within the larger historical-geographic region of Sloboda Ukraine.

The Page recalls the history of Kurschyna — a land once settled by Ukrainians, where now Ukrainian Armed Forces are advancing.

Kurschyna — part of Sloboda Ukraine

“The title of this book will, obviously, not be understood by all residents of today’s Kharkiv, Sumy, and adjacent territories of Belgorod, Voronezh, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kursk oblasts. For the political and economic separateness and integrity of what was once a single territory, and even its name, long ago passed into the past,” writes historian Dmytro Bahalii in the first paragraph of his book History of Sloboda Ukraine 1918, which remains one of the most important works about these lands.

Ethnographic map “Slavic Lands,” compiled by Pavel Jozef Šafařík in 1842, with the ethnographic area of Little Russians — Ukrainians — highlighted. Germans are marked in yellow, Tatars in red, Greeks in blue.

Modern Kursk Oblast of the Russian Federation falls within the territory of Slobozhanshchyna as described by Dmytro Bahalii and other historians. Historically Slobozhanshchyna encompassed today’s Kharkiv, Sumy, Luhansk, and Donetsk oblasts of Ukraine, as well as significant parts of Belgorod, Voronezh, and Kursk oblasts of Russia.

Slobozhanshchyna as a historical-ethnographic region formed as a result of mass Ukrainian colonization of these territories in the 17th–18th centuries and, to some extent, Russian colonization. Kursk Oblast, which today is part of Russia, was then part of this cultural-historical community where Ukrainian settlements, traditions, and daily life predominated.

One should not equate Sloboda Ukraine only with the Sloboda Cossack regiments that Muscovy officially allowed in 1651, because Ukrainian settlements in Kurschyna reached as far as present-day Kursk. In other words, they spread over a good half of the region.

However, historian Oleksandr Palii commented to the publication that ties between Ukraine and Kurschyna begin much earlier than the era of Sloboda Ukraine and Cossackdom.

Relations between Rus-Ukraine and Kurschyna in the Middle Ages

The incorporation of Kurschyna into Rus began under Volodymyr the Great, but this process was completed by his son Yaroslav the Wise, who included these lands in the Pereiaslav principality.

Map of principalities that were part of Kyivan Rus

Interestingly, Kursk is first mentioned in written sources in 1032 in the Life of Theodosius of the Caves, a native of Vasylkiv (Kyiv region), whose father was sent by the prince to establish leadership over the region.

“Saint Theodosius is, in essence, the first citizen of Kursk, the founder of the town in its early history. He not only became the spiritual pillar of the town but also had a significant influence on its development and formation,” says Oleksandr Palii.

The relatively independent Kursk principality existed during the second half of the 12th century and throughout the 13th century. It was devastated by the Mongols for the first time in 1239; it did not survive the second attack in 1278 and again became part of Kyiv.

In the 14th century Kursk is mentioned among the “Kyivan towns” in the chronicle List of Rus' Cities Far and Near.

Ilya Repin. Portrait of the leading historian of Slobozhanshchyna Dmytro Bahalii. 1906. Bahalii was mayor of Kharkiv in 1914–1917 and supported Ukrainian independence.

Transfer to Muscovy, Cossack uprisings, and Sloboda Ukraine

After the defeat of the Tatars at the Battle of Blue Waters in 1362, Kurschyna for a long time belonged to the same state as Ukraine — the Grand Duchy of Lithuania-Ruthenia-Zemaitija; however, after years of Tatar domination the territory was almost depopulated.

Moscow conquered Kurschyna after a series of military campaigns and negotiations only in 1596, although fighting for the region began already in 1503. Oleksandr Palii emphasizes that throughout the 16th century the modern city of Tula was the frontier of the Muscovite state — beyond it was the Wild Field, where there was no control over locals and where Tatars often operated.

From the 17th century the influence of the Cossacks spread to these territories. The historian stresses: “They helped systematize these territories, protecting them from Tatar raids — and began settlement.”

Moreover, in 1588 the English merchant Giles Fletcher noted that border fortifications of Muscovy in Kurschyna were mostly guarded by Ukrainians — of about 4,3 thousand infantry roughly 4 thousand were Cossacks.

Cossack uprisings and settlement of Slobozhanshchyna

The arrival of Cossack regiments into the then vastly unpopulated Wild Field, fully following the Hetmanate’s system, was precipitated by Cossack uprisings against Poland in central Ukraine.

For example, after Yakiv Ostrianyn’s failed uprising in 1638 at least several thousand Cossacks led by Ostrianyn resettled in what is now Kharkiv region. Later, due to the devastation of central Ukraine during the Khmelnytsky Uprising, a huge number of people moved to the slobodas (places without feudal obligations and often without taxes).

Thus, in 1652 Herasym Kondratiev, fleeing persecution by the nobility, and his Cossacks founded Sumy. In a similar way Cossacks founded Sudzha, Novy Oskol, Oboyan, which are now located in today’s Belgorod and Kursk oblasts (then part of Kurschyna). They also developed and defended the well-known towns of Kursk, Belgorod, Stary Oskol — the latter two were founded in the late 16th century as the first frontier fortresses of Russians against the Tatars.

Map of Sloboda regiments. Of interest is the Ostrogozhsk regiment, which was part of the Sloboda regiments — its Cossack-settled area now lies almost entirely in Voronezh Oblast.

Settlement of Kurschyna by Cossacks can be compared in many respects to the better-known Kuban. Dmytro Bahalii draws the following similarities:

Sloboda Ukraine and Kuban were settled mainly by Ukrainian Cossacks, and later Ukrainian and Russian peasants moved there;

both regions had strategic significance for Russia, and Cossacks were used as a defensive force;

in the process of colonization both regions experienced influences from various traditions — a mixing of Ukrainian, Russian, and Caucasian cultures.

In the Rylsk district of Kursk Oblast, northwest of Sumy, there are three villages — Ivanivske, Stepanivka, and Mazepivka — which together form the full name of the prominent Ukrainian hetman: Ivan Stepanovych Mazepa. And this is not accidental: he founded these villages. Mazepa was not the only one to do so.

During Ivan Mazepa’s hetmanship the Starodub regiment was part of the Hetmanate; its lands are now entirely outside Ukraine within Bryansk Oblast of the Russian Federation.

Map of Ukraine in 1740–1750. Sloboda regiments are marked in green, the Hetmanate in blue, the Lower Zaporizhian Host in orange.

However, Mazepa’s failed attempt to gain independence from Muscovy in 1709 led to the gradual annexation of the Hetmanate and the complete destruction of the Cossack order in Ukraine. The following stages of russification can be identified:

1765: the abolition of the Cossack system in Sloboda Ukraine;

1775: the destruction of the Zaporizhian Sich;

1783: the introduction of serfdom in Left-Bank Ukraine and the full annexation of the Hetmanate.

Everyday life and daily existence in Sloboda Ukraine

Dmytro Bahalii describes his ethnographic findings about the life of Slobozhanshchyna in the 17th–18th centuries during the active settlement of these territories.

Society consisted of different social strata, but the Cossacks were the main force providing the region’s defense; at the same time they were actively engaged in agriculture, animal husbandry, and sometimes trade.

Drawings of Cossack clothing by O. Riegelman, 1786

Housing and living conditions

Sloboda houses were typical for Ukrainian rural dwellings of the time: wooden constructions with simple interiors consisting of one or several rooms. Roofs were covered with thatch or reed.

The central place was occupied by a large stove, as in other Ukrainian houses; icons in the pokut (the front corner of the room) were an important interior element, with rushnyky (embroidered towels) hung around them. Benches, tables, and shelves — all were similar in houses across Ukraine.

However, Bahalii notes that Russian influence was sometimes visible due to the borderland nature of the region. For example, in some villages they began using log-construction techniques for houses characteristic of the Russian North.

Culture and customs

Historian Oleksandr Palii emphasizes a small but important detail. According to all records and mentions, people from present-day Kursk, Belgorod, Bryansk, and Voronezh for centuries went on pilgrimages not to Moscow or another Russian city, but to Kyiv. This practice persisted from the time of Saint Theodosius of the Caves (11th century) until the early 20th century.

In turn, Dmytro Bahalii noted more than 100 years ago in his book that Ukrainian rites and traditions predominated in Slobozhanshchyna. He explained this by the fact that the majority of the region’s population were Ukrainians.

Economy: Slobozhanshchyna brewed the best moonshine

Besides agriculture and animal husbandry, Slobozhanshchyna’s residents practiced crafts and trade. But the region’s main specialty was moonshine. At that time its production was called ‘smoking vodka’.

“Keeping farms and distillation brought Slobozhanshchyna considerable profit. The moonshine produced was often exported to neighboring Russia, where it was in demand for its quality. Thus distilling became not only part of everyday life but an important component of the Slobozhanshchyna economy,” writes Bahalii.

Bahalii’s words about moonshining are confirmed by other historians as well: Mykola Kostomarov, Oleksandr Hrushevsky, Andrii Ivanov.

Mykola Kostomarov notes that moonshine was one of the main goods produced and sold by Slobozhanshchyna residents. Ihor Reiterovych indicates that moonshine was often used as a unit of payment in barter deals and exchange of goods with both locals and newcomers.

Other local goods were more traditional: grain, timber, meat, flax, hemp, wool, ceramics, and other pottery products.

Kurschyna — the fate of Kuban

The documentary film “Kuban Cossacks. Two Hundred Years Already” clearly shows the fate of the once predominantly Ukrainian region — Kuban. It is quite likely that a similar film or book could be made about Kurschyna at the beginning of the 20th century.

The first and last census of the Russian Empire in 1897 indicates that in Kuban 47,3% of the population named Ukrainian as their language of communication (there was no nationality column there), and 42,6% named Russian.

There were fewer Ukrainians in Kurschyna — 26,7% and 71% Russians. However, Oleksandr Palii emphasizes that one should take into account active russification of cities, the ban on any Ukrainian-language printing in the empire, and the timing of settlement.

If Kuban was actively settled during the 19th century and had not yet fully russified, Kurschyna had already been densely settled by the end of the 18th century. Therefore ethnic Ukrainians who, first, already spoke Russian or mainly Russian, and second, had russified and rejected their identity, could have been significantly more numerous.

How the Soviet Union took territories from Ukraine

Subsequently the territory of the northern Slobozhanshchyna, including Kurschyna, was the subject of disputes when determining borders between the RSFSR and the Ukrainian SSR after full Soviet occupation.

On the order of the head of the Ukrainian Central Executive Committee, historians Mykhailo Hrushevsky (who returned to work for the Ukrainian SSR) and Dmytro Bahalii (who did not leave Ukraine and was a prominent scholar during korenizatsiya) prepared a substantial scientific study on the settlement areas of Ukrainians, according to which the border should pass through Kursk gubernia, including in the Ukrainian SSR the southern parts of the following uyezds:

Sudzha uyezd;

Grayvoron uyezd;

Belgorod uyezd;

Korochansk uyezd.

They were then still inhabited predominantly by Ukrainians.

For its part, the leadership of the RSFSR made territorial claims on Ukrainian lands (Novhorod-Siverskyi and Starobilsk uyezds, northern parts of Sumy, Okhtyrka, and Kharkiv districts). After negotiations a compromise decision was made to include in the Ukrainian SSR only half of the territory identified by the research of M. Hrushevsky and D. Bahalii (total population about 1 million), but at the beginning of 1925 the Central Committee of the RCP(b) unilaterally reduced that part fourfold (over 200 thousand people). Thus millions of Ukrainians remained outside the Ukrainian SSR.

Likewise, Soviet authorities cut off a significant part of the Donbas from Ukraine — the territories of Taganrog and Shakhty districts in 1924. In both areas Ukrainians constituted the majority of the population.

According to the 2010 census, in Kursk Oblast 13,6 thousand people identified themselves as Ukrainians (1,2% of the population). So looking for them there today is a futile task.

Historian and political scientist Oleksandr Palii asserts: “There certainly live many genetically Ukrainian people there, but mentally who are they? They themselves probably do not know. These are people with an unstable identity that was destroyed over the last two hundred years. If Ukrainians come, perhaps they will call themselves Ukrainians; Chinese — the same.”

Therefore, for better or worse, the AFU has no one to “rescue” in modern Kursk Oblast, as in other regions of Russia, despite the fact that almost the entire Russian borderland was actively settled by Ukrainians and sometimes they constituted the majority of the population there.

Artur Hmyria