Pavlo Polubotok

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Hetman Pavlo Polubotok

Ukrainian hryvnia coin depicting Pavlo Polubotok

Pavlo Polubotok (Ukrainian: Павло Полуботок) (born around 1660 died on December 29, 1724), was a Cossack political and military leader and Hetman of the Left-bank Ukraine between 1722 and 1724.

Pavlo Polubotok was born to a noble Cossack family and as a young man served under his relative Hetman Ivan Samoylovych. In 1706 he became polkovnyk (colonel) of Chernigov regiment and during the Great Northern War remained loyal to the Russians and fought against Ivan Mazepa.

Pavel Polubotok was seen by many as a possible replacement of the disgraced Hetman, but Russian Tsar Peter the Great distrusted Polubotok and supported Ivan Skoropadsky, who became the next Hetman. Nonetheless, Polubotok's loyalty was rewarded when wealthy estates throughout the Ukraine were given to him.

In 1722, after the death of Skoropadsky, Pavlo Polubotok was named as his temporary replacement. As Hetman, Polubotok supported greater autonomy for the Ukraine within the Russian Empire and defended old privileges of Cossack nobility. He wrote numerous petitions to Peter the Great asking him to re-instate the Cossack Hetmanate with the position of Hetman elected by the starshina.

In 1723 Alexander Rumyantsev was sent to the Ukraine (then known as Malorossia) to investigate Polubotok. Within several months Polubotok was arrested, implicated in secret dealing with Pylyp Orlyk and accused of treason. The Hetman was incarcerated in the Petropavlovsk fortress and died there on December 29, 1724.

Some modern Ukrainian nationalists see Pavlo Polubotok as a martyr and a hero of Ukrainian struggle against Russian domination.