Patriarch Filaret to Participate in Celebration of 359th Anniversary of Berestechko Battle
RIVNE – Patriarch Filaret is to participate in the celebration of the 359th anniversary of Berestechko Battle. The celebration will be conducted on June 6, 2010, in the village of Pliashiv of Radyvyliv District, on the territory of the national historic memorial reserve Berestechko Battlefield. It will begin with a liturgy and memorial service near St. George's Monastery with the participation of the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate, Patriarch Filaret. After a religious procession and laying of flowers at the monument to Ukrainian Cossacks on the reserve's territory, a people's assembly will be held, reports the press service of the Rivne Oblast State Administration.
During the day, honorary guards will guard the monument to the Ukrainian Cossacks. A military brass band will play at the event, and the celebration will end with military fireworks.
"According to a public opinion poll, 94% of people do not want to see any political events during the celebration of the anniversary of the Berestechko Battle. Therefore, the event should be held without any political meetings," stressed the deputy head of the regional state administration, Oleksii Hubanov at a session of the Political Council and Council of the Ukrainian Cossacks attached to the regional state administration. "The Battle of Berestechko is an event which influenced the course of history of Europe. Today, the celebration of the 359th anniversary of the Battle of Berestechko is to become a unifying factor for the Ukrainian society," he stressed. The official addressed political forces with a request not to use party symbols but only state symbols. According to him the evnt should carry out an educational, not political, function.
Historical information: Berestechko, Battle of. A great battle of the Cossack-Polish War near the town of Berestechko in Volhynia on June 28-30, 1651. Both sides had gathered huge forces: the Polish army, led by King Jan II Casimir Vasa, numbered 150,000, while the Ukrainian troops numbered almost 100,000 and their allies the Crimean Tatars, under Khan Islam-Girei III, consisted of almost 50,000 cavalry (all figures are estimates). On the day of the decisive battle, June 30, the Crimean Tatars unexpectedly abandoned the battlefield and seized Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky. He was released a few days later for a large ransom. The leaderless Ukrainian army was encircled by the Poles. Colonels Filon Dzhalalii, Matvii Hladky, and Ivan Bohun directed the defence of the Cossack encampment for 10 days. Finally, on July 8, Bohun successfully led the major part of the army through the swamps and out of the encirclement, but most of the artillery and supplies were lost. As a result of this defeat, Khmelnytsky was forced to sign the Treaty of Bila Tserkva. The Kozatski Mohyly (Cossack Graves) Preserve dedicated to those who died in the battle was built in 1910-14 on Zhuravlykha Island approx 5 km from Berestechko. In 1967 a museum was opened at the preserve. An account of the battle as well as the historical and archeological sources and research about it, by I. Svieshnikov, appeared in Lviv in 1993.
