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Cossack tradition, general council of war
followed the council of starshynas. It was
resolved to accept protectorate of Russia
preserving main rights and liberties of
Zaporozhian Cossacks. Ukrainian starshynas
took a unilateral oath (284 people did that)
while V. Buturlin refused to take an oath on
behalf of the Russian tsar implacably. Thus,
no written agreement in Pereyaslav was not
concluded, oral talks with no legal force took
place there. Trying to legalize the status of
Cossack state, its inner autonomy and making
Russia promise to provide military assistance
to Ukraine, Cossack delegation went to
Moscow in March 1654.
March Signing of Ukrainian-Russian treaty in
1654 Moscow – “March articles”. The Cossack
delegation brought B. Khmelnytsky’s letter
addressed to the tsar and the treaty project
containing 23 articles. On March, 21 a new
drafting of the agreement was ratified. It
consisted of 11 articles. Those articles were
confirmed by the tsar’s letter patent dated by
March, 27. According to this treaty:
1) hetman form of government was preserved
in Ukraine. The hetman was elected “by
choice of Zaporozhian army” at Cossack
Council; the tsar was to be informed about the
elections only, hetman was to take an oath to
the tsar facing his delegate to Ukraine;
2) territorial division and military-
administrative systems remained unchanged;
3) it was confirmed “according to own rights

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