MAZEPA, WE ARE HERE:

As its forces fight to repel a massive Russian invasion, Ukraine is seeking to put its stamp on a sprawling Orthodox Church complex that long loomed over the capital as a symbol of Moscow's influence: the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, or Monastery of the Caves.

To aid that effort, the Ukrainian church that threw off the yoke of the Moscow patriarch in 2019 has enlisted the help of Ivan Mazepa, a leader who lived and died over 300 years ago. An icon of independence in Ukraine, his name is anathema in Russia -- literally.

Mazepa, who as Cossack hetman of the Zaporizhian Host was the top leader of a large swath of Ukraine from 1687 to 1708, was a major patron of the church and helped develop the Lavra, a landmark complex of churches, crypts, and related buildings on the steep right bank of the Dnieper River in central Kyiv.

On July 25, a special commemorative service was held at the Lavra to honor Mazepa on the 336th anniversary of his elevation to hetman in 1687. At that time, the Hetmanate was in a union with Russia.

In 1708, however, Mazepa entered a wartime alliance with Sweden against Tsar Peter the Great, earning the lasting ire of Russia, where he is still branded by the state as a traitor, and a reputation as a champion of independence in Ukraine.

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