Ostap Dashkevych

Eustachy or Ostap Dashkevych (Russian: Евстафий Дашкович, Ukrainian: Остап Дашкевич; born ca. 1495 Ovruch – died after 1535) was a commander of a Cossack defense force, approved by the Sejm. He held the position of starosta of Cherkasy (1514–1535) in the early stages of the development of the cossacks, and is sometimes mistakenly referred to as a hetman. Some sources as well as oral tradition claim that Dashkevych lived past the age of 80, at which age he routed the Tatars at Cherkasy.

Prince and otaman of cossacks of Ukrainian Rus Ostap Dashkevych of Orthodox Christian faith, descendent of prince Rurik and czar Gengis, one of the founders of Army of Ukrainian Cossacks (Viysko Zaporizhske), defenders of lives and liberties of Ukrainian people of that time. He donated the lands near Kyiv to the Voskresenska Church (Church of Resurrection of Christ) at Podil in Kyiv from which the village Voskresenska Slobidka, which emerged on this lands, got its name and gave it to the Voskresenka – part of modern Kyiv on the left bank of the Dnipro.

Dashkevych was considered the highest authority in Lithuania on the Tatar question. His campaigns sometimes took him as far as the Crimea. However, in 1515 and 1521, while in alliance with the Tatars, he organized campaigns against the Grand Duchy to assist Lithuania.

He took part in the 1507 uprising of Michael Glinski against King Zygmunt I the Old. In 1514, he became the starosta of both Kaniv and Cherkasy.

Dashkevych was an effective leader. He took a major role in not only organizing Cossack forces to defend Ukraine, but also in organizing offensive campaigns against the Turks and Tatars. In Piotrków in 1533, he gave his plan to the Sejm, recommending that the government of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth organize the Cossacks as a standing military force for the defense of Ukraine, which at the time made up the southern border of the Commonwealth. His plan was approved, but the Commonwealth provided no assistance.