Initial phase In early January,
Bryukhovetsky with general officers and colonels of various ranks, decided to free themselves from the Russian power by swearing allegiance to the
Turkish Sultan. They soon rebelled, killed or handed over Russian civil servants to the Tatars as prisoners, marking the beginning of the struggle. In January,
Samoilovich's Cossacks
besieged Chernihiv, where there was a small garrison. As a result of the assaults, the Cossacks were able to take part of the city, but not the citadel. Similar attacks took place in various Ukrainian cities. As a result, by mid-March, the only cities where the Russian voivodes managed to hold out were
Kyiv,
Chernihiv,
Pereyaslavl,
Nizhyn and
Oster. As soon as news of the rebellion reached Tsar Alexei, he sent an army under the command of Romodanovsky to Ukraine. Most of the
Zaporozhian Cossacks were then in Kotelva. Romodanovsky laid siege to this settlement but was not able to capture it, the siege was eventually lifted by the forces of Doroshenko. Evidence suggests that
Ivan Sirko could’ve been among instigators of the uprising, planning it during late 1667. Sirko launched a number of revolts during
his campaign in
Sloboda and
Dnieper Ukraine, however, he was unable to transfer the uprising to the political centers.
Invasion of Left-Bank Ukraine After the murder of
Bryukhovetsky,
Petro Doroshenko declared himself hetman and led a united Cossack–Tatar army against Romodanovsky. The Russians did not want to give a field battle right away, so they began to retreat hastily, almost completely leaving Ukraine. The Tatars and Cossacks overtook Romodanovsky's army at
Akhtyrka and forced a three-day battle on it, their attacks were repulsed and the Russians continued to retreat according to their plan, with only a couple of cities remaining under their control, but of paramount importance. Doroshenko, being euphoric from his successes, decided to move the war to the territory of Russia, he attacked the city of Sevsk, but to his surprise, a new army of Prince Grigory Kurakin was waiting for him there, which completely defeated the Cossacks and the Crimeans in a two-day battle on July 3–5, which led to a rift in their camp, suffering significant losses, Doroshenko returned to the right bank, leaving behind only a small force. Romodanovsky and Kurakhin staged a new campaign. In mid-September,
Grigory Romodanovsky's field army defeated Samoilovich and unblocked the garrison in Chernihiv. Before this, Russian army lifted the siege of Nezhin, where the garrison was repelling Cossack assaults for almost the whole year, losing 150 people as a result of the siege. The Ukrainian historian Zhelezko R. A. believes that the losses of the Cossacks amounted to 2,500, but Russian researchers Vladimir Velikanov and Yakov Lazarev consider this to be overestimated.
Demian Mnohohrishny, who was placed by Doroshenko as an acting hetman, started peace talks.
Petro Doroshenko sent a major Tatar–Cossack army under the command of his brother, Grigory Doroshenko, to the Left bank. Knowing about this, Romodanovsky began retreating from Chernihiv towards
Putyvl, leaving only a small unit under the command of Romodanovsky's son, Andrey, behind. On 10, Andrey Romodanovsky was
defeated near the village of Hayvoron by the Cossacks and Tatars, who then
attacked Romodanovsky's main camp on the next day. Despite the fierce attacks, Romodanovsky repulsed all of them and withdrew to the Russian territory. In general, by the end of the autumn of 1668, the uprising was practically suppressed.
Sukhoviy–Doroshenko conflict Petro Sukhovy rose to power in the right bank, supported by Krim-Giray, who was dissatisfied by the passive Cossack attacks during the
clashes with Romodanovsky. He got into a conflict with
Petro Doroshenko, who was supported by
Ivan Sirko. According to
Samiylo Velychko, after defeating the Russians at Hayvoron, Sukhoviy with his Tatar allies went to the Right-bank Ukraine while sacking
Lubny and
Lokhvytsia on the Left bank. Sukhovy and Doroshenko ultimately
clashed at
Chyhyryn from December 1668 to January 1669, ending with Doroshenko's victory after his ally Sirko defeated Sukhovy and his Tatar allies at the town of Olkhovets. == Aftermath ==