Editing Bohdan Khmelnytsky (section)

===Establishment of Cossack Hetmanate===
[[File:Herb Viyska Zaporozkogo (Alex K).svg|thumb|upright|Coat of arms of the [[Cossack Hetmanate]]]]
The [[Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem|Patriarch of Jerusalem]] Paiseus, who was visiting Kiev at this time, referred to Khmelnytsky as the Prince of Rus. In February 1649, during negotiations in [[Pereiaslav]] with a Polish delegation headed by Senator [[Adam Kysil]], Khmelnytsky declared that he was "the sole autocrat of Rus" and that he had "enough power in Ukraine, [[Podilia]], and [[Volhynia]]... in his land and principality stretching as far as Lviv, Kholm (modern [[Chełm]]), and [[Halych]]."<ref>V. A. Smoliy, V. S. Stepankov. Bohdan Khmelnytsky. Sotsialno-politychnyi portret, p. 203, Lebid, Kyiv. 1995</ref>

{{blockquote|I already did more than was thinking before, now I will obtain what I revised recently. I will liberate out of the Polish woe all of the Ruthenian people! Before I was fighting for the insults and injustice caused to me, now I will fight for our Orthodox faith. And all people will help me in that all the way to Lublin and Krakow, and I won't back off from the people as they are our right hand. And for the purpose lest you won't attack cossacks by conquering peasants, I will have two, three hundred thousands of them.|''(Bohdan Khmelnytsky, the Prince of Ruthenia)''<ref name="Hrushevsky,M 2003">[[Mykhailo Hrushevsky|Hrushevsky,M.]] ''History of Ukraine-Rus''. New ed. Bao. Donetsk, 2003.</ref>}}

After the period of initial military successes, the [[state-building]] process began. His leadership was demonstrated in all areas of state-building: military, administration, finance, economics and culture. Khmelnytsky made the [[Zaporozhian Host]] the supreme power in the new Ukrainian state and unified all the spheres of Ukrainian society under his authority. Khmelnytsky built a new government system and developed military and civilian administration.

A new generation of statesmen and military leaders came to the forefront: [[Ivan Vyhovsky]], [[Pavlo Teteria]], [[Danylo Nechai]] and [[Ivan Nechai]], [[Ivan Bohun]], [[Hryhoriy Hulyanytsky]]. From Cossack polkovnyks, officers, and military commanders, a new elite within the Cossack Hetman state was born. Throughout the years, the elite preserved and maintained the autonomy of the [[Cossack Hetmanate]] in the face of Russia's attempt to curb it. It was also instrumental in the onset of the period of [[Ruin (period of history)|Ruin]] that followed, eventually destroying most of the achievements of the Khmelnytsky era.