The Pereyaslav Articles (Ukrainian: Переяславські статті, romanized: Pereiaslavski statti, Russian: Переяславские статьи) were concluded on 27 October 1659 between Yurii Khmelnytsky, the son of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, and the Russian tsar. The treaty drastically limited the Cossack autonomy. The treaty was an aftermath of the Treaty of Hadiach on 16 September 1658 between the Cossacks and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which granted many privileges to Cossacks and thus threatened Russian influence over them. The articles imposed severe restrictions on Cossack Hetmanate autonomy.
Under the new articles, The Zaporozhian Cossacks were not allowed to conduct any foreign policy, including military alliances.[1] The Cossacks were not allowed to declare war without the approval of the Tsar.[2]
Under the treaty, Russian military governors and garrisons were placed in Bratslav, Chernihiv, Nizhyn, Pereiaslav, and Uman (previously, they had been only in Kiev since 1654).[1] Cossack forces were also withdrawn from Belarus.[1] In addition, the Cossacks could no longer elect their own hetmans or colonels without the approval of the Tsar.[2]
The most significant immediate consequence of the Accords was the separation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from the Patriarch of Constantinople and its subordination to the Patriarch of Moscow. The treaty led to popular unrest and later influenced Khmelnytsky's decision to ally with Poland in 1660.[1]