Ce poème raconte l'histoire romantisée de Andreï Voynarovsky, neveu de Mazepa, l'hetman, patriote ou félon selon les points de vue, des deux Ukraines. Une histoire ambiguë, comme le sont depuis des siècles les relations entre Russes, Polonais et Ukrainiens.
Kondraty Fyodorovich Ryleyev, also spelled Kondraty Feodorovich Ryleev (Russian: Кондратий Фёдорович Рылеев; born September 29, 1795 in the village of Batovo, now part of Gatchinsky District, Leningrad Oblast; died July 25, 1826 in Saint Petersburg) was a Russian poet, publisher, and a leader of the Decembrist Revolt, that attempted to overthrow the Russian monarchy in 1825.