305 years ago, on July 8, 1709, the army of Peter I defeated the Swedish army of King Charles XII and his allies, the Ukrainian Cossacks, Hetman Ivan Mazepa near Poltava. After an unsuccessful attempt to break through the Russian front, the Swedes could not withstand the onslaught of superior Russian forces and fled. Only Charles and Mazepa with a detachment of 1,300 Swedes and 2,000 Cossacks managed to cross the Dnieper at Perevolochna and leave for Turkish possessions in Moldova.