History

"Striltsi" was the name of that part of the king's army that initiated a battle. They did this by letting loose a hail of arrows to confuse the enemy army and protect the advance of their own soldiers. The first Ukrainian army of modern times took the name Ukrainian Sichovi Striltsi (Marksmen of Sich), because the army was formed from student groups of marksmen in Lviv at the begining of the First World War. This army of foot soldier archers formed a seperate division of the Austrian army and was armed with rifles. To this day people in Ukraine remember the tradition of the Striltsi, sing the songs of the Strilsti, and honor honor the mohyly where the Striltsi lay buried.