Upon learning of Mazepa's desertion to the Swedish side, Peter I ordered General Alexander Menshikov to destroy the Hetmanate's capital.

The Russian Army failed to storm the fortified city, and only after penetrating through a secret raid did the twice-superior forces of Menshikov gain the advantage and at 6 o'clock in the morning, November 13 (2), 1708, entered Baturyn territory and insidiously attacked the defenders of the fortress.

"The most common death was to quarter the living, wheel them and put them on a stake, and then new kinds of torment were invented, it is the imagination that terrifies.

[4]Rigelman (1720–1789) described the events as follows: Menshikov received the city, people are all devoted to the sword, both in the fortress and in the suburbs, without remnants, not sparing even infants, not only the old.

The fortifications were completely destroyed, and the inhabitants of the city died, subjected to the most brutal torture: some were put on stilts, others were hanged or quartered.

In 2005, the Baturyn Foundation was founded by President Victor Yushchenko and supported by several Canadian charities and academic organizations.

Today, more than 500 remains of defenders and civilians resting in 74 coffins have found their eternal peace in the crypt of the church.

President Victor Yushchenko has stated: "For me, the Baturyn tragedy is associated with the Holodomor of the 1930s, and it is immoral that there is still no monument to the innocent victims.

[10] On November 13, 2008, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine observed a minute of silence in memory of the victims of the Baturyn tragedy.