Department of Little Russian Affairs

Department of Little Russian Affairs 

(Ekspeditsiia Malorossiiskikh Del), a state institution in Russia in the 18th century; an organ of supervision and the supreme governing body in the Left-bank Ukraine.

The Department of Little Russian Affairs, or Little Russian Department, was formed in January 1756 under the Senate as a result of the transfer of the administration of the Ukraine from the Collegium of Foreign Affairs to the Senate. The department was the highest administrative authority in the Ukraine; it limited the power of the Ukrainian hetmán K. G. Razumovskii. A ukase of Oct. 2, 1756, charged it with the examination of petitions awaiting the hetman’s decision.

The department was abolished in February 1764. Appellate matters were transferred to the second department of the Senate; matters concerning the government of the Ukraine were transferred to the Little Russian Collegium, which was reestablished in November 1764.