The last Kosh Otaman (leader) of Zaporizhian Sich Petro Kalnyshevsky was imprisoned at Solovetsky Island Monastery. At that time he was 85 years old. After 25 years in prison he was released and died almost blind at the monastery at age of 113 years. In 1789, Danzig Mennonites from Prussia were invited by the czar to form settlements on the vast steppes of the Russian Empire. One of these settlements was located on the island of Khortytsia. They farmed on the rich island soil. Some of their profitable business was trade in lumber from the Khortytsia groves and woods. In 1916 the Mennonite colonists sold Khortytsia Island to the Olexandrivsk (Alexandrovsk) city council (see Chortitza Colony).