The Cossack phenomenon

The Cossack period marks the most eventful and glorious page of Ukrainian history. The first Cossack Register was instituted in 1524, under Sigismund I, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. The Cossacks formed a separate military organization in 1572, under Sigismund II Augustus I (at the time the Ukrainian lands were part of the Rzeczpospolita). Cossacks constituted a formidable military force, especially during the struggle against the Tatars and Turks, so the Rzeczpospolita government constantly sought to use them against the enemies of the Polish Kingdom. Cossack mi-litary glory held strong for almost three centuries. The Registered Cossacks, as officers and men on government payroll, became the elite of the Ukrainian people, its reliable protector, and the key force in the national liberation movement.

In upholding the glorious traditions of the past, the Ukrainian Cossacks played the decisive role in the revival of the nation-state, so President Leonid Kuchma signed an edict, on August 7, 1999, instituting the Ukrainian Cossack Day, to be marked annually on October 14, the feast of the Protection of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary (Pokrova). This date wasn’t chosen coincidentally, since the Mother of God is the Protectress of the Cossack Host and all Ukrainian combat formations.

In 2002, the Ustanovcha Velyka Rada (Grand Constituent Assembly) passed a resolution that reinstated the Registered Cossacks of Ukraine (URK) for the first time in the history of independent Ukraine, along with the post of Hetman. The Cossacks unanimously elected to the post Anatolii Shevchenko, a hereditary Cossack and distinguished scholar, member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Ph.D. in technology and theology, and rector of the State University of Information and Artificial Intelligence at the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.

Today’s Registered Cossacks uphold the military tradition, code of ethics, and discipline of their forefathers. It was with a sense of responsibility and patriotic spirit that they chose their motto: “For a Strong State and Well-Being Through the Spirituality and Patriotism of Everyone in Ukraine!”

As a historical community and public force, today’s Registered Cossacks can influence today’s political and social processes. More than 100,000 men are under the aegis of the All-Ukrainian NGO “Registered Cossacks of Ukraine,” among them ranking government officials, businessmen, people representing various institutions, academics, scholars, religious and cultural figures, army officers, adherents of various confessions, members of religious organizations, and university, college, and high school students.

Over the past year, five interdistrict associations have been added to Lviv oblast’s Registered Cossack organization. Active work along these lines is underway in Ivano-Frankivsk oblast.

Cossack societies have formed in Estonia, Latvia. Hungary, Finland, the US, Russia, Australia, Japan, even in Saudi Arabia. Arrangements are being made in Belarus and Moldova. The URK’s main headquarters are in Kyiv.

The URK’s main tasks boil down to communication with local authorities regarding national policy aimed at spiritual/cultural, economic, social, and military construction, relying on Ukrainian Cossack historical patriotic, economic, and cultural traditions.

They have also set up an annual youth patriotic educational program, developed in collaboration with the regional administration’s cultural departments. It is meant for school and college students. This program includes exhibits, excursions, hiking trips, and local history tourist expeditions, such as the “Ukraine as a Cossack State” itinerary across Ukraine, and other itineraries having to do with Ukrainian Cossack history.

Large-scale meetings of young Cossack organizations are held in Ukrainian cities. City and district schools run “Cossack Republics” and military patriotic clubs. Their activities are aimed at local history research and the establishments of Cossack combat glory museums. The possibility of setting up a Cossack lyceum is being considered.

Work with the younger generation has become the highest priority for all Cossack communities. The URK has supported the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry initiative and, in coordination with the MON, has started organizing volunteer law enforcement squads at Ukraine’s institutions of higher education.

The URK is closely collaborating with the Church. The regional eparchies of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church are taking part in, and giving their blessings to, practically every URK project. Thus, the Naval Cathedral of St. Nicholas (Kherson oblast) hosts all Cossack feasts.

The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) has for years been collaborating with URK communities. Quite a few UGCC priests are serving as chaplains with Cossack regiments and divisions, taking an active part in the swearing in of recruits, other ceremonies, conferences, and discussions. Nor should one overlook the fact that during Stalin’s purges almost 3,000 UGCC clergymen were shot and countless numbers exiled to Siberia.

The URK effort to preserve, restore, and protect Cossack historic sites is gaining momentum. Owing to the local URK organization, St. Catherine’s Church (built in 1696-1715, in commemoration of the feat of arms performed by the Chyhyryn Cossack Regiment under the command of Otaman Lyzohub during the Russo-Turkish War) has been restored and placed under official protection. Currently, this is a Cossack military temple. Cossacks will build another Eastern Orthodox church in Yelyseievka, a village in Zaporizhia oblast.

Several years ago, URK launched a comprehensive economic program aimed at organizing and supporting farming and various other Cossack businesses. There are Cossack cavalry detachments to help state forest rangers, and fishery and environment inspectors. Other options of cooperation between the URK, the populace, and local authorities are being constantly analyzed.

Local urban and rural URK leaderships take care of locally deployed units of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, Interior Ministry, Border Guard, other law enforcement agencies, notably those under the command of the Emergency Management Ministry. One of the URK stated priorities is helping the law enforcement agencies maintain public law and order, protect constitutional and human rights, and prevent crime. This kind of cooperation has become spectacularly effective in Volyn, Kherson, Luhansk, Zhytomyr, and Chernihiv oblasts.

Military applied and technical sports are being developed, with regular sambo and other Cossack youth martial art competitions. Vinnytsia oblast has hosted an International Dniester Cup Paragliding Competition, sponsored and supervised by the local URK society. The Voroshilov Marksman Cup competitions have become a regular event in Luhansk oblast. College students have been undergoing basic military training in Lutsk (Volyn oblast), on a regular basis, in collaboration with the local military command. The URK Hetman is the creator of an intelligent mobile robot designed to locate and disarm field explosive devices.

Ukraine’s Cossack glory has long reached beyond its borders. A URK delegation officially represented Ukraine during the festivities commemorating Estonia’s Independence Day. Later, an Estonian delegation visited Ukraine, with Defense Minister Lieutenant General Johannes Kert expressing his desire to join the URK. In the end, he and the rest of the delegation took the oath during a church ceremony and became Registered Cossacks. A delegation of Zakarpattia URK took part in the festivities organized by the union “Feldmarschal Radetzky” (Bundesvereinigung Kameradschaft “Feldmarschal Radetzky”) in Heldenberg, Austria. There was a friendly meeting with Austrian army veterans, among them those from K-Zug XXI, in Vienna. The leadership of the URK delegation resolved to confer the URK Bronze Cossack Cross on Austrian Captain Siegfried Wernbacher and Colonel Ernst Hoffmann. Interestingly, there is a grand monument to Cossacks in one of Vienna’s parks, erected in commemoration of the 320th anniversary of lifting the siege of Vienna, which was assailed by Ottoman Empire.

The Ukrainian Registered Cossacks are recognized as an international community. What is happening on the state level? Unlike Russia, Ukraine’s bill on the Ukrainian Cossacks remains to be passed by the Verkhovna Rada.

For centuries hundreds of historians have been studying and writing tomes about Ukrainian Cossacks, yet the Cossack phenomenon remains an acute problem. A state capable of using its inexhaustible potential will be truly great, for it serves the good of the native land. If and when this government realizes the immense importance of the Registered Cossacks, they may well prove capable of running this country effectively, at long last, turning it into a symbol of unbreakable will.