The Cossack cultural and historical code

By Vestnik Kavkaza

September 21-22, the Russian capital will host the third Cossack Village International Festival. It will be accessible, among others, to those with tickets to the failed concert of Bloodhound Gang in Anapa. Recall that this summer during the concert the bassist of Bloodhound Gang Jared Hasselhoff tucked the Russian flag in his pants, pulled it out from the back side and threw it into the crowd saying "Do not tell Putin about that". A case into the desecration of the flag was initiated, and the rockers were banned for five years from entering Russian territory. "All those who missed the concert of the group can attend the festival”, the chairman of the Cossack Committee of Moscow Leonid Makurov said. “If they want to look at those who treat the Russian flag in that way and think they are rockers, let them watch Cossack rockers. Thank God that the Cossacks always defend their country. Let them come, we have very good bands, and they will not regret anything".


Leonid Makurov told VK about the festival in particular and the Cossacks in general.


- Who will be the guests of the festival, and where will the Cossacks come from?


- The whole country will be represented at the festival. Official delegations will come from a minimum of six Cossack regions. In general, small groups of the Cossacks will come from all the areas traditionally inhabited by Cossacks – Siberia, the Urals, the Far East, and of course the Don, Kuban and the Caucasus.


- Could you tell us more about the Cossacks from the Caucasus?


- The Terek Cossack Host involves, among others, the Cossack communities located in our Caucasian republics, and they traditionally take part in the festival. At least, in 2011, I saw them at the festival, and we hope that this year they will attend it – these are Cossacks from Ossetia, Stavropol Territory and Ingushetia .

- How is the Institute of Cossacks developing in everyday life?

- The Institute of Cossacks is probably an artificially-invented name. There is the Cossack way of life that many Cossacks live, just as many residents of the Caucasus live their traditional life, faithful to their foundations and traditions. The Cossacks are living the same life, especially given that the Cossacks for several centuries lived side by side with the Caucasian nations and adopted from each other a lot of customs, have common bonds, children, friends, family ties. So perhaps there is a particular cultural and historical code that distinguishes the Cossack from the common man.

The public service of the Cossacks develops due to the fact that the Cossacks are ready to continue their work in the service of their country. Many of them have expressed such a wish. The adoption of the Federal Law No. 154 "On State Service of the Russian Cossacks" is no coincidence. The Cossacks, the members of the Cossack communities that entered these societies and committed themselves to perform public or another service, can carry out their desire to be useful to society and the state. However, it should be noted that the current mechanisms that would allow this to be done are not enough. We accumulate them with joined forces. This is a fact. We are working in this direction. Therefore, when speaking about the development of the Cossacks, we should speak about the development of the Cossack state service. The traditional life, the social life of the Cossacks, fortunately, is going on and on.


- We would like to touch upon the issue of the Olympic Games in Sochi. Are the Cossacks somehow connected with this event?


- The Cossacks are the citizens of our country. The Olympics is a prestigious event for the whole country, and it certainly attracts attention. The question about how the Cossacks will be involved in ensuring any activities in Sochi must be asked among the Cossacks of Krasnodar Territory, the Kuban Cossack Army. Moscow, of course, lives its life, and it accumulates the lives of all the regions. Our Cossacks are both fans and participants, because many Cossack athletes will participate in the Olympics. As for their attraction as an organized structure in the form, perhaps, of squads of public order, this has not been planned. I think this is not our competence. This will be addressed by law enforcement officers, who know how and whom they need to attract to the protection of public order in Sochi. We hope that this event will take place at the highest level. All the Cossacks and the inhabitants of those areas, as well as those Cossacks who will be among the fans, will always be happy to be of service for both Sochi and the guests who will come from far afield, if suddenly there are any questions or problems.