State and the cossacks: on the way to public service

Introduction. To date, members of the Cossack societies that have taken on the obligation to perform public service are involved in ensuring public order, protecting the state border and the environment and other activities. This study is devoted to the policy of the state aimed at transforming the revived Cossacks from their unpredictable social movement into a controlled part of the state structure. Methods and materials. The main sources for preparing the article were documents from the collections of acts of the President and Government of the Russian Federation, collections of the legislation of the Russian Federation, as well as the Order of the Government of the Russian Federation on the problems of the Cossacks and documents on their implementation stored in the State Archives of the Russian Federation. The methodological basis of the study was the principles of historicity, objectivity and system. Analysis. The study analyzes the chronology of events, the search for forms of the Cossack civil service, and interaction with various branches of the government. Results. The study concludes that between 1994 and 1998 the state sought and formalized the legal status of the Cossacks as a state structure bringing it into the state register of Cossack societies in the Russian Federation for state and other service. In addition, a legal framework was created for organizational and economic support of the Cossack societies included in the state register. By 1998, 10 Cossack Host societies, 5 Cossack divisions, 2 Cossack districts and 2 Cossack urban societies (Moscow and Saint Petersburg) had entered the state register.