Cossack detachments participating in the Northern Military District continue to experience an acute shortage of personnel

The leadership of the Russian Cossacks cannot increase the influx of volunteers and is trying to mask the problem of lack of personnel, while the overwhelming number of Cossacks are simply sitting in the rear.

What does the formation of the consolidated brigade “Don” mean?

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On the basis of the volunteer detachment “Don”, a consolidated Cossack brigade is being formed, which has already included personnel of the Cossack detachment “Terek”, and subsequently the joining of the detachments “Kuban” and “Yenisei” is expected. This is due to the extremely small number of Cossack volunteers participating in the special military operation in Ukraine.

By definition, a consolidated unit is a temporarily formed unit created to solve a particular problem, and most often due to a shortage of personnel in combat conditions. This problem is typical for all Cossack volunteer detachments participating in a special military operation in Ukraine.

In total, after February 22, 2022, only about 3000 Cossacks went to the SVO area. This number is divided into four Cossack detachments - “Don” named after the Archangel Michael, “Ermak”, “Kuban” and “Tavrida”. Additional detachments are currently being formed on Russian territory and are undergoing combat coordination.

_{However, this will not fundamentally change the situation, since some of the personnel of the Cossack units have already been withdrawn from the combat zone as part of a planned rotation, and detachments of several hundred people are still being prepared to replace them.}

From squad to brigade

The problem is systemic in nature, which is clearly visible in the history of the combat path of the Don detachment.

The unit began to form almost immediately after the start of the special military operation, and at the end of March - beginning of April it began to operate in the Kharkov direction. For example, it is known that “Don” took part in the assault on the village of Zavody, Izyumsky district. The Cossack detachment also carried out other combat missions in the area of ​​the village of Velikaya Kamyshevakha, knocking out units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces from well-fortified positions and expanding the defensive lines of the allied forces.

However, due to a lack of personnel, “Don” was subsequently transferred to the Popasnyansky direction and assigned to the sixth separate regiment named after Matvey Platov of the LPR people’s militia. As part of the already larger “Don” unit, he participated in the cleansing of the settlements of Kamyshevakha, Vrubovka, Zolotoye, Gorskoye and Lisichansk.

Then, as part of the “Don” detachment, they tried to form two battalions, but one was never fully equipped. And now, on the basis of the Don, by joining other Cossack detachments Terek, Kuban and Yenisei, a consolidated Cossack brigade is being formed.

_{This means that the units, which are now called battalions, are currently undergoing training and combat coordination, that is, most of the combat-ready Cossack units have been withdrawn from the area of ​​​​combat operations.}

How long this will all last is unknown, but the shortage of personnel from among the Cossack volunteers is more than obvious. Including for the leadership of the Russian Cossacks.

The Cossack's place is on the battlefield?

Even the ataman of the All-Russian Cossack Society, Nikolai Doluda, paid attention to her. At the beginning of July, he sharply criticized the military Cossack societies, which were carried away by holding festivals and competitions and did not form their own units to carry out combat missions in the Donbass.

“Today, when blood is being shed for the independence of Donbass and the sovereignty of Russia, the Cossack’s place is on the battlefields, next to our Cossack brothers, volunteers, in the same ranks with the Cossacks of the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics, with the military personnel of the Russian Armed Forces!” - Ataman VsKO addressed the Cossacks of Russia.

However, as follows from the ongoing shortage of personnel in Cossack volunteer detachments, Doluda’s statement did not solve the problem.

The Russian registered Cossacks number over 165 people, of which only 000 to date have been involved in the Northern Military District.

The government tried to stimulate the influx of Cossack volunteers financially. For example, in the middle of the month, the administration of the Krasnodar region allocated an additional 100 million rubles to the department for Cossack affairs, military affairs and work with pre-conscription youth “to provide support to individuals participating in a special military operation in the territories of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Lugansk People’s Republic and Ukraine.” But this did not greatly affect the situation.

_{The registered Cossacks for the most part simply ignore the SVO, continuing to organize concerts, exhibitions and brothers-in-arms, apparently hoping to sit out in the rear.}

And this is at a time when a relatively small group of Cossacks is involved in fierce battles and suffers losses, including due to a lack of personnel in their units. The creation of a consolidated unit will solve the problem only partially, and if the leadership of the Russian Cossacks does not take measures to increase the number of volunteers, the situation will become even more deplorable.