Revival of the service activities of the Russian Cossacks: the beginning of the path

The moral core of the Cossack revival process that began in the USSR in the late 1980s was the desire to defend the Fatherland, counter separatism, and revive traditional military service. These views and intentions of modern Cossacks attracted the attention of Russia's geopolitical adversaries, and a corresponding debate began in the media. This study reveals the sequence of initial efforts aimed at reviving the service activities of the Russian Cossacks. Particular attention is given to the dynamics of normative activity and attempts to staff a number of military units of the Armed Forces with Cossacks. The author describes the difficult path of reform efforts and the ambiguous reception of proposed innovations by the Cossack community. Based on a study of the initial efforts to organize the service activities of Cossacks, he concludes that it is advisable to more actively involve researchers in this process. The author also notes that the initial efforts to revive the Cossack service were supported by the adoption of a number of regulatory legal acts. At the same time, these were characterized by slowness and inconsistency.