Mourning events took place in southern Russia in memory of the victims of the Decossackization

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Cossacks from the Rostov and Volgograd regions, as well as the Krasnodar Territory, attended memorial services for the victims of the Decossackization and honored their memory. A requiem concert in memory of the victims of Cossack repression was held in Volgograd.

The largest Cossack force in pre-revolutionary Russia—the Don Cossack Host—was stationed in what are now the Volgograd, Rostov, and Voronezh regions, as well as Kalmykia. At the beginning of the Civil War, the majority of Cossacks did not support the counter-revolutionary forces, but as a result of the intensification of the class struggle and the policy of decossackization, the bulk of the Cossacks went over to the side of the counterrevolution, but ultimately suffered defeat. In 1920, the Don Cossack Host ceased to exist and was not re-established until the late 1980s. More details on the history of the Don Cossack Host can be found in the article from the "Handbook" of the "Caucasian Knot".

On the anniversary of the adoption of the "Directive on Decossackization" in 1919, various events were held in a number of regions of Russia.

On January 26, a memorial service was held in Taganrog in memory of the Decossackization. Participants visited the Church of All Saints, where a memorial service was held by the Cossacks' spiritual mentor, Father Igor. Ataman Ivan Nadolinsky also participated in the event, according to the "Community News" Telegram channel.

Participants also visited the mass grave of 105 cadets who died in 1918 and observed a moment of silence in their memory. Ataman Nadolinsky spoke of the importance of preserving historical truth and the need to learn the lessons of the past.

A similar memorial service was held at the Church of the Intercession in Tselin. The service was conducted by the rector, Father Sergiy Stepanov. Local Cossacks, as well as Cossacks from the Southern Cossack Society "Tselinsky Yurt," participated. In his address, Father Sergiy called for preserving historical memory and honoring the fallen, reports the regional newspaper "Delta."

Similar events were held in Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, the village of Tatsinskaya, and the village of Starocherkasskaya.

The memory of the victims of the Decossackization was also honored in Volgograd, where a requiem concert was held at the Yury Gagarin Culture and Recreation Complex. They performed traditional Cossack songs and dances, and children's groups also participated, reports "MTV.online."

A memorial service for the victims of Cossack repression was held in churches of the Uryupinsk Diocese, with participants laying a garland at the Worship Cross, reports "Vysota102."

Mourning events in memory of the victims of Cossack repression were also held in the Krasnodar Krai. Cossacks of the Novorossiysk RKO, led by Sergei Savotin, ataman of the Black Sea Cossack District, attended a memorial service at the Church of Saints Peter and Fevronia. Andrei Gorban, deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Krasnodar Krai, spoke about his great-grandfather, who died tragically during the Decossackization. He recalled that the Bolsheviks called the Cossacks "a people capable of self-organization" and called for them to remain so forever, according to a statement on the website of the municipality of the heroic city of Novorossiysk.

Memorial events for the victims of Decossackization were also held in Ust-Labinsk, Kurganinsk, and Kropotkin.

In 2015, a bill on supporting the Cossacks in the Volgograd Region was discussed. Critics of the bill pointed out that it lacked specific proposals for measures to revive Cossack culture, and that the law does not take into account Cossacks not included in registered Cossack societies. Moreover, the registered Cossacks, united in Cossack societies, do not include the majority of Cossacks, including Cossack women, as noted by the discussion participants.

On September 25, the State Duma debated bills to rename three Chechen cities, and deputies approved them in the first reading. General Vladimir Shamanov, a veteran of the Chechen wars, called the renaming of Cossack villages in Chechnya an erasure of historical memory. Afterward, Ramzan Kadyrov called Shamanov a criminal who should be brought to trial. That same day, Kadyrov called Shamanov a "hyena," while State Duma deputy Adam Delimkhanov called him a coward and a saboteur. At public hearings, Russian-speaking residents of the village of Naurskaya spoke out against the renaming to Nerva, claiming that those who recorded a video in support of the new name did so after being threatened with dismissal. Authorities promised to hold a follow-up hearing.

The bill to rename Naurskaya to Nevra states that the new name, which means "north" in Chechen, reflects the "most characteristic features" of the geographic feature. For more information on the renamings and the criticism surrounding them, see the "Caucasian Knot" report "Discussion on the Renaming of Chechen Cities".

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