An exhibition dedicated to the 450th anniversary of the Orenburg Cossack Army opened in the Southern Urals | 04/26/2024 | Orenburg News

In Chelyabinsk, at the exhibition space of the archive at the monument to volunteer tankmen, an exhibition dedicated to the 450th anniversary of the seniority of the Orenburg Cossack army was opened. The military ataman, Cossack General Vladimir Ivanovich Romanov, as well as Cossacks and cadets took part in the opening ceremony.

A creative group from the village of Travniki performed Cossack songs. The ataman of the Orenburg Cossack Army, Cossack General Vladimir Ivanovich Romanov, the head of the Public Relations Department of the Government of the Chelyabinsk Region, Dmitry Igorevich Semenov, and the head of the department for work with the Cossacks of the Chelyabinsk diocese, Priest Dmitry Bacca, addressed the meeting with welcoming words.

– The Chelyabinsk land is the ancestral land of the Cossacks. Cossack regiments left this land to defend the borders of our Motherland at all times. Not a single campaign was complete without the Orenburg Cossacks and without the regiments that were formed on the territory of the Chelyabinsk region. Anyone born in the Chelyabinsk region is a Cossack. This is ancestral territory, ancestral Cossack land,” said Cossack General Vladimir Ivanovich Romanov.

Also in his welcoming speech, Vladimir Ivanovich thanked everyone who was open to the idea of ​​organizing the exhibition, and everyone who took part in its creation. The military ataman noted that of all the entities that are part of the Orenburg Cossack army, the Chelyabinsk region is most actively implementing the plan associated with the preparation and holding of various events dedicated to the 450th anniversary of the seniority of the Orenburg Cossack army.

– First of all, I want to draw attention to where we are now. This is not only the heart of the city of Chelyabinsk, it is not only one of the most significant historical places in the capital of the Southern Urals. This is where the Walk of Fame begins. Here is a monument to volunteer tank crews, with all the names of the heroes of the Soviet Union and the Eternal Flame listed nearby. From here you can see the stele “City of Labor Valor”, and further, near the monument to the Valiant Sons of the Fatherland, the names of soldiers who died in international conflicts are listed. And now there is a unique exhibition dedicated to the 450th anniversary of the Orenburg Cossack army. Because 450 years of military history lay the foundation for the glory that our Chelyabinsk region, our Southern Urals, have acquired.

This foundation is very deep, because 450 years of heroism, 450 years of service to the Fatherland. This is what feeds us now. This is what allows us to win a special military operation, carry out our duty, protect a peaceful sky and, most importantly, restore all those unique traditions that the Cossacks laid, developed and supported in the Southern Urals. It is very important for us that now everyone has united in a single impulse to revive the Cossack movement. We see unique heroes, we see collaboration with the Russian Orthodox Church. And even in preparing this exhibition, we saw that a number of departments were working. And the archive service of the Chelyabinsk region, and the archive service of the Sverdlovsk region, and all our local history museums, and the public movement also took part.

For several months, when hundreds and thousands of young people walk along Kirov Street, there will be a chronicle of the Orenburg Cossack army, where in just a few minutes you can immerse yourself in 450 years of history. This will be very important. Celebrations dedicated to Victory Day, Youth Day, Russia Day will be held here, and the history of the Cossacks will be here all this time.

I am sure that we will remember more than once about the wonderful anniversary, and about the fact that we are all Cossacks and have Cossack roots. And I am sure that the Orenburg Cossack Army will praise the Chelyabinsk region more than once, and together we will try to carry the banner of the Orenburg Cossack Army,” said Dmitry Igorevich Semenov.

Cossack General Vladimir Ivanovich Romanov awarded the anniversary medal “450 years of the Orenburg Cossack Army” to Dmitry Igorevich Semenov, Chairman of the State Committee for Archives of the Chelyabinsk Region Sergei Mikhailovich Ivanov, Director of the United State Archive of the Chelyabinsk Region Igor Igorevich Vishev, Deputy Director of the State Archives for the Scientific Use of Nikolai’s Documents Alexandrovich Antipin.

Letters of gratitude were presented to the head of the department of publications and scientific use of documents of the state archive, Alexander Nikolaevich Lymarev, the head of the department of creating an insurance fund of the state archive, Anastasia Igorevna Kurilova, and the head of the exhibition sector of the department of publications and scientific use of documents of the state archive, Egor Alekseevich Kazakov.

Historically, the Orenburg Cossack Army ranks second in seniority after the Don Army. The Cossacks founded Chelyabinsk, Chebarkul, Miass, Verkhneuralsk, Troitsk and other fortresses, which later became cities.

Orenburg Cossacks participated in all military campaigns that were aimed at protecting the borders, protecting the borders of our Motherland, and ensuring the defense of the borders of the Russian state.

They selflessly fought the Patriotic War of 1812 and participated in the Foreign Campaign of the Russian Army, and heroically showed themselves in the Russo-Japanese and First World Wars. Time passes, but the tasks that stood and are facing the Orenburg Cossacks do not change. Today, the Cossacks of the Orenburg army are participating in a special military operation. The words “Soul to God! Life for the Fatherland! Honor to no one! are not just a motto, but the basis and meaning of life for the Cossacks.

The new exhibition tells about the 450-year history of the Orenburg Cossacks. The exhibition consists of two parts. In the first part, the history of Russia will be presented through the prism of the history of the Orenburg Cossacks. These are documentary materials about the appearance of the Cossacks in the Southern Urals, about the Cossacks’ defense of the country’s borders, about participation in military conflicts in Russia, about tragic moments in the history of the Cossacks during the years of Soviet power: the Civil War, which divided the Cossacks into two warring camps, the emigration of some Cossacks, decossackization and repression.

The second part of the exhibition is dedicated to the time of the revival of the Orenburg Cossacks, which began in 1991. The tablets will show the multifaceted activities of the modern Cossacks: traditions, patriotic education of the younger generation, culture, education, life of the Cossacks, participation in the Special Military Operation in Ukraine.

In addition to documentary materials on the history of the Orenburg Cossacks, stored in the United State Archives of the Chelyabinsk Region, photographs for the exhibition will be provided by Cossack societies of ancient villages: Verkhneuralskaya, Magnitnaya, Uyskaya, Troitskaya and others, as well as museums and local historians.