Kozma Kriuchkov, a Don Cossack, was a real person. He was born in 1890 and died in 1919 in the Russian Civil War (1917-1922). Don Cossacks lived in an autonomous republic in the present day Southern Russia (in the basin of the river Don) from the end of the 16th until the early 20th century. They had their own military tradition and formed independent army forces, playing an important part in the historical development of the Russian Empire and successfully participating in all of its major wars. Kozma Kriuchkov was the first hero of the First World War to be awarded the Cross of St. George, a reward for ‘undaunted courage’ by the lower ranks of the military. He received the Cross for the battle where he fought on his own against superior numbers of Germans and killed 11 of them. He later became a popular figure in mass literature and culture and his portrait even appeared on sweet wrappers branded as ‘St George’ sweets. Kryuchkov was fatally wounded in 1919 during the civil war and died on August 18th fighting for the white army. He was mortally wounded in a battle near the village of Lopukhovka, Saratov province, fighting on the side of the whites, during the Veshensky uprising.
Volgograd region paid tribute on
August 18th to legendary Cossack. The ceremony was attended by Cossacks of the Ust-Medveditsky Cossack District of the Military Cossack Society, the Great Don Army, members of the public, residents of the settlement, the leadership of the Serafimovichi district. During the years of Soviet rule, the name of the brave Cossack was practically not mentioned anywhere. And, nevertheless, the inhabitants of the Serafimovichi district were able to preserve the memory of their heroic countryman. In 2018, the Volgograd Regional Duma adopted a law allowing Cossack societies to rent land plots that are in state or municipal ownership, on preferential terms - without bidding. This measure is aimed at the development of rural territories, the involvement in the economic turnover of unclaimed so far lands, the creation of new jobs and the preservation of the traditional way of life of the Cossacks. A number of Cossack societies have already taken advantage of this right.
