Kuzbass Cossacks Prepare to Welcome Their Kin from Kazakhstan

At present, around 30 Cossack families are considering relocating to Kuzbass. Since 2023, the Kuzbass Compatriot Center under the Department of Labor and Social Protection has been developing a targeted resettlement program for Cossacks descended from the former Semirechye Cossack Host, which guarded Turkestan’s eastern borders in the Kazakh steppes during the Russian Empire. The descendants of those Cossacks still live in close-knit communities in various regions of Kazakhstan and are gradually returning to their historic homeland.

Back in November 2023, representatives of the Kuzbass Ministry of Labor discussed the implementation of the regional compatriot resettlement program with the ataman of the Ust-Kamenogorsk department of the Siberian Cossack Society, who is also deputy ataman of the Kemerovo department of the Siberian Cossack Host.

The Cossacks were told about Kuzbass, support measures for compatriots, wage levels, the most in-demand vacancies, and retraining opportunities for compatriots in the region. The East Kazakhstan Region (the city of Ust-Kamenogorsk) was noted to be similar to Kuzbass in its developed metallurgical and machine-building industries. This means that compatriots arriving in Kuzbass who work in these sectors will easily find employment in the region. The mechanisms for attracting Cossacks from Kazakhstan to Kuzbass were discussed separately.

In April 2025, Nikolai Kirichenko, ataman of the Kemerovo Cossack Department of the Siberian Cossack Host, told staff of the regional police headquarters’ migration department during a meeting that members of the Ust-Kamenogorsk department of the Siberian Cossack Host intended to take part in the State Program for the Resettlement of Compatriots and move to Kuzbass. Oleg Rodionov, ataman of the Ust-Kamenogorsk Cossacks, has already moved to Kemerovo.

According to Nikolai Kirichenko, a member of the Public Council under the Main Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs for Kemerovo Region–Kuzbass, the return of Russian-speaking people to their historic homeland remains an important issue today. According to staff of the regional police headquarters’ migration department, most compatriots relocating to Kuzbass come from the Republic of Kazakhstan. Of the 318 applications to participate in the state program submitted in 2024, more than 60% were filed by citizens of this republic.

Alla Shelyapina, VEZDE NASHI