Collection of documents on Cossack discovery of Yakutia published

Historian Ekaterina Strogova presented her book “We Serve the Sovereign…” at the V. G. Belinsky Local History Library No. 1. The book is a collection of documents on the discovery and development of Yakutia by Cossacks. It was published as part of the project “Guardians of Russia. Yakutian Cossacks” by the Yakutia-based public organisation Blagovest Yakutii, with support from the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives.

The book gathers written testimonies from participants in the Cossack discovery and settlement of Yakutia. Texts from the mid-17th century have been edited closer to modern Russian so that general readers can understand them. The volume includes appendices, a dictionary of archaic words and expressions, and maps.

The author said she aimed to make the documents understandable without harming their meaning or structure. Illustrations by battle painter and reconstructor Nikolai Zubkov show Cossack uniforms recreated according to historical data. The book is intended for readers interested in the history of the Yakutian Cossacks, geographic discoveries and Yakutia, and will soon reach libraries across the republic.