On October 1, 2026, the Council of Atamans of the Central Cossack Army Military Society was held at the spiritual and Educational center of the Church of St. Nicholas of Myra in Zayatsky, Moscow.
Metropolitan Kirill of Stavropol and Nevinnomyssk, Chairman of the Synodal Committee for Cooperation with the Cossacks, Chairman of the Synodal Department for Cooperation with the Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies, said a prayer service before the start of any good deed.
Before the general prayer, the bishop addressed the participants of the Council, wished them God's help and blessed them for their upcoming labors: "Let us ask the Lord to bless our people, the glorious Cossacks, children, fighters, your colleagues, participants in a special military operation, and bless us all."
His Eminence was assisted by Priest Timofey Chaikin, Executive Secretary of the Synodal Committee for Cooperation with the Cossacks, Rector of St. Nicholas Church, Priest Tikhon Lazutkin, head of the press service of the Synodal Committee, confessor of the Union of Cossack Youth of Russia, and Priest John Malkov, head of the Department for Interaction with dioceses and authorities of the Synodal Committee.
The Council was attended by Alexey Kirichenko, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration for Civil Service, Personnel and Anti-Corruption, Executive Secretary of the Council of the President of the Russian Federation for Cossacks, Vitaly Kuznetsov, Ataman of the All-Russian Cossack Society, Ataman of the Central Cossack Army, Cossack Colonel Andrey Fadyukhin, Honorary Ataman of the Central Cossack Army Ivan Mironov, and atamans of Cossack societies belonging to the Central Cossack Army.
Alexey Kirichenko announced Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 697 dated September 28, 2026 on the approval of the new ataman of the military Cossack society "Central Cossack Army". Metropolitan Kirill blessed Ataman Andrey Fadyukhin to serve at the head of the army, wishing him God's help, wisdom and strength in his labors for the benefit of the Cossacks and the Fatherland, and expressed hope for further close cooperation between the Central Cossack Army and the Synodal Committee in the spiritual care of the Cossacks and their families.
Vitaly Kuznetsov thanked Honorary Ataman Ivan Mironov for his long-term leadership of the army and congratulated the new ataman on assuming office, recalling his service in the North Caucasus and as commander of the Terek Cossack reconnaissance brigade. "Firsthand, I can personally confirm that Andrei Vladimirovich has always been on the front line — always with the Cossacks, always with the personnel. And I am sure that here, in the rear, and on the front line, he will always be next to the Cossacks of the Central Cossack Army," said the head of the All—Russian Cossack Society.
The meeting also discussed issues of spiritual care for the Cossacks of the Central Cossack Army, which was entrusted by the decision of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia to the Synodal Committee for Cooperation with the Cossacks, the participation of Cossacks in the formation of the mobilization reserve of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and the deployment of Cossacks in reserve to mobile firing groups, as well as the work of the operational headquarters of the Central Cossack Army on the formation of the Cossack battalion of the Pokrov unmanned systems.