[citation needed] The abolishment of sectors of the frontier, and thus the loss of their autonomy, has been cited as a major reason for emigration to the Russian Empire.

[3] The Serbian polymath and historian Zaharije Orfelin posited that the Orthodox peoples of the Balkans were chosen by Tsar Peter for settlement because, as speakers of a similar language and followers of the same religion, they would be "more reliable" than the Zaporozhian Cossacks, who were considered "insufficient".

[2] In October 1723, a group of predominantly Serb soldiers led by officer Jovan Albanez were officially formed into the Serbian Hussar Regiment.

[citation needed] By the decree of the Senate of May 29, 1753, the free lands of this area were offered for settlement to Serbs, Romanians, Bulgarians, Greeks and other Balkan peoples of Orthodox Christian denomination to ensure frontier protection and development of this sparsely inhabited part of the steppes.

[5] As a prime goal of the colony was to protect the Russian Empire's southern borders, the Serb and other South Slavic settlers were predominantly of a military background,[5][1] and the capital town of Bakhmut was fortified.

[9] The Serbs who settled these areas have since largely assimilated with the local Ukrainians over the centuries,[10][1] but in Ukraine's modern Luhansk, Donetsk, and Kirovohrad regions which cover the former land of Slavo-Serbia and the similar colony New Serbia, people with Serbian surnames can still be found.