Its name derives from the term sloboda for a colonial settlement free of tax obligations, and the word Ukraine was used to refer to the area inhabited by Ukrainian Cossacks and settlers.

The word Ukraine is often considered to originally refer to a 'borderland', a view supported by Russian,[1] Ukrainian, and Western historians such as Orest Subtelny,[2] Paul Magocsi,[3] Omeljan Pritsak,[4] Mykhailo Hrushevskyi,[5] Ivan Ohiyenko,[6] Petro Tolochko,[7] and others.

[14] A second wave of colonization occurred in the 1620s to 1630s, largely in the form of Ukrainian Cossack regiments, who were allowed to settle there to help protect the territory against the Tatars.

Still, many of them engaged in banditry, prompting Russia to establish a new garrison town on the Boguchar River to defend the land from Ukrainian bandits.

[18] In 1591, a Tatar raid reached the Moscow region, compelling the Russian government to construct new forts, including Belgorod and Oskol in 1593, Yelets in 1592, Kromy in 1595, Kursk in 1597, and Tsarev-Borisov and Valuyki in 1600.

The conflict intensified with Russian territorial expansion south and east into the lands of modern Sloboda Ukraine and the mid-Volga River.

Sometime between the 1580s and 1640s, the Belgorod Defense Line was constructed in Sloboda Ukraine, featuring several fortifications, moats, and forts, providing security to the region.

After several Russo-Crimean Wars, Russian monarchs began to encourage the settlement of the area by Cossacks, who served as a sort of frontier guard force against Tatar raids.