Sotnik

In the Cossacks' paramilitary society of the Zaporozhian Host, Cossack Hetmanate, and Sloboda Ukraine, territories were organized along the lines of military organization and commanded by officers.

During the Khmelnytsky Uprising and in the Cossack Hetmanate (17th-18th centuries), sotnyks were leaders of territorial administrative subdivisions called sotnyas.

Such sotnyks were subordinated to polkovnyks (colonel) who were in control of a polk (primary administrative division) and a regiment (military unit).

The word sotnik literally means commander of a hundred men in most Slavonic languages, much like how the Latin term Centurion reflected a commander of a similar number of troops in the Roman Empire.

Some translations render the word sotnik as "Captain", however the "Lieutenant" interpretation also appears in common usage, and for the sake of historical and social clarity the original rank-name is used.