Cuirassier units were formed based on the example of Frederick the Great's heavy cavalry and were followers of great Reiters, which the Russian cavalry had chanced to encounter during the Seven Years' War.
Other than the cuirass, Russian cavaliers were equipped with a leather helmet with a brazen elbow plate.
The Cuirassier regiments were not numbered, and were given individual names instead: the Astrahan Cuirassier regiment, His Majesty's Cuirassier regiment, the Gluhov Cuirassier regiment, the Ekaterinoslav Cuirassier regiment, the Orden Cuirassier regiment, the Novogorod Cuirassier regiment, the Pskow Cuirassier regiment, etc.
This type of cavalry was dedicated mainly to frontal attacks on the battlefield. These often decided the outcome of the battle.
Cuirassiers were armed with a broadsword and a brace of pistols. Therefore, their only possible firing distance was close-range, when the riders had already broken into the enemy ranks. The cuirass granted the Cuirassier good defense not only against sabers, but against enemy gunfire as well. A musket ball only had a chance to penetrate it from a distance of fifty paces or less, and a pistol round from three to four paces.