Most ‘Cossacks’ in Russian-Occupied Crimea Simply Russians in Costume under FSB Control, Experts Say

Paul Goble

            Staunton, January 7 – Most of those who present themselves in Russian-occupied Crimea today as Cossacks “have nothing in common” with the Cossacks of Ukrainian history, Vitaly Shcherbak of the University of Kyiv says. “They have a different mentality and views” than do real Cossacks and “view themselves as part of the Russian people,” something Cossacks don’t.

            They are organized in about 50 registered public organizations, historian Taras Chukhlib adds. Such groups should have the right to exist, “but the Russian special services control them and they lack any historical tradition” (ru.krymr.com/a/kazachestvo-v-istorii-ukrainy-i-v-anneksirovannom-krymu/30364162.html).

            Not one of them identifies as a Ukrainian Cossack group, despite the fact that Cossacks and their descendants who live in Crimea and elsewhere in Ukraine are far more likely to identify as such. But at present, the historian says, the occupation authorities simply won’t register such groups.

            One independent Cossack activist who says he can trace his ancestry back to the 18^th century says that these people who dress up in Cossacks have nothing in common with the Cossack tradition. “They have all forgotten the traditions of our elders and in the first instance that a Cossack must be free.” The occupation wants to turn them into government employees.

            Genuine Cossacks didn’t cooperate with the Russians in annexing Crimea, but some who simply dressed up in Cossack regalia did, often doing the dirty work that the Russian forces didn’t want to be blamed for, he says.  Now, some may cooperate in suppressing dissent in Crimea, but only for money, not out of a commitment to being Cossacks.

            Elena Lysenko, a Ukrainian journalist from Kerch, confirms his words. “During the seizure of Crimea, Russian soldiers had to maintain the image of ‘polite people’” and for work against journalists or protesters, they used people they dressed up as Cossacks and that many assumed were.

            At that time, she continues, “Cossack formations in Crimea were not so active,” and so to come up with the necessary number, the Russian siloviki brought in people from the Russian Federation and provided them with Cossack uniforms. Some may have had Cossack connections, but most didn’t.

            Far from all of them, Lysenko says, spoke Russian with a Kuban or Krasnodar accent. Instead, their Russian was the Russian of Central Russia around Moscow, a dead giveaway of what was going on to those with ears to hear.