![]() ![]() ![]() Credit: Reuters/Sergey PivovarovĬossack groups say that any members taking part in armed conflicts do so as private individuals.īut there is evidence that Cossack organisations have been supportive of those deployments. The 19 fighters identified by Reuters were all members of officially-registered Cossack units.Ĭossacks stand guard on a street next to the official mascot for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia, Zabivaka in Rostov-on-Don, Russia June 7, 2018. Today many Cossack militia units are registered and funded by the central government in return for their loyalty. Self-governing and semi-military communities mainly in southern Russia and Ukraine, Cossacks traditionally guarded the borders of the Russian Empire but were repressed in the Soviet era. Working as an armed mercenary abroad is illegal under Russian law. It also says it has nothing to do with Russian private military contractors in Syria. The Kremlin denies providing military support for the separatists in eastern Ukraine. EU and US also treat the separatist uprising as unlawful and have imposed travel bans and financial freezes on dozens of people involved in the fighting or aiding the separatists. The Ukraine government views anyone who fought with the separatists as criminals. The number would likely be much higher if those who are still alive could be included. Reuters identified the fighters and confirmed they belonged to the paramilitary groups through relatives, friends and their fellow Cossacks after they died or were captured. A man with the insignia of the Russian state-registered Cossack society and other pro-Russian supporters sit on top of a Ukrainian APC after breaking into the territory of the naval headquarters in Sevastopol, March 19, 2014.Credit: Reuters/Baz Ratner ![]()
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