Cossacks in the said basin in the 21st century/Yoram Mizrachi

The Russian government's decision to re-establish Cossack units, which will operate in the aforementioned basin area in the Russian Far East, on the border with China, is primarily related to the effort to prevent jihadist terrorism and smuggling

Yoram Mizrachi

The Russian government's decision to re-establish Cossack units, which will operate in the aforementioned Basin area in the Russian Far East, on the border with China, is primarily related to the effort to prevent Jihadi terrorism and smuggling in an area that since the 16th century has been considered by Moscow as the "Wild East". In the decision made at the meeting of the "hatmans" (translation free-commanders) the heads of Cossack "bands" who came from all over the country, there was talk of organizing 15 thousand volunteer Cossack soldiers, who will man three brigades in pre-military settings. The units will take on both border protection and internal security tasks. It was also decided to establish special pre-military high schools for the Cossack youth living in the settlements of the Russian Far East, with the aim of establishing an infrastructure for expanding volunteering and creating a background of "viability" in everything related to the professional future of the Cossack youth, who will be organized as soldiers.

A resolution was published on March 16 by Russian news agencies, for example NOVOSTI, who quoted Konstantin Polokovsky, head of the presidential adviser's office on Cossack affairs. The news emphasized the importance of the issue "at a time when the Commonwealth is threatened by terrorists who seek to destroy the nation" It was also stated that the recruits would come from the concentrations of Cossacks living in the said basin, in the Khabarovsk region and Birobidzhan, the area that even today is still defined as "the area of ​​Jewish autonomy"

The decision received a positive response in the said area and other areas in Russia and Ukraine, where there are communities of Cossack origin. The heads of the communities hope that the model that is taking shape in the aforementioned basin will convince the Russian and Ukrainian governments of the feasibility of security cooperation with the Cossacks, who at the beginning of the XNUMXth century were mostly opponents of the communist regime.

The Cossacks fought between the years 1917-1920 mainly alongside the "White Russians" supporters of the Tsarist regime and after the defeat of the "White Army" they were persecuted by Stalin. Among other things, tens of thousands of Ukrainian Cossacks who were exiled from the plains of Ukraine and the Zaporozhye to the regions of the Russian book in the east were executed. Forced-collectivism, in the Soviet style, hurt the Cossacks, who according to different definitions from the era of the tsars were "soldier-peasants" and according to an ancient tradition led an egalitarian lifestyle and among other things chose their leaders "A-Tamans" who commanded groups of fighting cavalry "Va-Tamans" who headed all A main group in a large area, for example the steppes of Ukraine.

The Russian history of the aforementioned basin is related to the era of geographical discoveries that characterized countries in Western Europe. The Russians did not send sailors and navigators to the oceans in search of a new world, but turned east to discover natural treasures, mainly gold, silver and precious stones. Another field of discoveries was finding land routes that would allow Russian-Chinese trade. Thus began a period of geographical discoveries in the East, recording finds and maps that began around 1540. Russian adventurers penetrated deep into the Russian Far East, until finally a number of adventurers were able to reach the Great Wall of China, which opened a new era for the two great nations. Over the years, along the Amur River, the sixth longest in the world, there have been countless diplomatic incidents and mishaps between Tsarist Russia and later Soviet Russia and China, when the questions of marking the border and crossings were only partially resolved.

In the early 60s and the worsening of relations between the two communist powers, the said basin was the scene of almost constant incidents between the Russian border guard units and the Chinese People's Army. The establishment of special Cossack units, which will operate in the aforesaid, is therefore being carefully examined not only in Russia and in particular in the Russian Far East, but also in China. The news about the establishment of a Cossack army was also cited in Beijing and Chinese diplomats, trained in Moscow, were called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where they received a detailed briefing on the plan and its various components, as they will manifest along the banks of the river called in China the "Black Dragon" and known in Russia as the "Black Water"

In the Second World War, Cossacks fought on both sides of the barricade, many served in cavalry divisions established as part of the Red Army and excelled in the containment battles that stopped the Germans and later took part in the military effort that brought the Red Army to Berlin. Other Cossacks, residents of German occupation zones, or from among the millions of prisoners of war who fell into the hands of the Nazis, chose to enlist in pro-German Ukrainian Cossack units and the Waffen SS. At the end of the war, the tyrant Joseph Stalin demanded from his partners, the Western Allies, to hand over Cossack units that escaped from the Red Army and reached the British occupation zone in Austria. The story of the extradition and the fate of those who were extradited and transferred to concentration camps in Siberia and thousands of Cossacks who were executed, is still an important factor in written, or oral, Cossack history.

The Cossack tradition managed to survive the seventy-year communist era of the Soviet Union, despite the fact that since the end of World War II, the Cossacks lost the right to form their own units and their concentrations were mostly exiled to the east, far beyond the Caucasus.

Western intelligence sources say that the idea of ​​re-mobilizing Cossack battalions and deploying them in the aforementioned area was born in President Putin's office as part of a broad plan to transfer the excess of the war effort against jihadist terrorism in the East, border protection and internal security to regional-autonomous or partially independent authorities. While the Ministries of the Interior and Defense are working to strengthen the Russian Border Guard units and the forces of the Ministry of the Interior (successors of the KGB), activists of Cossack descent have begun to hold talks with the central government and offer cooperation in the war against terrorism and guerrillas in the style of the Mujahideen or their "Yirmuk Brigades" units, operating in Tsenia and Dagestan.

The new idea was well received by the Russian General Staff, which continues to plan and carry out step by step plans to upgrade the army and transform it in the future from an army based on conscription into an army of volunteers defined as "contract soldiers". The generals responsible for security in the Russian Far East, noted that their control area is outside the main cities such as Khabarovsk or Komsomolensk , the roads and the railway system, does not allow conducting presence tours in the area, most of which is still wild.

One of the generals who supported the idea of ​​re-enlisting Cossacks, said simply, "The aforementioned Cossacks know better where smuggling routes pass, who should be in the field and who arouses suspicion. In many respects, they are the cat that knows where the cream is." The establishment of the new Cossack units symbolizes quite a bit what Russian officials call "the spirit of adventure and mischief of President Putin" and his desire to refresh thinking in all areas of Russian life and activity. The program has a positive response in the Russian Far East, but has also led to bewilderment among some of the power's neighbors, for example in Ukraine and countries in Central Asia. The plan is also encouraged by the commanders of the Russian Border Force, who believe that the combination of the Cossack tactics and their high level of fielding, accompanied by the multitude of modern means available to the Russian army, will make it possible to implement even more the broad strategy of strengthening the country against Islamic terrorism, also through the method of over-responsibility for border security and internal security in the hands of regional and spatial authorities.

In the giant country, the superpower that sends humans into space, the government is encouraging a return to the classic image of a Cossack, a brave warrior on horseback, operating alongside a modern army of the twenty-first century, all this even if the three brigades, which will be established in the said basin, will include not only horses but also Vehicles that are kosher for off-road offenses, helicopters and more that will be adapted to what is also called the "Cossack Revival".

The article is shared by the science site and the Kolmosnet site