Agence France Presse — English
June 10, 2007 Sunday

Cossacks ride again on Russia’s southern steppe

by Victoria Loguinova

NOVOCHERKASSK, Russia, June 10 2007

Warrior horsemen who once struck fear into the hearts of nomads and
tsars alike, Russia’s Cossacks are looking to seize power again —
this time through peaceful means.

In newly opened schools scattered across their historic homeland in
Russia’s south, young Cossacks are learning spectacular horse-riding
and sword-fighting techniques in an attempt to revive a culture
smothered by decades of Bolshevik repression.

"We did not succeed in seizing power in our traditional homeland when
we had the chance" after the Soviet collapse, said Colonel Yury
Dyakov, a top official in the Don Cossack leadership.

"Today we have another objective, to create an elite cadre to claim
political power through civilized means."

Emerging in the southern steppe in the 16th century, the Cossacks
were former slaves who turned to militarism to survive on the Russian
frontier.

Developing into armed groups who served the tsars in colonizing
Siberia and the Far East, the Cossacks were later crushed as
counter-revolutionaries by the Bolsheviks after the 1917 Revolution.

Today there are officially 600,000 Cossacks in Russia — spread
across their traditional lands along the Volga, Dnepr and Terek
rivers and in the Ural mountains — although their leaders claim
there are ten times more.

The Don Cossacks alone boast 150,000 members, and a Cossack leader,
or ataman, is deputy to the governor of the surrounding Rostov
region.

To shore up their ancient culture, the Cossacks have opened six
schools in the Rostov area since 1991 to hone a new generation of
warriors. Some 1,500 boys aged 10-17 attend.

The corridors of the Alexander III school in Novocherkassk are again
teaming with young Cossacks after an earlier generation of students
was sent into exile 80 years ago.

Today the uniformed boarders wake at 6:30 am and file to the canteen
for a prayer and a modest breakfast.

"We prepare these young people to serve the state and the fatherland.
Our objective is to form Russia’s future elite," said principal Yury
Fileyev, a former officer.

In addition to the ordinary Russian curriculum, the 300 boys study
Cossack culture, Orthodox religion and the legendary horse-riding and
weapons skills of their forefathers.

"When I am older, I will become soldier and defend my Motherland",
said Pasha Fyodorov, 13-years-old, who like many of his schoolmates
hopes to continue in a military university.

Entry to the Cossack schools is tough, with as many as 10 boys
competing for each place in a battery of physical and personality
tests.

When they graduate, many follow their tsarist ancestors in serving
the government in Moscow.

Some 1,200 Don Cossacks are involved in law enforcement in Rostov
region, after a 2005 federal law provided the legal foundation for
their service in the army and police force, said Dyakov, the top Don
Cossack official for military liaisons.

"Our men also serve in the special forces, the Northern and Black Sea
fleets and in the presidential regiment in Moscow," he said.

Alongside the Cossack tradition of service to the state is a
reputation for brutality they earned while fighting ethnic minorities
on Russia’s borders.

After the Soviet collapse, Cossack volunteers reclaimed their
military heritage, fighting alongside pro-Russian separatists in
Moldova’s Transdnestr, and Georgia’s Abkhazia and Ossetia regions, as
well as battling the independence movement in the Russian province of
Chechnya.

There is no ethnic requirement to enter the Cossack academy, but
those recruited are expected to be Orthodox believers, said Dyakov,
noting that there was a group of Cossacks in his region from Armenia,
an Orthodox ally of Russia.

Over the years the Cossacks have occasionally challenged the
leadership in Moscow, with some Cossack regiments rebelling against
Nicholas II in 1917.

Today’s Don Cossacks are clear where their allegiance lies, though.

"We work closely with United Russia," the fiercely pro-Kremlin party
of power, said Igor Kazarezov, deputy to the region’s top Ataman, as
a large photograph of the President Vladimir Putin loomed above him.

"We support the policies of President Putin."