Executive Summary:
Russia’s war in Ukraine has exposed a divide within the Cossack movement, with many Kremlin-backed Cossacks supporting Moscow while groups of ancestral free Cossacks have joined Ukrainian-aligned forces and advocate anti-imperial liberation movements. Free Cossack fighters from regions such as Don and Kuban have joined anti-Kremlin formations, including the Russian Volunteer Corps, fighting for Cossack freedom, political auto…