Cossacks Move to Attack Georgia
Take the report with a grain of salt but…
Under Russia law, Cossacks – the descendants of runaway serfs and outlaws who in the past were employed to protect the country’s southern border – are allowed to carry arms and carry out policing functions in cooperation with interior ministry forces.
At the headquarters of the Terek Cossacks in Vladikavkaz yesterday a group of men sat under portraits of fierce looking warriors with drooping moustaches watching television coverage of Georgian artillery shelling Tskhinvali. One man said there would be a meeting today to discuss forming volunteer units.
In Volgograd the leader of the Don Cossacks, Viktor Vodolatsky, called on all Cossacks under 40 to volunteer. Reports said 100 men from the region had already left for Tskhinvali. “We must help our South Ossetian brothers,” he said.
Irregular troops from the north Caucasus played an important role in the conflicts that saw both Georgia’s breakaway regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, secede in the early 1990s.
In Abkhazia, Cossack and Chechen units fought side by side against Georgian troops, despite being historical enemies. Abkhazia has promised to help South Ossetia in its conflict with Georgia.
Table of contents for War in Georgia
- Russia Invades Georgia
- The United States and Georgia
- Georgian Brigade Urgently Recalled From Iraq?
- Russian Bombing Georgian Port and Military Bases
- Report from Georgia
- State Dept Demands Russia Pullback
- Latest From Georgia Fighting
- Cossacks Move to Attack Georgia
- Heavy Fighting, Bombings in Georgia
- Russian Invasion Expands Targets in Georgia
- Update on Peace Corps in Georgia
- We Are Putin Fanatics
- Russia’s Attack on Georgia
- Joint statement on Georgia-Russia War
- Russians Preplanned Georgia Invasion
- Russian Navy Blockades Georgia, Ukraine Concerned
- Pipeline Attacks Confirmed in Georgia
- Invasion of Georgia Continues
- Summary of Recent Air Attacks in Georgia
- U.S. Completes Georgian Troop Redeployment
- Bush Send Military to Aid Georgia
- Air Force Lands in Georgia
- I want to fight fiercely alongside the U.S. Army
- Peace Corps in Georgia Redux
- I am Tamari from Rustavi, Georgia
- Navy Aid Flies in to Georgia
- U.S. Ships Enter Black Sea to Aid Georgia
- US Navy Arrives at Georgian Port
- 500 Tons of Aid to Georgia
- New Pictures of Navy Relief Efforts in Georgia
- Update on US Assistance to Georgia
- The Rubble of Georgian Lives
- Fact Sheet: U.S. Support for Georgia
- USS Mount Whitney Brings Aid to Georgia
- Remember Georgia? Tamari Does!
