Executive Summary:
- The Kremlin has expanded the state-registered Cossack movement within Russia and the illegally annexed regions of Ukraine.
- The Cossack institutions established in the Luhansk region aim to foster the militarization of the population, especially youth.
- Moscow has supported initiatives to establish a registered Cossack host in the Zaporizhzhia region, with an emphasis on recruiting more Cossack fighters for the war effort as well as uniting the registered and unregistered Cossacks.
