November 25, 2024: Russia, desperate to find more manpower to reinforce their troops in Ukraine, has turned to its small Cossack population. Russia made a deal with the Cossack leadership to persuade the millions of Ukrainian and Russian Cossacks living in Russia to support the Russian war effort in Ukraine. Prior to 2024 Russia had not sought to recruit Cossacks. This was part of an effort to maintain and improve good relations with Cossacks in Russia. So far this year over 50,000 Cossacks have served in the Russian forces in Ukraine or the forces gathered to push Ukrainian forces out of Russia’s Kursk province. The Ukrainians entered Kursk in August. Russia is also using 12,000 North Korean mercenaries for the Kursk counterattack. As of November 2024, the Ukrainians are still in Russia.

Russia has not tried to involuntarily mobilize Cossacks into the army, as that could antagonize Cossacks in general and possibly cause loyalty problems with Ukrainian Cossacks living in Russia. There are over five million Ukrainian and Russian Cossacks living in different parts of Russia. Both Ukrainian and Russian Cossacks consider themselves Cossacks first. Russian officials understand that and since late 2023 have persuaded over 20,000 Cossacks to fight in Ukraine. Russia hopes to recruit more because Russia is running out of Russian soldiers. The Cossacks and their leaders are aware of the high Russian casualty rate in Ukraine. That makes it difficult to persuade more Cossacks to fight in Ukraine.

When Russia first invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the Ukrainian response was Cossack in the way Cossack tactics were used successfully against the Russian invaders.

These 21st Century Ukrainian Cossacks performed like the first Cossacks did 500 years ago, traveling light and using whatever weapons they could carry and use on foot or on horseback. The 2022 Ukrainian used pickup trucks and cars for transport and a lot of NATO supplied anti-tank weapons to supplement the Ukrainian made ones.

The original Cossacks were most effective at raiding and restricting the movements and capabilities of a larger force. Cossacks would raid supply columns and force the enemy to use more troops for guard duty and larger reconnaissance patrols. Cossacks could weaken a larger force and reduce its offensive capabilities.

It’s not surprising that these modern Cossacks would emerge in Ukraine during the 2022 invasion, This sort of speedy improvisation by a largely recent volunteer force of civilians is one reason the Russians have been losing. The Ukrainians know what they are fighting for while most of the Russian troops who initially invaded were unaware they were invading Ukraine until hastily organized and armed Ukrainians began ambushing them with effective anti-tank weapons and superior tactics and communications. Initially most Russian troops were unsure why they are invading Ukraine while the Ukrainians were defending themselves any way they could. Now Russia is trying to create its own Cossack force. How successful that will be remains to be seen.

These neo-Cossacks, in the form of small, mobile motorized forces, were first developed by the British during World War II in North Africa. German and Italian forces established airfields and supply storage sites out in the desert that were lightly guarded because any ground force would be spotted from the air before it got near. To get around that Britain developed the LRDG/Long Range Desert Group consisting of small units of a dozen or so men in wheeled vehicles modified for off-road use in desert terrain. The troops were volunteers trained to use these vehicles and navigate in the desert. While raids on remote airfields and supply depots were the most dramatic operations, the most valuable role of the LRDG was collecting information on enemy strength, dispositions and movements. This often involved monitoring enemy traffic on the coastal roads, which were the primary traffic route in North Africa. Out of this came the British SAS/Special Air Service commandos and the maritime version, the SBS/special boat service. After World War II other nations based their special operations forces on the British model.

American Special Forces and similar commando groups in other NATO countries are also able to operate in the Cossack fashion and regularly train that way based on their experience of the Ukrainian Cossacks. While NATO has donated over $100 billion military and economic aid to Ukraine, the Ukrainians have shared their combat experiences with NATO as well as details of new weapons Ukrainians have designed and built. The war in Ukraine is the first war between technological equals since World War II. That’s over 60 years with much change in weapons or tactics. Now, in less than three years the war in Ukraine has revolutionized how wars are fought and established the parameters for 21st Century warfare.