Editing Cossacks (section)

=== Modern times ===
Following the war, Cossack units, and the cavalry in general, were rendered obsolete and released from the Soviet Army. In the post-war years, many Cossack descendants were thought of as simple peasants, and those who lived in one of the [[autonomous republic]]s usually gave way to the local minority and migrated elsewhere.

[[File:Kuban Cossack Choir, Viktor Sorokin.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Kuban Cossack Choir]] in 2016]]
The principal Cossack émigré leader after 1945 was [[Nikolai Nazarenko]], the self-proclaimed president of the World Federation of the Cossack National Liberation Movement of Cossackia, who enjoyed a prominence in New York as the organizer of the annual Captive Nations parade held every July. In 1978, Nazarenko dressed in his Don Cossack uniform led the Captive Days day parade in New York city, and told a journalist: "Cossackia is a nation of 10 million people. In 1923 the Russians officially abolished Cossackia as a nation. Officially, it no longer exists...America should not spend billions supporting the Soviets with trade. We don't have to be afraid of the Russian army because half of it is made up of Captive Nations. They can never trust the rank and file".<ref name="McKenzie">{{cite news |last1=McKenzie |first1=Hal |title=Marching in the Brotherhood of the Oppressed |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1978-pt18/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1978-pt18-2-2.pdf |publisher=New York World |date=17 July 1978 |access-date=10 August 2020 |archive-date=19 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200619070920/https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1978-pt18/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1978-pt18-2-2.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> The journalist Hal McKenzie described Nazarenko as having "cut a striking figure with his white fur cap, calf-length coat with long silver-sheathed dagger and ornamental silver cartridge cases on his chest".<ref name="McKenzie" /> Nazarenko was also the president of Cossack American Republican National Federation, which in turn was part of the National Republican Heritage Groups Council, and he attracted much controversy in the 1980s owing to his wartime career and certain statements he made about Jews. The American journalist Christoper Simpson in his 1988 book ''Blowback: America's Recruitment of Nazis and Its Effects on the Cold War'' called Nazarenko a leading Republican activist who made "explicit pro-Nazi, anti-semitic" statements in his speeches.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Simpson |first1=Christopher |title=Blowback: America's Recruitment of Nazis and Its Effects on the Cold War. |date=1988 |publisher=Grove Atlantic |location=New York |isbn=1-55584-106-6 |page=274}}</ref>

During the [[Perestroika]] era of the Soviet Union of the late 1980s, many descendants of the Cossacks became enthusiastic about reviving their national traditions. In 1988, the Soviet Union passed a law allowing the reestablishment of former hosts and creation of new ones. The ataman of the largest, the Almighty Don Host, was granted Marshal rank and the right to form a new host. Simultaneously, many attempts were made to increase Cossack's impact on Russian society, and throughout the 1990s many regional authorities agreed to hand over some local administration and policing duties to the Cossacks.

According to the [[Russian Census (2002)|2002 Russian Census]], 140,028 people self-identified as ethnic Cossacks.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rusnations.ru/etnos/cossack/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120910114701/http://www.rusnations.ru/etnos/cossack/ |archive-date=2012-09-10 |script-title=ru:Казаки: общие сведения |trans-title=Cossacks: general information |language=ru |website=rusnations.ru |year=2006}}</ref> Between 3.5 and 5 million people associate themselves with the Cossack identity in post-Soviet Russia and around the world.<ref name="Cole2011">{{cite book |editor-last=Cole |editor-first=Jeffrey E. |editor-link=Jeffrey Cole |title=Ethnic Groups of Europe: An encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wlth0GRi0N0C&pg=PA80 |year=2011 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-59884-302-6 |page=80 |access-date=2015-10-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160629163038/https://books.google.com/books?id=Wlth0GRi0N0C&pg=PA80 |archive-date=2016-06-29 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Tjoe2006">{{cite journal |title=Cossack Identity in the New Russia: Kuban Cossack Revival and Local Politics |last1=Toje |first1=Hege |journal=Europe-Asia Studies |publisher=Taylor & Francis, Ltd. |volume=58 |issue=7 |date=November 2006 |pages=1057–1077 |issn=0966-8136 |jstor=20451288 |doi=10.1080/09668130600926306|s2cid=143473682 }}</ref>

[[File:Zaporozhian Cossacks movement, 1990.JPG|thumb|250px|Ukrainians in Cossack dress during the celebrations of Zaporozhian Sich anniversary, in [[Zaporizhzhia]], 1990]]
In Ukraine the national revival of late 1980s led to the appreciation of Cossack history and culture as symbols of the Ukrainian nation. Cossack symbols and songs were widely used in mass events and demonstrations, particularly during the celebration of the [[500th anniversary of the Zaporozhian Sich]] in 1990. A number of Ukrainian Cossack organizations emerged during that time.

Cossacks have taken an active part in many of the conflicts that have taken place since the disintegration of the Soviet Union. These include the [[War of Transnistria]],<ref>Hughes, James and Sasse, Gwendolyn: ''Ethnicity and territory in the former Soviet Union: regions in conflict.'' Taylor & Francis, 2002, p. 107. {{ISBN|0-7146-8210-1}}</ref> [[Georgian–Abkhazian conflict]], [[Georgian–Ossetian conflict]], [[First Nagorno-Karabakh War]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Казаки на страже Карабаха: вчера и сегодня|url=https://www.armmuseum.ru/news-blog/kazaki-v-armenii?format=amp|access-date=2021-05-22|website=www.armmuseum.ru|archive-date=2021-05-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519020522/https://www.armmuseum.ru/news-blog/kazaki-v-armenii?format=amp|url-status=live}}</ref> [[2016 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict|2016 Nagorno-Karabakh war]],<ref>{{Cite web|last=Number|date=2019-11-03|title=Армянское казачество на страже многовековой армяно-российской дружбы - интервью|url=http://dalma.news/ru/armyanskoe-kazachestvo-na-strazhe-mnogovekovoy-armyano-rossiyskoy-druzhby-intervyu/|access-date=2021-05-22|website=Dalma News|language=ru-RU|archive-date=2021-05-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519020512/http://dalma.news/ru/armyanskoe-kazachestvo-na-strazhe-mnogovekovoy-armyano-rossiyskoy-druzhby-intervyu/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[First Chechen War]], [[Second Chechen War]], and the [[2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine]] and both the subsequent [[War in Donbas (2014–2022)|War in Donbas]] and the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://america.aljazeera.com/multimedia/2014/11/donetsk-ukraine-leadership.html |author=Sabra Ayres |title=Opportunists take advantage of eastern Ukraine leadership confusion |agency=Al Jazeera |date=26 November 2014 |access-date=7 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150824174233/http://america.aljazeera.com/multimedia/2014/11/donetsk-ukraine-leadership.html |archive-date=24 August 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/05/world/europe/cossacks-face-reprisals-as-rebel-groups-clash-in-eastern-ukraine.html |author=Andrew E. Kramer |title=Cossacks face grim reprisals from onetime allies in eastern Ukraine |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=4 August 2015 |access-date=7 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150806120828/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/05/world/europe/cossacks-face-reprisals-as-rebel-groups-clash-in-eastern-ukraine.html |archive-date=6 August 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>