The Cossack culture was warlike and proud, Merridale said.. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries of the Tsarist regime, Cossacks fought alongside the Russian armies, Merridale said.

Zaporizhzhian Cossacks are warriors who have been revered for centuries in Ukraine. A family is maintaining the Cossack traditions by training people with swords, maces and their bare hands.

The Zaporizhzhian Cossacks held out until Catherine the Great, one of the Russian empire's most formidable leaders, disbanded them in 1775. But today, Kopishinskyi says, the Russians are weak.

Then, in 1654, the Cossacks signed the Pereyaslav Agreement with the Russian czars for military protection. The Russian empire grew and punished those who didn't submit. The Zaporizhzhian Cossacks ...