Russian President Vladimir Putin said at his live Q&A show that Cossacks were part of Russian culture as a tradition of patriotism.
Putin noted that patriotism was essential for the promotion of statehood in the minds of the population. Commenting on the use of Cossacks as voluntary law enforcers, Putin pointed out that there had been such volunteers even in Soviet times. In some cases, they had been even more efficient than the police, emphasized the president.
