COSSACKS EXPAND THEIR ROLE AS DEFENDERS OF RUSSIA.

Some2000 Cossacks are already guarding the city of Budennovsk, Interfaxreported June 28, and they plan a large rally there for July 1.Meanwhile, Russian justice minister Valentin Kovalev told Rossiiskayagazeta June 27 that "Cossack units will become a seriousfactor favoring stability" in the North Caucasus. How truethat is remains to be seen. Russian radio the same day reportedon Cossack demands for changes there: the re-establishment ofthe Sunzhen okrug in what is now Chechnya, the establishment of3-5 separate Cossack territorial entities, the inclusion of Cossacksin national guard-type entities on a regular basis, the expulsionof non-Russians from these areas, an end to privatization in theregion, and the restoration of Budennovsk’s tsarist-era name,Holy Cross (Svyatoi Krest).

Galazov: Chechnya Only One of North Caucasus Problems.