who were the cossacks of the russian domain
Cossacks Cossacks (Ukrainian: козаки́, kozaky, Russian: казаки́, translit. kazaki, Belarusian: казакi, Polish: kozacy, Czecho-Slovak: kozáci, Hungarian: kozákok[nb 1]) were a group of predominantly East Slavic-speaking people who became known as members of democratic, self-governing, semi-military communities, predominantly located in Southern Russia and in South-Eastern Ukraine.[1] They inhabited sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper,[2] Don, Terek and Ural river basins and played an important role in the historical and cultural development of both Ukraine and Russia.[3][4]