Cossack Vigilantes Clash with Outsiders in Volgograd Region
We report what both sides of the conflict think
A conflict that escalated into a mass brawl and ended with police reports has rocked the village of Berezovskaya in the Danilovsky District of Volgograd Oblast and even spread beyond its borders. What was initially presented by visitors as a «brutal attack by a Cossack formation» is seen by local residents as just punishment for persistent disruption of public order.
The words of the «locals» and the «visitors» contradict each other so sharply that it is impossible to assert who is right.
Alexandra claims the Cossacks attacked first and without warning
All that is reliably known is that the conflict occurred on the evening of July 26 between a group of Cossacks and visitors to the village. According to the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for Volgograd Oblast, three reports of bodily injury were filed at once. According to one of them, an examination showed that no harm to health was caused; a criminal case was opened under Part 1 of Article 115 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for the second; and an investigation is still ongoing for the third, as the victim remains in hospital.
In Berezovskaya, Cossacks are either respected or despised. Both sides have their reasons
Note: The names of all participants in the story have been changed.
Some locals rely on the Cossacks to a certain extent
What is known about the participants in the conflict?
It is known for certain that the Cossack side included a so-called «druzhina» (volunteer patrol): locals describe it as a public organization that maintains public order:
«People have different attitudes toward the druzhina. Some support it, while troublemakers and drunks, of course, hate it and try to take revenge. They are offended that someone stops them from racing through the village streets at a hundred kilometers per hour and having fun beyond the bounds of noise and comfort for other residents. So it turns out that they try in every way to turn the Cossacks into villains by spreading various rumors. And unfortunately, they even succeed, because the Cossacks are either working or farming, and they have no time to respond to the informational attacks of ill-wishers. About the elders of the druzhina, I can say that they are active residents of the village who take part in mass garbage cleanups, financial and technical support for village holidays, and participate in assembling and personally delivering humanitarian aid to participants in the Special Military Operation.»
In the conflict with them were four visitors. One of them, 22-year-old Alexandra, was the first to tell V1.RU about the scuffle. As she said earlier, she had come to Berezovskaya to visit her grandmother, where she met a friend. Locals know little about Alexandra, noting only her bold character.
Locals know much more about that same friend, 25-year-old Valentina. In Berezovskaya, she is known not only because she works at one of the district«s educational institutions, but also for her difficult character.
«She needs to be, as they say, »reined in« a bit. Her husband is in the Special Military Operation, and she is with these Roma. Actually, she came from Ostrovskaya. There are rumors that her relatives have problems with alcohol, and she seems to have turned out even worse. Once near Danilovka she flipped a car. A teacher cannot lead such a lifestyle.»
Valentina herself seems to be well aware of her multifaceted personality. In her social media status, she writes: «I guard my nasty character like a sacred relic.»
According to locals, Valentina not only stands out for her riotous lifestyle but also holds much against the Cossacks and the druzhina.
«I don»t know how she behaves with students. I just often hear about her wild lifestyle. A couple of families I know probably divorced partly because of her. Of course, there was a weak male link there too, but I heard about those relationships. She and her husband, who is in the Special Military Operation, seem to be already divorced. She was from the company that was friends with Zabaluyev and took an active part in his defense and spoke out against the Cossacks.«
Who is Pyotr Zabaluyev?
A few years ago, residents of Berezovskaya appealed to Alexander Bastrykin with a request to save them from a group of young people acting according to the rules of a criminal movement banned in the country. Their informal leader was Pyotr Zabaluyev.
In 2023, this group tried to establish its own rules in the village, attacking local residents. Among their victims was the wife of a Special Military Operation participant, beaten in her own home. We wrote about this story in more detail in a separate article.
That evening, there were two men in the company with the girls. Moreover, both locals and Alexandra, with whom a V1.RU correspondent spoke, cannot say for sure where they came from — Danilovka or Mikhaylovka. Nevertheless, everyone is certain that one of them is Roma. Locals suggest that in Berezovskaya he was staying with Valentina, but that he is actually a married man.
The role of the second man in the story is unclear. According to locals, he did not really participate in the conflict because he was intoxicated, and Alexandra earlier told a V1.RU correspondent that the same night this man returned home to Mikhaylovka and no longer wanted anything to do with the story.
«They sprayed pepper spray and beat us with rebar»: the visitors« version
According to Alexandra, who previously told V1.RU, on the evening of July 26 she and her friends drove up to a house: the car was parked, the engine was off, and no loud music was playing.
«When the driver got out of the car, a group of guys, outnumbering our company, quickly approached the car. Without warning, without attempting verbal contact, they sprayed pepper spray in the driver»s face, and then began hitting him with rebar and kicking him. The gas got into the cabin where we were, causing severe burning in our eyes and respiratory tracts, and my friend and I got out of the car.«
Alexandra claims that after that, bricks flew into the car of her Roma acquaintance. One of the Cossacks allegedly ran up to her and demandingly asked her surname while swinging a rebar. Others shouted insults regarding the girls« social responsibility.
«After breaking the windows, they forcibly pulled the second guy out of the cabin and continued beating him. An adult man joined in, who later turned out to be the father of one of the attackers, and he also beat my acquaintance. They used pepper spray repeatedly, which led to chemical burns on the skin.»
According to Alexandra, it was she and her friends who called the police while the attackers searched the car interior, allegedly stealing the ignition key.
«Locals say that this group positions itself as a »Cossack formation,« establishing its own order in the village and considering itself entitled to conduct checks, apply punishments, and expel visitors,» adds Alexandra. «That same night, the guy whose beating was caught on video left for Mikhaylovka in a state of shock. He has severe burns on his body, and they were jumping on his head, and all sorts of things happened, but he said he would not file a report. The acquaintance who was driving is still in hospital. We showed no aggression, we were all scared, it was absolute horror! When the bricks were flying, I didn»t even understand what was happening, and behind me there was already this guy with the rebar...«
The Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for Volgograd Oblast then confirmed that the conflict had taken place and that as many as three reports had been registered. As later became known, one was from the Roma man and another from two Cossacks.
«These people have no brakes»: the locals« version
On one point, locals agreed with Alexandra«s version: the »Cossack formation« indeed conducts checks, applies punishments, and expels visitors. But not because it is establishing its own rules — they maintain the existing way of life.
«We do live in a Cossack village, and shouldn»t the Cossacks bring a little order?« says one local woman. »And I want to say that they did everything right. They are fair.«
According to locals, the Cossacks did not attack «without warning, without attempting verbal contact.» Moreover, the conflict was not sudden at all: at least not for the driver.
«The conflict had been brewing for about two weeks. The Roma man, the car owner, kept coming to the two-story houses and playing loud music. Residents complained, but no one could do anything. That day the situation repeated, and the young people from the druzhina who were nearby were told about it. Although I know them only by reputation, they have never, for example, been lying drunk in the street, and I can»t say anything bad about them. They always communicate adequately and help if you approach them with a question, they do odd jobs. I absolutely do not believe that they could just start spraying a car with gas canisters, especially considering there were two girls there. That«s complete nonsense.»
A Cossack from the neighboring village of Ostrovskaya, familiar with the situation, told a V1.RU correspondent that druzhinas always respond to such incidents:
«Druzhinas are there to maintain public order. If loud music is keeping everyone awake at midnight, they are obliged to respond to it.»
Moreover, according to locals, the initiator of physical violence was the driver, not the Cossacks:
«Initially no one touched them. They were told not to violate [public order]: it was already a time when loud music was not allowed,» says a local resident. «Then, when the Cossacks began gathering, he (the driver — Ed. note) pulled out a knife and cut two guys. Now they say his wife filed the report. If he is married, what was he doing here? What relation does he have to the village if he lives in another settlement? Did he come to establish order here? Why mess with the Cossacks in our village?»
According to locals, the Roma man cut one Cossack«s shoulder and another»s arm. From that moment the conflict turned to physical force:
In one of the videos Alexandra sent to V1.RU, there is a moment where a visitor lies on the ground repeating, «I»m lying down.« Several others stand over him, and one kicks him. A phrase is heard: »All right, the knife is put away, move away from him.«
«There is a phrase about a knife in the video, but the action itself, I think, was cut out for obvious reasons,» a local woman reasons. «During the fight, the Roma man managed to hide at his girlfriend»s place, where he had come. All the insults directed at her are well founded. She is known for her availability, so to speak. And about two years ago, I think, in Mikhaylovka she flipped a car while drunk and was deprived of parental rights. Like the person, so are the friends... The police and ambulance were called by the senior druzhina members who arrived at the scene after all this, not the car owner. There are many witnesses there, the houses are apartment blocks. A couple of people went to the authorities. They say there was another man there, a friend of the Roma man, who did not intervene in the fight and seemed to be under the influence. No one touched him.«
A V1.RU correspondent tried to contact the head of Berezovskaya village, Vasily Bakulin. Through an intermediary, he said he did not want to talk to journalists until the investigation was over. Vasily Bakulin answered a personal call, but hung up as soon as he heard who was calling him, and did not answer the phone again.
It was also not possible to reach the head of the druzhina: Sergei Ryabukhin did not answer phone calls.
The head of the Danilovsky Municipal District, Sergei Kopytov, answered the journalist«s call but advised putting the question in writing and sending it by email. The corresponding official written request was sent by the journalist.
The V1.RU editorial team is ready at any moment to hear and publish the official position of representatives of the Berezovskaya village administration.
«Sometimes it»s really scary to live here«
According to locals, such a loud conflict between Cossacks and visitors is happening for the first time: because before, the druzhina managed to «maintain public order» without violent actions.
«A couple of years ago on May 9, when a concert and performance were going on in the town center, some guy was driving a car where he shouldn»t have,« a local woman says. »Then the Cossacks told him: «Park the car, put down the keys, and walk.» There was a conflict then too, but one of the Cossacks filmed everything on his phone and showed it to the prosecutor. Roma pigs roam our cemeteries and dig up graves. And we can«t do anything. According to documents, the animals aren»t registered; all these pigs, horses, sheep roam in herds — a mess!«
Moreover, locals are sure that the Cossacks of Berezovskaya are not prone to aggression, and only those who strike first should be afraid.
«I think if Cossacks are attacked, they are quite capable of hitting back. But to throw themselves at people without reason — I very much doubt it. After all, it»s a prosecutable matter, and the idea of the druzhina is somewhat different. Cars racing in the evening, alas, are a frequent occurrence. I myself was once almost hit by an Oka in the evening when I was riding a bicycle. I suppose one could say the druzhina acts instead of police, only without the authority to influence anything globally. We sorely lack our own local police officer on site, though there is an office in the House of Culture. Police come to us from Danilovka, traffic police from Mikhaylovka, if there are accidents or drunk drivers, but we have one department for the whole district and there«s a staffing shortage. Sometimes it»s really scary to live here. Visitors and various rowdy drinkers are the main source of problems in villages.«
