Today Cossacks took on a new path of development: they have institutionalized and incorporated into the system of government of the Russian Federation. The country has 11 military Cossack communities included in the State Register. There are also non-governmental organizations, a lot of which adhere to the idea of separatism as an ideological component and the formation of Cossack republics. Their most active influence was in the period of revival of the Cossacks since the 1980s to 2000, when the government began ordering Cossack societies into structure. Many Cossack leaders were left out as a result of that integration process, so sided with the creation of Cossack republic, including the Don Cossack Republic. The article is dedicated to the processes of autonomy and separatism among the Cossacks.