Plastuny

(from the Russian word plast, as in the expression lezhashchie plastom, “lying motionless”), the personnel of dismounted teams and units of the Black Sea Cossack Host and later the Kuban’ Cossack Host in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The term plastuny was originally applied to cossack scouts who specialized in patrolling the reed-covered and flooded areas of the Kuban’ and in reconnaissance.

The first regular plastuny teams were formed in the Black Sea Cossack Host in 1842. They distinguished themselves during the defense of Sevastopol’ in 1954–55. In 1870 dismounted bataillons of the Kuban’ Cossack Host were named plastuny batallions. They fought in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05, and in World War I (1914–18).