Renowned for their sword-fighting prowess and notorious for their anti-Semitism in tsarist Russia, the Cossacks are taking on new foes: beggars, drunks, and improperly parked cars.

The Kremlin has sought to use the once-feared paramilitary squads in its new drive to promote conservative values and lure nationalists.

Among the first were eight Cossacks clad in traditional fur hats and uniforms who patrolled a Moscow train station looking for signs of minor public disturbances.

The patrol, approved by the authorities, is a test-run on whether the group can become an armed and salaried auxiliary police force, like the Texas Rangers, with the power of arrest, patrol leader Igor Gurevich said.