Tsarist Cossack troops participating in the Russian Occupation of Kiev in early 1942. Along with the various branches of the Tsarist Secret Police, the Cossacks in particular were noted for their brutality towards and their effectiveness in combating opponents of the Russian occupation of Eastern Europe behind the front lines. Although in the Ukraine, as elsewhere, the Russians found many sympathetic to their cause, the occupation forces targeted in particular German Immigrants, Pro German partisans, Jews, Freemasons, Socialists and Communists or anyone who it was believed would cause trouble or make resistance.