Conflicte la graniță: confruntările între grănicerii țariști și locuitorii din Costeşti în anii 1849-1850
Conflicts at the Borders: Confrontations between Tsarist Border Guards and the Inhabitants of Costesti from 1849-1850

Summary/Abstract: After a century of Turkish administration of Hotin fortress, while the village of Costești was desolated and its former residents barely could return home from the mouth of the Ciuhur river, Moldova was occupied and annexed to the Russian Empire. At the beginning of 1849, the villagers of Costești refused to pay the imposed taxes (a.k.a. claca), and were seeking to let Bucharest know about their complaints. On November 5, 1849, they started a rebellion against the guard's brigade on the Sculeni border. The brave fighting spirit of the villagers continued and an even bigger rebellion took place in Costești in February 1850. The rebellion was against the border guards and military officers who were abusing the locals. After one of the guards shot and wounded a man, the villagers got mad, beat the guards up and unarmed them. This event was a resonant one since many high-ranked officials from the Russian empire investigated it, including the military governor of Basarabia, the Russian empire minister of internal affairs and finances, and even the Russian emperor Nicolai I.

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