Just go ahead and mark it down now. Russia's submission for the 2008 Oscars will almost certainly be Taras Bulba. The big budget epic is based on the novel by Nikolai Gogol and the first trailer, just released, is positively jaw dropping - gorgeous, action packed, featuring simply staggering production design. Here's the synopsis from sales agent Central Partnership:
This historical epic is based on “Taras Bulba”, one of Nikolay Gogol’s most famous stories. The events of the Zaporozhskaya Sech harken back to the most troubled period in Cossack history – the struggle with the Rech Pospolitaya. The family of Cossack leader Taras Bulba finds itself at the centre of turmoil and political intrigue which threaten the existence of the Cossack race. The plot thickens when Bulba’s son Andrey falls in love with a Polish princess and wants to abandon the Cossacks. Torn between family and duty, Taras Bulba reveals to his son the dying wish of his parents…
You'll find the trailer in the Twitch Player embedded below the break.
Gogol was actually from Ukraine and is Taras Bulba epic was about the Ukrainian Cossacks.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Gogol
The movie is being shot in Ukraine by a Russian and Ukrainian Production team and will come out as a joint project between both countries since the movie is about Ukraine's history.
Basically at that time there were ONLY Ukrainian Cossacks. So called Russian Cossacks appeared only in 1775 after Russian Empire ruined Cossacks Republic and offered them to move to russian Kuban. Some of them accepted this offer, some did not
Russian cossacks have been around since the 13th century. Most Russian Cossacks lived on the river Don. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cossacks#Don.2C_Terek_and_Yaik.