"When we were at war" (; author's title "Song of the Hussar") is a poem by David Samoilov, included in his collection of poems, "Voices Beyond the Hills", in 1981âÂÂ1985. It was set to music by , who read it in the Ogonyok magazine. The song gained popularity under the guise of an old Cossack song.
It was later expanded to sound more "cossack-like" by Viktor Stolyarov.