We confirm the quasi-projective case of Saito’s conjecture (Invent. Math. 207:597–695, 2017), namely that the cohomological characteristic classes defined by Abbes and Saito can be computed in terms of the characteristic cycles. We construct a cohomological characteristic class supported on the non-acyclicity locus of a separated morphism relatively to a constructible sheaf. As applications of the functorial properties of this class, we prove cohomological analogs of the Milnor formula and the conductor formula for constructible sheaves on (not necessarily smooth) varieties.
