Very active pro-independence militants abroad. They oppose the war against Ukraine. Claims in Russia stifled by the authorities. Individual demonstrations continue, but arrests of those who promote the Bashkir cause are multiplying.
Moscow () – Bashkir politician Ruslan Gabbasov, who from exile in Lithuania continues to support the independence cause of the Russian republic of Bashkortostan Tatars, has published in Idel.Realii an analysis of the growth of the nationalist movement since the attack on Ukraine.
Many baskir activists have spoken out in the last year against the invasion and in parallel the repressive measures of the authorities have intensified. Gabbasov himself was charged with terrorism and violating the integrity of the State. From Vilnius he promotes the “Baškort” movement, to support the cause of the autonomy of the peoples and the true federalization of Russia, but always “by democratic means”.
Gabbasov believes that 2022 will go down in history not only as the year of Russia’s catastrophic war against Ukraine, but also as the beginning of the revival of national movements of many peoples of the Federation, starting with the Bashkirs. The authorities in the republic’s capital, Ufa, outlawed the Baskort and arrested some of its most representative members, such as Airat Dilmukhamedov and Ramilo Saitov. They also instituted several lawsuits against any form of independence movement, but the association of “Baškortostan Patriots” is still active in the territory.
The public demonstration that drew the most participation took place on February 20, 2022, before the invasion, when it was not yet so dangerous to protest in public. It was a flashmob with more than 1,000 people who expressed their support for the Bashkir beekeepers against the transfer of the “Ishimbaysky” zoological reserve to foreign investors who intended to switch to mass production of honey. The French interested in the acquisition withdrew afterwards due to the war operations.
When the war started, any form of public demonstration was prevented, even if it was just about local issues. There were attempts to organize peaceful protests in Ufa, but they were also unsuccessful due to police surveillance. Then they moved to individual pickets, formally permitted by law without the consent of the authorities, but all the protesters were immediately intercepted and arrested. In general, the Bashkir nationalist movement, with a few exceptions, has spoken out openly against the war in Ukraine.
Even before the military operations, the “aksakal” (elders of the community) and the referents of the Bashkir national movement called on the Russian authorities to avoid the aggression. Some pro-government associations, such as The World Kurultai of the Bashkirs, on the other hand, openly supported Moscow’s initiatives, adding to federal propaganda. The president of the republic of Bashkortostan himself, Radia Khabirov, has organized battalions of “volunteers for war” named after heroes of the Stalinist period or other historical figures such as Salavat Julaev.
While some members of the Ufa administration went to “fight” in Ukraine, activists of the autonomist movement were arrested several times, as was the case with Fail Alsinov, who spent the whole year in and out of jail. Among the best-known names of the defenders of autonomy who have suffered arrests and repressions, there are also Rustam Amanov, Ilnur Kinisarov and Rail Abkdirov. The authorities blamed them for organizing a drug trafficking network in Karmaškala in November 2020 and for instigating a violent conflict with a group of Armenians from the area. All those arrested protested against the arbitrary and violent police action, but were locked up in isolation cells or confined in psychiatric asylums, which only intensified the demands for their release.
Opposition to the ruling class in Bashkortostan is now being done from abroad, above all from Lithuania, which makes it possible to reinforce the rhetoric of the opposition, increasingly directed at European and Western countries, to support the idea of complete independence from Bashkortostan of Russia.
