People from Six Former Soviet Republics Call for ‘Restoring the Borders of the USSR’

Paul Goble

            Staunton, December 27 – At a time when ever more non-Russian countries are moving away from Russia and when according to some accounts the only reliable ally Moscow has among them is Kazakhstan, a group of shadowy figures from six former Soviet republics has issued an appeal falling for “the restoration of the borders of the USSR.”

            In reporting this, the Russian nationalist site Politikus says this “historic event” passed almost unnoticed when it occurred at a conference three days ago entitled “25 Years of the Chief Geopolitical Catastrophe of the 20^th century,” Vladimir Putin’s description of what happened in 1991 (politikus.ru/v-rossii/88373-podpisan-proekt-rezolyucii-o-vosstanovlenii-granic-sssr.html).

            On the one hand, this may be no more than the actions of some marginal figures who in the overheated atmosphere of Russia today have decided to pledge their undying loyalty to a country that no longer exists and that few outside of Russia would be willing to see restored in any form whatsoever.

            But on the other, it resembles the kind of appeal of workers and peasants that Soviet leaders so often organized to test the waters for the most radical ideas and even to push for their realization, as was exemplified by the pro-Moscow Interdvizheniya movements in the Baltic countries at the time of the end of the Soviet occupation.

            Consequently, it deserves to be noted both as an indication of what some people may actually want and what some of the powers that be in Moscow may think is possible in the brave new world they believe they have created not only in Eurasia but by means of interference in Europe and the West more generally.

            According to Politikus, “representatives of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Estonia and the Donbass, together with USSR peoples deputies led by Sasha Umalatova and Russian Duma deputy Yevgeny Fyodorov, met in the framework of the National Liberation Movement of the USSR and signed the following document:

            “In connection with changes in the geopolitical reality and based on the historic community of our peoples and the ties which exist among them and in response to the illegal actions of the higher leadership of the USSR,” the signatories made the following demands:

“1. Given the illegal nature of the disintegration of the USSR, we demand from the law enforcement organs and judicial system of the Russian Federation as the legal successor of the USSR to begin an investigation of the events of 1991.”

“2. [We note] the necessity of the defense of the Russian Federation by means of the consolidation of civil society for the purpose of restoring the sovereignty of Russia and of the impermissibility of attempts at eternal interventions under the form of color revolutions or other interference.”

“3. [We call for] the start of negotiations with political representatives, public organizations and citizens of the USSR republics concerning the restoration of the internationally-recognized borders of the USSR which were confirmed by the UN on the basis of the result of World War II.”