Paul Goble
Staunton, Jan. 15 – Since Vladimir Putin launched his expanded war in Ukraine in February 2022, Russia’s Buddhists, most of whom live in Buryatia, Tuva and Kalmykia, have been as divided as other Russians about that war, with some protesting and others going to fight (https://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2023/02/russias-buddhists-as-deeply-divided-on.html).
But more than other faiths in the Russian Federation, this division about the war has affected the leadership of the Buddhist communities because they are not part of a single hierarchy and because Moscow is concerned about a faith which the Kremlin views as having its real leadership abroad, something that makes divisions inside Russia more politically sensitive.
As a result, Moscow has continued to support the leader of the Buryat Buddhist community who is pro-war but has forced the leader of the Kalmyk one to resign and flee abroad, although some say that the latter’s comments about China may be equally important (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2023/04/kremlins-dismissal-of-kalmyk-religious.html and windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2023/01/kalmyk-buddhist-leaders-ouster-as-much.html).
But Moscow’s continued financing of the Buryat Buddhist leadership and the fact that the Kalmyk organization largely finances itself and has opened an office in Moscow where it can work with some in the Russian government mean that the conflict is far from over (themoscowtimes.com/2025/01/13/full-support-or-quiet-resistance-ukraine-war-splits-russias-buddhists-a87585).
The authoritarianism of the Buryat leader and his closeness to Putin have had the effect of alienating many Buddhists including in his native republic, and the greater independence and greater consistency with anti-war attitudes common among Buddhists has attracted some of the Buryats as well as many beyond Kalmykia.
The situation may soon reach a boiling point, with some in Moscow believing that even Buryat Buddhists are working too closely with the Mongols (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2024/02/moscow-again-fighting-pan-mongolism.html) and others suggesting that another Buddhist republic will be the first to declare independence (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2023/06/tyva-will-be-first-republic-in-russia.html).
Obviously, the Kremlin has other more pressing issues to deal with than divides within a faith followed by only about one percent of the population of the Russian Federation and now knows that if it supports an authoritarian leader too strongly it may end by driving still more people away from itself.
Sunday, January 19, 2025
Buddhist Community in Russia and Its Leadership Sharply Divided about War in Ukraine
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