Russian Officials Call on Indigenous Peoples of North to Turn in Weapons and Ammunition to Help Putin’s War in Ukraine

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Aug. 8 – Russian officials in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District have called on hunters from among the indigenous population there to turn in their guns and ammunition so as to help the Russian military in its campaign in Ukraine, The Barents Observer reports (thebarentsobserver.com/security/tundra-hunters-are-requested-to-donate-weapons-to-the-war/434592).

            Three things about this curious report are worth noting. First, it is a sign that the Russian military really is having problems with ensuring that its frontline troops have enough rifles and ammunition. Second, the appeal was carried on the Internet, an indication of just how important that communications network now is even for indigenous peoples in the Russian north.

            And third – and this is likely the most important – it is an indication of just how well armed these peoples are, a situation that many may find it difficult to imagine but long a fact of life in the Russian Federation and even the Soviet Union before it. (On guns in the north, see windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2018/10/russian-officials-disarming-northern.html and windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2024/04/illegal-arms-sales-possession-and-use.html.)  

            But what may strike many readers as the most important aspect of this story lies elsewhere. The Barents Observer reports that a number of members of these numerically small peoples have protested this call and pointedly asked whether it means that in fact, Moscow can’t make enough weapons for its own army.