Paul Goble
Staunton, Aug. 19 – Leila Latypova, an independent Tatar journalist who writes frequently for The Moscow Times, has launched a weekly newsletter reporting developments in the non-Russian republics and indigenous nations in the Russian Federation and a biweekly longread version with articles examining particular stories more deeply.
The first issue of From the Republics has now appeared, and one can subscribe by going to its website at fromtherepublics.com/. The first issue features an article about Moscow’s increasing repression of non-Russians and their efforts to defend themselves (themoscowtimes.com/2024/08/20/in-russia-indigenous-activism-is-an-extremist-affair-a86076).
In that article, Latypova argues that the Kremlin’s post-Soviet war on non-Russians began not recently with the rise of Putin’s authoritarianism but much earlier with Moscow’s actions against the Chechens. She dates that from 2001 but a better date would be 1991 when Yeltsin wanted to send the Russian army to Chechnya but was blocked by the parliament.
On the basis of conversations with non-Russian activists, Latypova concludes that Moscow’s efforts are already backfiring, encouraging more non-Russians to think about distancing themselves one way or another from Moscow and encouraging ever more of them to back ethnic activists, including many who have been forced to emigrate.
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