Numerically Small Peoples of Russian North and Siberia have Suffered Vastly More Combat Deaths in Ukraine Relative to Population than have Russian Residents as a Whole

Paul Goble

    Staunton, May 11 -- It is widely recognized that non-Russian peoples have suffered more combat losses in Ukraine relative to population than have Russians, but an Arktida portal survey suggests that the numerically small peoples of the North and Siberia, those who can ill afford any losses if their nations are to survive, have in many cases suffered the most.

    The nationality that has lost the most in this regard are the Telengits, a Turkic ethnic group in the Altai Republic who number only 3700. They have suffered 10.26 deaths per 1000 population – more than one percent – compared to an average for the Russian Federation as a whole of 0.67 percent (kedr.media/news/arktida-korennye-narody-ponesli-neproporczionalno-vysokie-poteri-v-hode-boevyh-dejstvij-v-ukraine/).

    The figures for other numerically small peoples of the North and Siberia are slightly less but still daunting and an indication that the Russian authorities have found it even easier to recruit soldiers from these ethnic groups than from among larger non-Russian ones which in many cases have their own republics and are thus better able to defend themselves.

    The numbers of combat deaths relative to population that Arktida gives for these peoples are as follows: the Telengits with10.26 deaths per 1,000 followed by the Eskimos with 6.04, the Chukchi with 5.8, the Udygey with 5.28, the Nganasans with 4.37, the Nentsy with 4.03, the Itelmens with 3.85, the Koryaks with 3.74, the Saami with 3.27, and the Khanty with 2.45.

    Other peoples in this category who have suffered more deaths per 1000 members  than have the ethnic Russians include the Dolgans, the Selkuts, the Chelkans, the Evens, the Nivkhs, the Komi-Izhemstsy, the Shors, the Mansi, and the Ulchi with losses ranging from a high of 1.84 deaths per 1,000 population to a low of 0.81.

    Among the numerically small peoples of the North and Siberia, only the Evenks, the Nanays, the Tubalars, the Yukagirs, and the Teleuts have lower per capita losses than the Russians. Their death rtes range from a high of 0.66 per 1,000 just under the Russian rate to a low of 0.45.  

    Lana Pylayeva, an expert on the rights of numerically small peoples, says that the differences reflect the relative dispersal of these peoples territorially. Where they live in dispersed communities, the number impressed into service and then dying in Ukraine is smaller. But where they live compactly, like the Telengits, the Russians simply took all the young men.