Democratic Opposition’s Arrogant and Ill-Informed Centralism Pushing Non-Russians from Federalism to Nationalism, Latypova Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, June 18 – The centralist convictions of Russia’s democratic opposition, ones not terribly different from those of the Kremlin, is pushing ever more non-Russians from seeking genuine federalism toward the conclusion that the only way to protect themselves and their future is to seek independence, Leyla Latypova says.

            Consequently, “the disintegration of Russia that the opposition fears so much would be its own doing,” the Moscow Times journalist who follows developments in the regions says (themoscowtimes.com/2025/06/18/the-disintegration-of-russia-that-the-opposition-fears-so-much-would-be-its-own-doing-a89462).

            Most meetings of Russian opposition politicians were exclusively made up of Russians from Moscow and St. Petersburg until relatively recently. Now, a certain “quota” of representatives of non-Russians have been added; but, Latypova says, they are treated with contempt and their ideas dismissed, alienating them ever more fully from Russians.

            Instead of reaching out to those non-Russians who favor the development of federalism, she continues, the Russian opposition figures are thus increasingly pushing non-Russians who may have begun as federalists into the camp of those who believe that only independence can save them.

            This is happening, the journalist says, because “members of the Russian opposition and many of their Western allies are petrified of the idea of Russia’s disintegration.” But because of the way they are acting on these fears, they are making “that unwelcome scenario increasingly likely.”

            At meetings of the opposition, Russian participants “again and again … talked down [on the non-Russians] and openly questioned their expertise and knowledge of the regions where their families lived for centuries,” assuming that non-Russians can’t cooperate against Russians and that non-Russians who speak Russian are well on their way to becoming Russian as well.

            In her native Bashkortostan, Latypova says, Bashkirs and Tatars are so closely related that they can shift from one identity to another – on that important and neglected reality, see the comprehensive study at instagram.com/p/C8pJjWkI2y2/ -- and together form a majority of the population while ethnic Russians form only 37 percent.

            Russian opposition figures often speak only Russian and assume like the Kremlin that language is the only true measure of identity. But “unlike their Russian counterparts, indigenous activists are universally multilingual. Many of them were raised speaking their indigenous tongues and learned Russian, English and other fourth and fifth languages later in life.”

            For them, identity is not defined primarily by the language they speak, especially since they speak so many but by a sense of who they are. The members of the Russian opposition and those in the Kremlin who share a different view are going to be surprised by the actions of those they regularly humiliate for not speaking perfect Russian.