Sakha Deputy Under Fire for Calling of Independence of His Republic Reminds Russians They Once Dreamed of Getting Out from Under Mongol Rule

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Aug. 17 – Aleksey Nechayev, a deputy in the Sakha Parliament, says that the people of his republic will some day want to be independent and reminded Russians that when they lived under the Mongol yoke for 300 years, they too dreamed of the day when they would be free and have an independent country.

            For his statement, Nechayev has come under fire from the leadership of the New People Party of which he is a member. Its leaders have demanded that this “traitor” must be excluded from that party’s fraction in Sakha (rtvi.com/news/lider-novyh-lyudej-potreboval-isklyuchit-deputata-za-slova-ob-otdelenii-yakutii/ and nemoskva.net/2025/08/17/v-yakutii-deputat-vyskazalsya-za-nezavisimost-respubliki/)..

            In his remarks, Nechayev also said that when the Soviet Union was collapsing, “many people in Sakah discussed the idea of separation from Russia;” but at that time, “they weren’t ready.” They still aren’t, he acknowledged; but wondered openly whether it would take them as long to decide otherwise as it took the Russians nearly a millenium ago.

            In the meantime, the Sakha deputy said, his republic will seek greater autonomy; and he said that he was encouraged by the fact that the residents of Sakha “were not the only ones” within the current borders of the Russian Federation who have either that idea or a feeling that they will eventually seek more.

            Almost needless to say, Russian nationalist commentators were outraged and launched a broad attack on Nechayev. They noted that he had studied in the US and the UK, that his daughter is studying in Istanbul, and that the deputy himself often goes to Turkey (sovsekretno.ru/news/lider-novykh-lyudey-potreboval-isklyuchit-iz-fraktsii-yakutskogo-deputata-ivanova-za-slova-ob-otdele/).

            And having noted that the Sakha deputy “actively promotes the ideas of decolonization and the disintegration of Russia,” they complained that for some reason, the Russian government has not yet included him in the lists of foreign agents whose activities must be limited and whose ability to promote those ideas restricted.