Bashkortostan Speaks Of Its Separation From Russia

In connection with the mass protests.

Behind the mass protests in Bashkortostan are "traitors" who want to separate the republic from Russia, the region's head, Radiy Khabirov, has said.

"A group of people, some of them abroad, who are essentially traitors, are calling for the separation of Bashkortostan from Russia. They are calling for a guerrilla war here," Khabirov said.

He said that from his first day as head of the republic he had said that he would not tolerate extremism and "attempts to shake up the situation".

Khabirov recalled that the activist Fail Alsynov, who was sentenced to four years in prison, was a member of the Bashkort organisation, which was recognised as extremist in 2020. But he did not stop speaking after that.

"You can put on the mask of a good eco-activist, a patriot, but in reality the situation is not like that at all," said the Bashkortostan leader.

At the same time, Khabirov admitted that he was personally to blame for what happened, since the residents of the republic were not fully informed and the nature of Alsynov and other activists was revealed. He promised to "show the true face of these people".

Earlier, Alsynov's supporters had accused Khabirov of being the one who wrote the denunciation to the Investigative Committee, which became the reason for opening a criminal case against the activist and for his imprisonment. Alsynov, who defended the Shihan Kushtau against industrial development, was found guilty of inciting hatred and ethnic hatred.

On the morning of 17 January, more than 10,000 people gathered at the Baymak court building for Alsynov's sentencing. The people demanded that the activist be acquitted and released. Soon the police began to harshly arrest the demonstrators. After several hours of protests, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Bashkortostan opened a criminal case for mass rioting.

The Kirovsky District Court in Ufa arrested six protesters. According to Kommersant, Yulai Aralbayev, Radmir Mukhametshin, Dmitry Petrov and Denis Skvortsov each received 10 days, while Ilnar Galin received 13 days.