Tag: secession

Militant Buddhism and Shamanism Could Threaten Russian Control of Tuva, Siberian Scholar Says

June 22, 2015

Staunton, June 15 – The potential for ethnic conflicts in Tuva is relatively low, according to Vladimir Datsyshen, but if economic problems, Russian flight, and increasing localism among Tuvan intellectuals continue, Russia’s control of that republic on the Mongolian border could be threatened by the rise of militant Buddhism and shamanism. In a new article […]

Ukraine’s Donbass is Becoming a Northern Ireland, Kazarin Says

June 11, 2014

Staunton, June 11 – Even as political leaders talk about a solution to the troubles in southeastern Ukraine, a Moscow analyst suggests that Vladimir Putin’s subversive policies there have had the effect of transforming the Donbass into a kind of Northern Ireland, a place where violence has been limited but not ended when the influx […]

Regionalists in Russia Must Back Kyiv against the Kremlin, Site Says

June 7, 2014

Staunton, June 6 – Vladimir Putin has adopted the rhetoric of national self-determination and federalism in Ukraine, but a leading Russian regionalist site says that this is “hypocrisy and a farce” which should deceive no one and especially not regionalists and federalists in Russia because it is only “a cover for an aggressive imperial policy.” […]

Putin’s Approach ‘Orthodox in Form but Muslim in Content,’ Akhmetov Says

June 5, 2014

Staunton, June 5 – Vladimir Putin has more support in the predominantly Muslim republics of Tatarstan and Chechnya than he does in Orthodox Christian Moscow, a reflection of the reality that “in terms of its content, Putin’s policies are Asiatic” rather than Christian, according to Rashit Akhmetov, the editor of Kazan’s Zvezda Povolzhya. The Russian […]

Dagestanis, Inspired by Abkhazia, Demand Republic Leader Resign

June 3, 2014

Staunton, 3 June – In an echo of the success Abkhazians had in pressing for the ouster of their republic’s leader, 271 delegates to a May 31 meeting in Makhachkala calling itself “the Extraordinary Congress of the Peoples of Dagestan” has demanded that Moscow fire Ramazan Abdulatipov as republic head and replace him with one […]

Five Arguments Russians Make for Decentralization of Ukraine Even More Compelling for Russian Federation

June 2, 2014

Staunton, 1 June – One of the problems that Moscow propagandists face is that many of the arguments they put out for political change in Ukraine apply with equal or even greater force to the Russian Federation and thus have the potential to spark demands inside the latter country that the Kremlin is very much […]

‘Donetsk Disease’ Spreads to Abkhazia

May 28, 2014

Staunton, May 28 – In what the Kremlin is likely to see as the most disturbing blowback of its backing of the Donetsk separatists in Ukraine, a group of veterans of the Georgian-Abkhaz war have stormed a government building in Sukhumi and demanded the resignation of that breakaway republic’s president, an indication of how easily […]

Russia This Week: Will the Internet Survive? (12-16 May)

May 17, 2014

Updated Daily. Soccer fans angry at the murder of their fellow fan, joined by anti-migrant nationalists, rampaged in a Moscow suburb. Russian state propaganda has grown more aggressive and pompous, magnifying Russian imperialism and whipping up hatred of foreigners and dissidents. What are we measuring when we poll public opinion when people are mainly dependent […]

Karelians Seek International Recognition of Russia’s Occupation of Their Republic

May 15, 2014

Staunton, May 14 – In another case of blow-back from Moscow’s actions in Ukraine, activists in Karelia are seeking international recognition of the occupation of their republic and the holding of a referendum on independence, a step they say will end the genocide the Russian authorities have inflicted on the region and restore historical justice. […]