Tatars in solidarity with Ukrainians

by Vladimir Rozanskij

After Dagestan, Tatarstan has the highest number of Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine. The Tatar authorities support Putin. Tatars in exile want to bring the Russian president to an international court. They do not want to submit to the "great-Russian" ideology.


Moscow (AsiaNews) - The Tatars of Russia are among the most shaken by the war events in Ukraine, which involve many young people sent into disarray with numerous victims among their ranks. Tatarstan is among the territories most tragically affected by the conflict, second only to Dagestan, even if the numbers of human losses among the Russians are not published. The Kazan authorities support Putin's war, but the population expresses a decidedly less favorable sentiment, which cannot manifest itself openly due to the strong repression at home.

Instead, the "exiled" Tatars expressed themselves, especially the representatives of the "Idel-Ural" independence movement, many of whom now live in Poland, where they have given life to a large demonstration against the Russian war. Leading it was Nafis Kašanov, against whom, together with his brother Rafis, an arrest warrant is pending in Russia for "extremism", as their organization is banned by the Russian authorities. The accusation dates back to 2015, and the two brothers were among the first convicted of "an attack on the territorial integrity of Russia".

The Kašanov brothers had condemned the annexation of Crimea, and their words were regarded as "discrediting the actions of the Russian Federation", the accusation that today is leveled against any internal criticism of the army and the authorities. After three years of concentration camps, Rafis is sheltered in Great Britain and Nafis in Poland, and they lead the protest of the Tatars from abroad. In Warsaw, Nafis spoke at the meeting stating that “Putin's bandits will end up before an international court… we Tatars are with you, Ukrainians! Your victory will be the liberation of Russia from the fascism of this regime ”.

Kašanov denounces the servility of the president of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, who with his predecessor Mintimer Šaymiev "swims in the millions received by Putin ... at first they supported us, then they convinced them with the money to kill us". According to Tatar opponents, Putin's regime is destined to collapse after this war, and therefore "not only the Tatars, but all the peoples of the Oltrevolga, Siberia, the Caucasus, even the Finno-Ugres will claim their freedom".

One of the peoples who have always sought autonomy from Russia, the Tatars recall, is made up of the Chechens, now also heavily involved in military operations. As Nafis recalls, "all the true leaders of Chechnya have been killed: Maskhadov, Dudaev, Kadyrov sr., Who was a worthy leader of his people, while his son Ramzan today in power is a traitor to Chechnya, a servant of Putin who he will end his life ”.

The aspiration for independence of the various ethnic groups is a significant factor in the motivations of the conflict in Ukraine, which constitutes an example and a stimulus for the ex-Soviet peoples since the 2014 uprising in Kiev in Maidan Square. Russia instead intends to suffocate them in every way, both with weapons and with cultural campaigns for the "traditions and values" of the Russians, to be integrated with those of the subjugated peoples.

Kašanov promises that "finally we will be able to use our native languages, our customs and our culture ... we will no longer be put in prison for our religious beliefs, for Islam or shamanism, which are accepted only in a sweetened and subjected version. 'Great Russian ideology ”.