Tag: Siberia

Can Moscow Avoid ‘Losing’ Siberia to China As Ukraine Is Losing Its East to Russia? Military Writer Asks

September 23, 2014

Staunton, September 23 – Sometimes the fact that someone is asking a question at all is more important than the answer he or she offers. That is almost certainly the case with a new article by an anonymous Russian military commentator concerning whether or not Russia can avoid “losing Siberia and the Far East” to […]

Putin’s Development Plan for Siberia Driven by Fears of Separatism But May Spark More

September 5, 2014

Staunton, September 5 – Vladimir Putin’s plan to move several ministries from Moscow to Krasnoyarsk and to launch a massive investment program there reflects fears in the Kremlin that separatist attitudes in Russia east of the Urals are growing and that only such steps have the potential to quiet them, according to Anton Chablin. In […]

Ethnic Russian Share of Population Falling Rapidly in Siberia’s Non-Russian Regions

September 4, 2014

Staunton, September 3 – While ethnic Russians form roughly the same share of the population of Siberia that they did 20 years ago, they form smaller fractions in five non-Russian territories there, the result of local growth and Russian flight, according to a new study of ethnic challenges to Moscow east of the Urals. In […]

Russia This Week: Leonid Martynyuk, Opposition Author and Video Producer, Arrested in Krasnodar (18-24 August)

August 24, 2014

Updated Daily. Chechen Leader Ramzan Kadyrov joined the “Night Wolves,” a bikers’ gang that Putin has favored. Russian press and social media mined the popular social media network VKontakte for information on Russian paratroopers said to be killed or captured in Lugansk Region in Ukraine; oddly, some pictures were removed of armored vehicles and a […]

Putin Police Block Siberian March But Spread Siberian Message

August 19, 2014

Staunton, August 18 – Yesterday, Russian police blocked the march in Novosibirsk calling for Moscow to live up to the constitution and observe the rights of the country’s federal subjects, but the Putin regime failed to block the message of the Siberian federalists from getting out. Not only did the actions of the police underscore […]

China’s ‘Strategic Border’ Already Well Inside Russia’s Formal One, Buryat Scholar Says

August 12, 2014

Staunton, August 12 – As a result of globalization, political and geographical borders “are losing their importance,” a Buryat anthropologist says, while “strategic borders,” those reflecting where a country has projected its economic and cultural influence, are becoming ever more important. With respect to China and Russia east of the Urals, Sayana Namsarayeva says, China’s […]

Moscow’s ‘Imperial Federalism’ Sparking Federalist Demands Within Russia, Shtepa Says

August 4, 2014

Staunton, August 4 – Moscow’s adoption of ‘imperial federalism’ as a strategy to extend its power over neighboring countries is sparking a variety of demands within the Russian Federation for moves toward making that country a genuine and not only a nominal federal system, according to Vadim Shtepa. In an article on Rufabula.com, Shtepa, one […]

Moscow Blocks Siberian Message on One Site Only to Have It Appear on Another

August 3, 2014

Staunton, August 2 – On August 1, the Russian government forced Slon.ru to remove an interview with a leader of the Siberian regionalist movement only to have it appear on other sites almost instantly. On the one hand, the ban reflects Moscow’s nervousness about the announcement of plans by Siberian regionalists to hold “a march […]

Many Siberians, No Longer Identifying as Russians, Seek Autonomy or Independence from Moscow

July 27, 2014

Staunton, July 27 – Residents of the Russian Federation are increasingly identifying not as Russians but as Siberians not only because they feel themselves different than ethnic Russians in terms of mentality but also because Moscow treats them like a colony and because they have closer ties to China and the Pacific Rim countries than […]

Scholars to Discuss Emergence of Siberian Nation and Siberian Identity

July 21, 2014

Staunton, July 18 – Tomsk State University has announced the program for an academic conference to be held in October 2014 on ethnic identity. Eleven speakers are addressing issues about Siberia, and the titles of their talks, a Siberian portal says, permits “speaking about a Siberian nation, a Siberian political elite and the concept of […]