The Committee of Bashkir Resistance is an armed

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

organization active in the

Bashkortostan Bashkortostan, officially the Republic of Bashkortostan, sometimes also called Bashkiria, is a republic of Russia between the Volga river and the Ural Mountains in Eastern Europe. The republic borders Perm Krai to the north, Sverdlovsk Oblast ...

region of Russia. Its main goal is gaining independence for

. It was founded on 21 September 2022. It is mainly engaged in minor arson attacks on

Russian government The Russian Government () or fully titled the Government of the Russian Federation () is the highest federal executive governmental body of the Russian Federation. It is accountable to the president of the Russian Federation and controlled by ...

buildings and

police stations A police station is a facility operated by police or a similar law enforcement agency that serves to accommodate police officers and other law enforcement personnel. The role served by a police station varies by agency, type, and jurisdiction, ...

History

The Committee of Bashkir Resistance was founded on 21 September 2022. Several commissariats were attacked. After Russian partial mobilization, the Bashkir resistance posted On 24 September the group firebombed the

United Russia The All-Russian Political Party United Russia (, ) is the Ruling party, ruling List of political parties in Russia, political party of Russia. As the largest party in the Russian Federation, it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the St ...

offices in Salavat and on 3 October they firebombed the

Communist Party of the Russian Federation The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF; ) is a communist political party in Russia that officially adheres to Marxist–Leninist philosophy. It is the second-largest political party in Russia after United Russia. The youth o ...

office in the city. Russian officials suspect Ruslan Gabbasov, a prominent Bashkir émigré leader, is behind the creation and support of the committee. Russian political analyst

Dmitry Oreshkin Dmitry Borisovich Oreshkin (; born 27 June 1953 in Moscow) is a Soviet and Russian political scientist. He graduated from special school No. 49 in Moscow in 1970, the Faculty of Geography of Moscow State University in 1975, and received Ph.D. fr ...

described the committee as: Since partial mobilization, the Committee of Bashkir Resistance has been fighting an underground war against the Russian Government by firebombing commissariats, Federal Security Service offices and administration buildings. The group maintains ties with Gabbasov's Bashkir National Political Centre, the successor to , a political organization banned by the Republic's Supreme Court in 2020 for being an extremist organization. The group officially supports further federalization and regional rights within Russia to achieve sovereignty, but has a large faction advocating for total independence. In August 2021,

Fail Alsynov Fail Fattakhovich Alsynov (; ; born 7 December 1986) is a Bashkir nationalist and local political activist known for his advocacy for nature protection, ethnic identity, and language preservation in Bashkortostan. In January 2024, his four-ye ...

, the chairman of Bashkort, and Gabbasov staged a massive protest on the Kushtau mount where several thousand protesters clashed with local security forces.

Radiy Khabirov Radiy Faritovich Khabirov (; ; born 20 March 1964) is a Russian politician and statesman. He is the current Head of the Republic of Bashkortostan since 11 October 2018; he is also the Candidate of Law, Honored Lawyer of the Republic of Bashkor ...

, the

Head of the Republic of Bashkortostan The Head of the Republic of Bashkortostan (, ''Bashqortostan Respublikahï Bashlïghï'' - before 1 January 2015 the title was called President 'Президенты, Prezidentï'' is the highest executive position in the Bashkortostan, Re ...

, personally negotiated with the protesters for their dispersal. Following the protest Alsynov and Gabbasov fled the county for

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

as criminal charges for creating an extremist organization where brought against them. On 10 October 2022, photos of armed Bashkir militants appeared on

Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

wearing chevrons with a blue hexagon and crescent, similar to the insignia of the army of

during the Russian civil war. The militants have stated they do not wish to fight for a

Russian world The "Russian world" () is a concept and a political doctrine usually defined as the sphere of military, political and cultural influence of Russia. It is a vague term, mostly used to refer to communities with a historical, cultural, or spirit ...

and that Ukrainians had done nothing against the Bashkirs, and that they have sworn oaths to fight for the liberation of Bashkortostan. The Committee issued a statement in favor of the

2024 Bashkortostan protests The 2024 Bashkortostan protests () are a series of protests started on 15 January 2024 beginning in the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia, sparked by the authorities initiating a criminal case against the Bashkir environmental activist Fail ...

References

{{Russian opposition 2022 establishments in Russia Belarusian and Russian partisan movement (2022–present) Military units and formations established in 2022 Pro-Ukraine foreign volunteer units in the Russian invasion of Ukraine National liberation armies Paramilitary organizations based in Russia Politics of Bashkortostan Separatism in Russia

History

See also

References