The Siberian Republic () is the idea and belief of making

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

an independent

republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

an state, independent from the

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Arguments

The argument for an independent republic is that Siberia makes up 77% of Russian territory (13.1 million square kilometers) which includes around 35% of its population (40 million people).

Western Siberia Western Siberia or West Siberia ( rus, Западная Сибирь, p=ˈzapədnəjə sʲɪˈbʲirʲ; , ) is a region in North Asia. It is part of the wider region of Siberia that is mostly located in the Russia, Russian Federation, with a Sout ...

has rich oil and gas reserves, but the taxes go directly to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. Getting extraction companies to pay taxes in the regions where they operate would benefit Siberia. The primary argument against

self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...

is that Siberia relies on support from

Western Russia European Russia is the western and most populated part of the Russian Federation. It is geographically situated in Europe, as opposed to the country's sparsely populated and vastly larger eastern part, Siberia, which is situated in Asia, encomp ...

for essential goods, such as food and manufactured products. However, this is based on existing import and export levels which could potentially change under independent economic policy.

History

The idea came about in the mid-19th century and took shape with the military activities of

Aleksandr Kolchak List of Russian admirals, Admiral Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak (; – 7 February 1920) was a Russian navy officer and Arctic exploration, polar explorer who led the White movement in the Russian Civil War. As he assumed the title of Supreme Ru ...

and Viktor Pepelyayev during the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

. In 1918 two provisional governments were formed, one in

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...

and another in

Omsk Omsk (; , ) is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia and has a population of over one million. Omsk is the third List of cities and tow ...

. Both governments merged by the end of the year into the

Provisional All-Russian Government The Provisional All-Russian Government, informally known as the Directory, the Ufa Directory, or the Omsk Directory, was a short-lived government of the Russian State during the Russian Civil War, formed on 23 September 1918 at the State Confe ...

. In 1922 Siberia became part of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. The idea of an independent Siberia was considered in 1989, during the election of the

Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union The Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union () was the highest body of state authority of the Soviet Union from 1989 to 1991. Background The Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union was created as part of Mikhail Gorbachev ...

, but they reached a compromise with the Siberian Agreement, which gave more regional power to the local leaders. In 1992, after the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

, Siberian autonomy was considered again, but the Siberian territories were consolidated under the Siberian Agreement, which stated in its resolution that if the demands of Siberians were ignored, they would "accelerate the creation of the Siberian republic." After the

annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation In February and March 2014, Russia invaded the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, part of Ukraine, and then annexed it. This took place in the relative power vacuum immediately following the Revolution of Dignity. It marked the beginning of the Russ ...

in 2014,

performance artist Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

Artyom Loskutov attempted to organize a mock demonstration called Monstration to promote the idea of a Siberian Republic within the Russian Federation, on 17 August in

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 1,633,595, making it the most populous city in Siber ...

, to promote Siberian federalisation.

Alexei Navalny Alexei Anatolyevich Navalny (, ; 4 June 197616 February 2024) was a Russian Opposition to Vladimir Putin in Russia, opposition leader, anti-corruption in Russia, corruption activist and political prisoner. He founded the Anti-Corruption Found ...

announced the event in his blog, but the

Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin (fortification), Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Mosco ...

launched a

media blackout A media blackout is the censorship of news related to a certain topic, particularly in mass media, for any reason. A media blackout may be self-imposed or voluntary or enforced by the government or State (polity), state. In countries with stro ...

of the event. Russian politician Nikolai Valuyev called it the "first attempt of global efforts to promote separatism in Russia." Russian media watchdog

Roskomnadzor The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, abbreviated as ''Roskomnadzor'' (RKN), is the Russian federal executive agency responsible for monitoring, controlling and censoring Russian mass media. ...

issued warnings to 14 media outlets that ran the story and threatened to close

BBC Russian Service BBC News Russian () – formerly BBC Russian Service () – is part of the BBC World Service's foreign language output, one of nearly 40 languages it provides. History The BBC's first Russian-language broadcast was a translation of a speech ...

References

{{reflist Politics of Siberia Siberian nationalism Independence movements Separatism in Russia Nationalist movements in Asia Proposed countries

Arguments

History

See also

References