‘Siberia will be free’: Russian regions vote in unauthorised independence referendums

‘Moscow takes a lot of resources from Siberia, and spends the money on its own needs and wars of aggression,’ said one secessionist leader

Russians began voting in unauthorised independence referendums in five regions of the country on Thursday, as part of a campaign to promote secession from Moscow’s rule.

The online vote organized by umbrella group the Post-Russia Forum covers Siberia, the Urals, Kaliningrad, Krasnodar and Ingria.

The referendums are not binding, and may be illegal under a law against challenging Russia’s “territorial integrity”. But more than 130,000 votes were recorded on the first day of voting, which remains open until 28 February.

Stanislav Pavlovsky-Suslov, of the Committee of the Independent Confederation of Siberia, said he was confident of a “yes” vote that would strengthen the campaign.

“The results will allow us to understand whether people in Siberia… want to be free from Moscow’s influence,” he told i.

“Moscow takes a lot of resources from Siberia and spends the money not on the development of Siberia, but on its own needs and wars of aggression,” he said, adding: “Siberia will be free.”

NEW YORK, UNITED STATES - 2023/01/07: Natives from the Russian region of Buryatia protested in front of the Russian General Consulate against the arrest of activist and journalist Natalia Filonova.

The organizers also have plans for referendums in several more territories, which they will supplement with “information work” and other tactics. They could not provide any more details, citing security reasons.

Independence movements have grown in several regions of Russia since the invasion of Ukraine, with disproportionate death tolls in the provinces and the impact of sanctions adding to pre-existing grievances over a lack of autonomy and perceived exploitation.

In May 2022, representatives of six provinces united to form the League of Free Nations, with the aim of seeking “the collapse of the Russian Federation and the creation of new states on its ruins”.

But while those provinces have long-established campaigns for self-determination, and in most cases a single, predominant ethnic group, the Post-Russian Forum is seeking independence for larger, more diverse areas without a common identity.

In this context, the referendums help to build momentum and normalize the idea of secession, said Dr Alexander Etkind, a professor of international relations at the Central European University in Vienna.

***THIS ARTICLE DATED: 2014/08/01 - 23:49 • Featured, International.
Editor’s note: This article has since been censored in Russia, pulled down from Slon.ru by the Russian state prosecutor’s office who had threatened the news site with a 24 hour warning to comply or face being shut down entirely.

TITLE: “We give away our resources and get piles of dumb laws in return”

A “march for federalization of Siberia” is planned for August 17th in the unofficial Siberian capital of Novosibirsk, under the slogan “Enough feeding Moscow.” “Our goal is to create a Siberian Republic as part of Russia,” explain the protest organizers in their official group on VK.com, Russia’s Facebook equivalent (the group was blocked on August 1st by request of the Prosecutor General).

They believe federalization will allow Siberians to introduce rebates and wage premiums for those living in areas “with harsh climate conditions” and ensure fair distribution of revenues between local and federal budgets. The march organizers will also demand greater autonomy for local authorities from the federal government, citing the Russian constitution. A group of Novosibirsk activists and artists have been promoting the idea of Siberian autonomy for quite a long time.

Before the 2010 Russian census, a Novosibirsk musician, Sayan Andriyanov, and artists Konstantin Eremenko and Artem Loskutov held a press conference urging locals to state their ethnicity as “Siberian” to census officials. The census showed that 4,116 people followed their call, while the previous 2002 census counted only 10 “Siberians” across Russia. Slon.ru interviewed Artem Loskutov, organizer and promoter of increasingly popular “Monstrations” – mock rallies with absurd slogans and signs – and long-time advocate of Siberian autonomy.

DID YOU COME UP WITH THE IDEA OF A MARCH?
I’m not an ideologist. Everything is very decentralized, as befits those advocating decentralization. I will take part in this protest as on ordinary person who cares about the future of Siberia and Russia as a whole. I’ve been interested in this issue, shooting movies and trying to stir up the people. Now a new wave is coming, caused by the recent events we all know about [the Russian-backed “federalization” movement in Eastern Ukraine].

DID YOU PURPOSELY NAME THE PROTEST A “MARCH FOR FEDERALIZATION” TO CREATE AN ASSOCIATION WITH THE DPR AND LPR [the pro-Russian separatist quasi-republics in Eastern Ukraine]?
Sure, isn’t it obvious? If we are offered such rhetoric as legitimate, we are going to use it. But one of the organizers did explicitly state in an interview that we don’t endorse Russia’s political support for the people’s republics.

IS THERE A REAL INFLUENCE OF THE EVENTS IN EASTERN UKRAINE ON AUTONOMY IDEAS IN RUSSIAN REGIONS?
There is a great influence, it’s the leading topic of the last few months.

IS ARTEM LOSKUTOV PLANNING TO APPOINT HIMSELF PEOPLE’S MAYOR OF NOVOSIBIRSK [akin to the multiple “people’s mayors” in Eastern Ukrainian towns under rebel control]?
I’m not ready to comment on that.

HAS YOUR MARCH BEEN SANCTIONED? HOW MANY PEOPLE DO YOU EXPECT TO ATTEND?
I’m not working on the sanctioning process, other people will do it soon. I hope the protest will be sanctioned, but I don’t know how many people will come.

I CAN’T HELP BUT ASK: ISN’T A CALL FOR SEPARATISM ILLEGAL UNDER THE NEW LAW?
It’s not about separatism, it’s in full compliance with the law. We are talking about creating a new region within Russia

IS IT ONLY SIBERIA THAT DESERVES FEDERALIZATION OR DO OTHER REGIONS NEED MORE AUTONOMY AS WELL?
Everyone deserves it. Our constitution provides for independence of regions, the law just has to be put to work. We must have as much autonomy as possible. It’s stupid to live in Siberia according to laws pushed from St. Petersburg by Milonov [a St. Petersburg regional ultraconservative MP notorious for introducing the discriminatory law banning “gay propaganda”, now active nationwide]. Siberia gives away her resources and gets piles of dumb laws in return.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN FIGHTING FOR SIBERIAN INDEPENDENCE? The movement has existed since the mid-19th century. There is a street in Novosibirsk named after Potanin, the founder of the movement. This has quite a history, and talk that Siberia has colony status – and that it isn’t right – has been around for over 100 years.

HAS THIS IDEA SEEN AN UPSURGE IN POPULARITY THANKS TO THE ARTISTS’ EFFORTS?
In 2011, on the eve of the nationwide election protests, a group of activists shot a movie “Oil-for-Nothing” about the awful state of intercity roads in Russia. All the good roads lead to Moscow and flights also go through Moscow, so you have to change planes in Moscow if you want to get from one city to another. And people have been seeing a certain imbalance.

IS THIS IDEA POPULAR ONLY AMONG ARTISTS AND POLITICIANS, OR DO PEOPLE TALK ABOUT IT AS WELL?
It’s the politicians who never mention it openly, but the idea is very popular among common people – just talk with any Siberian. Everyone understands Siberia is feeding the country by supplying oil and gas – the main resources sold abroad – yet Siberia isn’t the main beneficiary. It’s obvious, and no one can argue with that.

By: Vera Kichanova Source: Slon.ru
Translated by Kirill Mikhailov, edited by Andrew Kinder

“planned by Western Intel Agencies for many years”

.
No, that is incorrect.

Check out History of Siberia and Explorers of Siberia

The idea came about in the mid-19th century and took shape with the military activities of Aleksandr Kolchak and Viktor Pepelyayev during the RUSSIAN CIVIL WAR.

In 1918 two provisional governments were formed, one in Vladivostok and another in Omsk. Both governments merged by the end of the year into the Provisional All-Russian Government. IN 1922 SIBERIA BECAME PART OF THE SOVIET UNION.

The idea of an independent Siberia was considered in 1989, during the election of the Congress of People’s Deputies of the Soviet Union, 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, 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.”

FYI:
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 has rich oil and gas reserves, but the taxes go directly to Moscow. Getting extraction companies to pay taxes in the regions where they operate would benefit Siberia.

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