Events in Tuva 1989 91 Russian disaster in Tuva. A forbidden topic under Putin's rule. The night is dangerous for Russians

A few years ago I wrote a post about the Republic of Dagestan, entitled “The Most Un-Russian Russia.” In fact, it's really impressive. I once wrote a post about the sameness of Russia, and against the background of the fact that Primorye and the Smolensk region are very similar to each other, such phenomena as very national republics look really impressive.
But Tu(s?)va looks even more impressive in this regard than Dagestan. Probably because it was one of the last to join our country (after it there was only Kaliningrad). In general, if you want to feel “abroad”, but don’t really want to go abroad, come to Tuva.

Tuva is located in Central Siberia, in its very south. You can actually get here only from Khakassia. Well, that is, it also borders on the Altai Territory and Buryatia; there is even some kind of road from Altai here. But these paths are for extreme sports enthusiasts and people with their own all-wheel drive vehicles, a lot of money, etc. And two highways lead here from Khakassia.

Tuva is separated from Khakassia by the Sayan mountain range. And even getting to Tuva from Khakassia, which is also national. republic, you feel a powerful contrast of mentalities. It’s an amazing thing, there seemed to be no checkpoints or border controls, but it was as if I had ended up in another country.

I was hitchhiking to Tuva. I know that many people are somewhat dismissive of this method of transportation. But the point is that in this case it is he who helps to understand and feel this mental line between peoples, between different sides of invisible lines called “borders”.
In Khakassia, hitchhiking has no special features - normal driving, like everywhere else in Russia. You stop, sit down, drive. Everyone understands everything, no one needs to chew on anything. In this aspect, Khakassia is a full-fledged Russian territory.

But everything changes dramatically when you enter Tuva... I’m standing at the turn to Ak-Dovurak, every second car stops, the dialogue every time is something like this:
- Good afternoon, I’m going to Kyzyl. Can you give me a ride along the way?
- Oh. Well, I'm not going to Kyzyl. You need to go to the bus station, there are gazelles there.
- No, you understand, I don’t go like that. I ride on passing cars, free of charge. "Hitchhiking" - it's called.
- Well, you guy! How is this even possible?
- Well, are you going far?
- No, I’m going to the neighboring village. But you better go to the bus station, you won’t get away from here.

In addition, within an hour, law enforcement agencies appeared near me twice and were interested in documents. Something that had never happened before on a trip to Siberia.

If you are lucky and a driver stops, after a similar (or twice as long) dialogue he will say that he is going somewhere further than 20-30 km, and he will be able to explain that you are going for free (everything is fine with money requests there, I mean, that fares are in order here), then you can, in principle, go.

Having reached Kyzyl, I refused to hitchhike further precisely because it was such a chore and morally drained all the energy for such conversations. As you can see, hitchhiking in Tuva has a classic Asian character. And in addition to the fact that after all this mental turning inside out during boarding, most likely the trip will be accompanied by a series of standard hackneyed questions, which begin to make you feel nauseous already in the second week of the trip.

Tyva is 80% Tuvans and 20% Russians. Almost all the few Russians live, of course, in the capital. In the 90s there was persecution of the Russian population here, some even had to leave. Now there seem to be no special problems on ethnic grounds.

In reality, a resident of Moscow completely feels like a “black sheep” and a foreigner in the 17th region of his country. There are only citizens around with slanted faces, speaking only their own language. If in Dagestan, due to the abundance of nationalities, the main language of communication is Russian, then there is no need for this here. At the same time, you will find very few inscriptions in Tuvan here.

Almost all Tuvans know Russian and speak it fluently. Because they still live in Russia, and all documents, education in schools, work in government institutions are carried out in Russian. But they communicate with each other exclusively in Tuvan

By the way, the Tuvan language belongs to the Turkic group.

What else do we know about Tyva? Tuva is dangerous! This is very, very dangerous! Absolutely everyone will tell you this when you go there. This is what the Khakass say, this is what the Altaians say, and, in the end, this is what the Tuvans themselves say. Of course, everything said must be divided by 10, and it’s not so direct and terrible as they are scary. But even after division there will remain a noticeable mass. So I had to remember the already slightly forgotten sensations of traveling around Latin America and turn on the “safety” mode again.

In terms of the number of murders, Kyzyl ranks first among regional centers in Russia, and corresponds in this indicator to Honduras (which is the leader among all countries in the world by a wide margin). The nature of crime here is completely different than in Latin America, and is more similar to our Russian one.

That is, in general, Tuvans are more or less safe, but only until they drink. The degree of their danger after drinking is so great that it compensates for the safety before this period :)) In general, as you know, alcohol has a bad effect on small nations. And everyone becomes inadequate to one degree or another: Altaians, Buryats, Evenks, Yakuts, Koryaks, Chukchi. But not as much as these. Tuvans are a militant nation, and after even a little drinking, the likelihood that a Tuvan will want to beat you, rob you or cut you with a knife increases significantly.

In this connection, the safety rules here look like this: do not roam the streets in the evenings, this is especially dangerous on Fridays, weekends, holidays and paydays. In general, whenever there is a possibility of local alcohol consumption.

Despite the fact that the rest of the republic is more or less calm (with the exception of some outlying towns like Ak-Dovurak or Chadan, there can be drunk people there at any time), I personally felt quite uncomfortable being in it.

A lot of gopniks. Before that, I traveled around Siberia, and to the most vibrant places like Novokuznetsk. It must be said that the Gopnik movement is really fading away. If previously they were very noticeable at any time, now only a few come across them, and then, mostly, they have matured. But... Not in Tuva. There are more than enough idiots here! Throughout the day, flocks of smart little boys move back and forth along the streets of Kyzyl - swearing, spitting, cackling, walking with a characteristic defiant gait, and in general observing all the necessary attributes. Thank God, they didn’t hit on me, despite my long hair (although maybe it’s no longer possible to hit on them). But who knows what might come to mind in a sparsely populated environment.

In general, Tuvans are similar to Caucasians in many ways in their jigitism and love of showing off. Yes, I began to perceive Tuva as a kind of Siberian Caucasus. But if we compare, Caucasians have advantages: 1) they don’t drink and then don’t go crazy, 2) they are hospitable. The advantages of the Tuvans are: 1) there is no religious fanaticism and all that entails, 2) showing off is still less common here than in the Caucasus, 3) Apart from the danger of getting caught by a drunken fellow, there are no special problems here. Anything can happen in the Caucasus...

But in general, Tuvans look and behave quite traditionally. Black jackets, taxi stands with all kinds of card games...

And to summarize, most of all Tuva is perceived as a CIS country. Independent from Russia, with its own people and language, but where everyone speaks Russian, there are Russian signs.
And if Tuva had become part of the USSR not as an autonomous region, but as a separate SSR, now it would already be independent, and everything there would be the same as in some Uzbekistan. At the same time, the purely Russian eastern Ukraine and northern Kazakhstan are now foreign states. Of course, sometimes the twists and turns are interesting.

By the way, in Tyva you can imagine what most of the eastern post-Soviet republics would look like if they remained in the same state with Russia.

If we go back to history, we will see that Tyva has been with us since tsarist times. From 1922 to 1944 it was formally independent, but in fact was very sympathetic to the Soviet Union. And in response, the Soviet Union built communism in the People's Republic of Tuva and enlightened the nomadic Tuvans. The alphabet was introduced, first Latin.

In fact, it was already part of the USSR even then.

When the Second World War began, the Tuvan people, in a single impulse, decided to voluntarily support the fraternal state - they sent out a regiment of militias, supplied the USSR with war horses and provisions.

It is not clear, of course, why "Fatherland". It has only been their homeland for the last year.

Joining the USSR was only a matter of time. And it happened in 1944.

And now Tuva is a full-fledged part of Russia.

Supplies the best personnel for her government

And if Stalin then decided to make Tuva an independent SSR, for some reason I am sure that by now there would already be some kind of occupation museum in Kyzyl.

The regions of Tuva are called "kozhuuns". Another difference from the rest of the country

Tuvinians are a steppe people. Traditionally they were nomads. Many still maintain a nomadic lifestyle. They graze livestock: horses, sheep, cows, yaks and camels. You can often see yurts here and there in the steppe. This is one of their well-preserved distinctive features.

By the way, the number of heads of livestock in the republic is several times greater than the number of Tuvans. In this connection, almost every resident has some kind of cattle. Even urban Tuvans have someone somewhere, they hire a special shepherd to herd. Having a couple of dozen cows and a flock of sheep is the same as having a vegetable garden at our dacha in the Moscow region.

But there are no problems with fresh and tasty meat. Tuvan cuisine is predominantly meat-based, and overall quite tasty.

True, the neighbors of the Tuvans (Altaians, Buryats, Mongols) often conflict with them. They sometimes steal livestock from other people's territories.

An interesting moment with religion in Tuva. For the most part, Tuvans are Buddhists. There are Buddhist temples everywhere here, even in small villages.

In the temple in Kyzyl. There is no such luxury as in Kalmykia, everything is more modest.

There are Buddhist stupas near district councils

At the same time, Tuva is almost the only place in the world where shamanism is also practiced as an official religion. In this regard, Tuva is very popular among all kinds of lovers of esotericism and other things. They come here to undergo all sorts of practices, study the topic...

By the way, the previous post, which seemed to be about something completely different, has a connection with this. Shamanism is also found among the Peruvians (mainly developed in the Amazon region), and among many other Indians. It is worth remembering that many purebred Indians have slanted faces and look very much like Asians, and it becomes clear that the theory that the Indians came to America from Eurasia through the Bering Strait (which did not yet exist) is quite correct. Peruvians are distant relatives of Tuvans.

Why do they go to Tyva at all? Well, first of all, this is, of course, nature.
Most of it is steppes.

Some people like the steppes, but I don’t feel comfortable in them. I love the forest, you can hide in it and pitch a tent, and in general it’s nice to walk. And in the steppe you are still blown from all sides, and you can see it from everywhere.

Earlier this month, a representative of the rapidly thinning Russian community of Tuva - the Union of Russian-Speaking Citizens, member of the local parliament Viktor Molin, wrote a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Senator Lyudmila Narusova. The leader of the state understands why, the second - because, in his words, he “keeps his word”; in addition, according to his information, he is the godfather of the leader of the country. This means that if officials from the presidential circle do not convey the contents of the letter to Putin, then she certainly will.

It sounds naive, of course, but what to do - the Russians of this nominal Russian territory have no one to count on. And they may not have heard much about Narusova’s Russophobic passages. But at the same time they really want Moscow to finally learn about their problems.

Hooliganism escalated into pogroms

“In the last decade, in the republic, due to the specific personnel policy of the Tuvan authorities in the field of public administration, a deliberate artificial process of replacing Russian personnel with persons of the titular nation has been taking place,” writes Molin. - Sholban Kara-Ool (head of the republic - Tsargrad’s note), not trusting the Russians, relies exclusively on Tuvan personnel, mostly from among relatives and friends, in his activities. As a result of this, a clear imbalance has developed in the power elite of Tuva, creating discomfort for Russian-speaking citizens living in the republic.”

Head of the Republic of Tuva Sholban Kara-ool. Photo: Vladimir Gerdo/TASS

“... After the republican State Tax Service was headed by the protege of the Tuvan government V. Suge-Maadyr, the pressure on non-indigenous entrepreneurs who were forced to curtail their business in Tuva and move beyond the Sayan Mountains sharply increased. Left without work, enterprise employees are also forced to make a decision to change their place of residence and settlement in Russian regions and territories of the Russian Federation. Accordingly, Russian families - children and parents - are leaving with them. Currently, the leading Russian entrepreneurs of Tuva, Gavrilov, Gavrilenko, Safrin, Kashnikova, Mikava and others, are under tax pressure. Many abandoned their business in Tuva and left... We ask you to instruct the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation to conduct a check of the indicated facts on squeezing Russian citizens out of Tuva by putting pressure on businessmen by the tax service and evicting veterans of the Russian Defense Ministry from service apartments...”

National tensions, turning into clashes and pogroms, began in Tuva, as throughout the country, at the turn of the eighties and nineties. As if on command. There is a verbal altercation, there is a fight. And then blood was shed...

Even when there were certain acts of youth that could be called nationalistic, we only called them hooliganism,”

The first secretary of the Tuvan regional committee of the Komsomol, Vladimir Kochergin, subsequently wrote.

Recently, victims at the hands of extremist-minded youth are increasingly being admitted to the hospital,” a local doctor Kanunnikov echoed him from the pages of Tuvinskaya Pravda. “I lived in Tuva for thirty-three years and did not notice when the sprouts of manifestations of nationalism first appeared... The increasing frequency of brutal beatings in unprovoked fights, knife wounds with which young people are admitted to the hospital...”

In 1990, massacres began between Russians and Tuvans in the village of Khovu Aksy, built near the Tuvakobalt plant. As a result, one and a half thousand Russians leave the settlement. The “winners” celebrate Victoria, but a year later the enterprise is closed for some reason, never to be revived...

In villages, Russian houses are being thrown with stones and Molotov cocktails. And then, that same year, the bodies of four Russian fishermen are found on Lake Sut-Khol, one of whom was only fourteen years old. The funeral of the murdered people results in a Russian demonstration of two thousand people in the capital Kyzyl, the authorities promise to look into it, but in the end, as expected, they come to the conclusion that although the victims were Russians and their killers were Tuvans, the two groups did not know each other before the crime was committed, and There was only a “domestic conflict” on the lake.

Suburb. Kyzyl. Photo: SergejStep / Shutterstock.com

After which the republic, along with many other national regions of Russia, entered the era of sovereignty, first renaming itself from Tuva to “Tuva”. And then, having written down in the newly-made constitution its “independent statist” status with the right to secede from the Russian Federation (this provision will be removed only in 2001).

Following this, mass dismissals of Russians began from the republican government apparatus and law enforcement agencies. However, the Russian head of the republican KGB will leave on his own even before all these events reach their culmination, and his place will quite expectedly be taken by a Tuvan. The Tuvan national “renaissance” was accompanied by Russian pogroms; local nationalist organizations created in the wake of perestroika, together with national organizations of homeless people and prisoners, began to attack Russian families, taking away their housing. At the same time, on the “southern front,” the Tuvans waged a war with the Mongols - the border with the neighboring country in Soviet times was rather arbitrary, not suiting either side (as well as China, which to this day considers Tuva its territory), therefore the Mongolian and Tuvan The villagers fought each other in hand-to-hand and knife fights. It even got to the point of shootings and hostage-taking.

The night is dangerous for Russians

“Nobody wants to protect us Russians here,” Nikolai Ilyin, a 70-year-old resident of the village of Sailyg, wrote back in 2004 in the only Russian newspaper of Tuva “Risk”. - So, on November 15, 2004, my house was attacked by a group of teenagers of Tuvan nationality. It’s good that my neighbors helped me, otherwise they would have killed me, like they killed the mother and son on Gornaya Street. When the police were called, the local police officer suggested that I sell everything I have and leave Tuva... I’m scared to see what’s going on in our village: the police are inactive, the prosecutor’s office doesn’t care about us either, it’s impossible to go out in the evening, people walk everywhere drunken groups, stoned on hashish, begin to demand first to smoke, then money, if you don’t give it, they can mutilate you. The police will keep them for a day, and everything starts all over again. Our children go to school in a town 3 km across the mountain. Crowds meet them on this mountain, beat them and take away everything they can.”

Five years later - in 2009 - the situation has changed little.

Children in Russian national costumes. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

“Ethnic Russians living in Tyva are afraid to leave their houses in the evenings,” the Russian Observer wrote that year. - Russian business travelers arriving in the republic are immediately warned: “Don’t go outside after dinner.” From time to time in Tyva, “unknown attackers” carry out demonstrative acts of intimidation against Russians. According to a journalist from one of the capital’s publications, a couple of days before his arrival, a group of Tuvan youth shouted “death to the Russians!” attacked a Russian couple leaving a bowling alley in Kyzyl. The husband was beaten to death, the wife escaped with broken bones. The criminals did not take any money or valuables. On the fence of the Orthodox church under construction in the capital of the republic, inscriptions constantly appear: “Russians, get out!” During the presidential elections, leaflets were distributed throughout Tyva: “Russians are our enemies.”

The same publication quotes the following words from the capital’s religious scholar Roman Silantiev, who returned from a business trip to the troubled region: “The outflow of the Russian-speaking population from the republic continues, and it cannot be explained only by economic reasons,” the expert said. - The crime rate in Tyva is simply off the charts, and Russian-speaking people, even in the capital, are not recommended to leave their houses after sunset. In the last three years alone, two employees of the Holy Trinity Church in Kyzyl were killed by bandits and another was severely beaten.”

Today, nine years later, in a conversation with Tsargrad, Roman Silantiev is no longer so categorical:

“Yes, Russians are leaving, but here, rather, there are economic and social reasons, there is simply no work there. There was a big construction project, a railway was being built, but then due to the construction of the Crimean Bridge it was frozen, after which there was an outflow of the population. There is practically no industry in the republic. Plus, Tuvans are quite violent when drunk, which is why domestic murders occur quite often there. Statistics on murders in Tuva are the highest in Russia. That is, it’s not even a matter of nationalism there, they kill their own people quite often, and it’s simply uncomfortable to live in the region.”

Orthodox church. in Kyzyl. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

However, the author of the letter and leader of the Russian-speaking residents of Tuva, Viktor Molin, absolutely disagrees with such a statement, who is convinced that Tuvan nationalism and Russophobia still continue to rule the roost in his native land. But this process took on slightly different, hidden forms.

“Since 1991, I stopped going out into the streets in the evenings, and I still don’t go out, and all of us, Russians, have several barrels of legally registered weapons, we can defend our houses, if anything,” says the social activist. - What about young people? So she leaves. I was born and raised here, my grandmother was born here in 1906, those who came from beyond the Sayans went back in 1991, but we have nowhere to run. All ancestors are buried here. While we are here, we are indignant in response to when they create outright chaos, and when we are not there, they will do whatever they please. There are already much fewer of us than representatives of the Kyrgyz diaspora, no more than 7 percent. Kara-Ool has relatives, classmates, and godfathers in all key positions.”

Need to figure it out

Molin also says with indignation that the current head of Tuva at one time made Kaadyr-Ool Biheldey the leader of the rally passions of the 90s, in the wake of which there were pogroms and “squeezing” of apartments from Russians, as his deputy. The very fact that at the beginning of the 2000s, as the Minister of Education of the republic, he did everything so that local schoolchildren learned Russian, as if it were not their native language, according to an abbreviated program - there is such a flawed plan in the domestic educational system.

The people were indignant, saying how could he appoint such a separatist as his deputy! - Molin is indignant. “After he embezzled forty million from the construction of children’s playgrounds, he was convicted and given three years’ probation. Now he works as the director of a large museum. And recently received a state award. We have such a situation that sometimes you just don’t understand what’s in the minds of those people who are now at the helm.”

Indeed, sometimes the reality of Tuva cannot be understood with the mind. So, in 2016, the 55th separate motorized rifle brigade of the Russian army was relocated here. Now it is almost entirely staffed by Tuvans. That is, a region with obvious separatist tendencies received, in fact, its own mono-ethnic military formation.

“In principle, I am against the creation of mono-ethnic military units,” Rostislav Antonov, a Siberian and chairman of the board of the Civil Patrol Foundation, commented on the situation to Tsargrad. - And it should be noted that there have already been incidents between the Russian military and the Tuvan military. For example, last year, when a stabbing occurred in a military unit in the Urals between 60 Tuvan contract soldiers and a hundred Russian soldiers (the formal reason for the massacre was an officer’s remark to a Tuvan contract soldier who had carelessly made his bed - Tsargrad’s note), during which twelve people were injured. This is an alarming fact. “I have serious doubts about the controllability and combat effectiveness of such units.”

Monument "Center of Asia" in Kyzyl. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

Antonov is also confident that Molina’s letter to the central authorities should be taken seriously.

The situation in the Republic of Tuva is discussed regularly, but not out loud, since this topic is quite acute and painful: it concerns interethnic relations, the social activist said. - I am inclined to believe that the facts contained in the address of the head of the local Russian community contain a lot of objective information. This is not just an emotional cry from the soul, but a message to the state, and we need to hear it and take measures so that the situation in the North Caucasus does not repeat in Tuva - a region that the Russians, in fact, abandoned, which led to the problem of maintaining stability in this part of the Russian Federation. Federation. Yes, the state should respond to this call, but not in terms of carrying out checks on the activist himself, but investigating what is happening with Russians in the region, whether there are violations of the rights of citizens based on nationality and ethnic bias in recruitment to the civil service.”

Russian social activists in Tuva say that there is. For example, they say that Russian doctors are being fired in order to “clear the way for national personnel.” Or, when choosing whether to hire a Russian or a Tuvan for a particular position, employers will choose the latter. All these statements require careful verification.

After all, Tuva today is an almost 100% subsidized region from the federal budget. It is absurd to spend funds earned by Russian taxpayers on Russophobia. It’s absurd if anyone doesn’t understand, if only because Tuva is also Russia.

But Tu(s?)va looks even more impressive in this regard than Dagestan. Probably because it was one of the last to join our country (after it there was only Kaliningrad). In general, if you want to feel “abroad”, but don’t really want to go abroad, come to Tuva.

By the way, the Tuvan language belongs to the Turkic group.

What else do we know about Tyva? Tuva is dangerous! This is very, very dangerous! Absolutely everyone will tell you this when you go there. This is what the Khakass say, this is what the Altaians say, and, in the end, this is what the Tuvans themselves say. Of course, everything said must be divided by 10, and it’s not so direct and terrible as they are scary. But even after division there will remain a noticeable mass. So I had to remember the already slightly forgotten sensations of traveling through Latin America and turn on the “safety” mode again.

In terms of the number of murders, Kyzyl ranks first among regional centers in Russia and corresponds in this indicator to Honduras (which is the leader among all countries in the world by a wide margin). The nature of crime here is completely different than in Latin America, and is more similar to our Russian one.

In general, Tuvans are in many ways similar to Caucasians in their horsemanship and love of showing off. Yes, I began to perceive Tuva as a kind of Siberian Caucasus. But if we compare, Caucasians have advantages: 1) they don’t drink and then don’t go crazy, 2) they are hospitable. The advantages of the Tuvans are: 1) there is no religious fanaticism and all that entails, 2) showing off is still less common here than in the Caucasus, 3) Apart from the danger of getting caught by a drunken fellow, there are no special problems here. Anything can happen in the Caucasus...

But in general, Tuvans look and behave quite traditionally. Black jackets, taxi stands with all kinds of card games...

By the way, in Tyva you can imagine what most of the eastern post-Soviet republics would look like if they remained in the same state with Russia.

In fact, it was already part of the USSR even then.

It is not clear, of course, why "Fatherland". It has only been their homeland for the last year.

Joining the USSR was only a matter of time. And it happened in 1944.

And now Tuva is a full-fledged part of Russia.

Supplies the best personnel for her government

And if Stalin then decided to make Tuva an independent SSR, for some reason I am sure that by now there would already be some kind of occupation museum in Kyzyl.

The regions of Tuva are called "kozhuuns". Another difference from the rest of the country

But there are no problems with fresh and tasty meat. Tuvan cuisine is predominantly meat-based, and overall quite tasty.

True, the neighbors of the Tuvans (Altaians, Buryats, Mongols) often conflict with them. They sometimes steal livestock from other people's territories.

An interesting moment with religion in Tuva. For the most part, Tuvans are Buddhists. There are Buddhist temples everywhere here, even in small villages.

There are Buddhist stupas near district councils

Why do they go to Tyva at all? Well, first of all, this is, of course, nature.
Most of it is steppes.

Chaos is like a ladder

On March 15, 1992, Sherig-ool Oorzhak, previously the head of the Council of Ministers of the republic, became the President of Tuva. In 1993, the local Supreme Council adopted a Constitution, according to which the region became known as the Republic of Tyva. On the one hand, this document recognized Tuva as part of Russia, on the other, it allowed its leadership to independently resolve issues of war and peace and established republican citizenship. The right to self-determination was also provided for. It appeared in the law largely thanks to the efforts of the Popular Front "Khostug Tyva", as well as the NPST - the People's Party of Sovereign Tuva, a slightly less radical wing of the NFHT, which broke away in early 1993. At the same time, elections to the Supreme Khural (parliament) of the republic were held.

At the same time, the tragedy of the Russian population, unnoticed by Moscow, continued in the region. Numerous bloody clashes provoked by Khostug Tyva in 1992-93 forced another 20 thousand Russians to leave the republic. Those who remained could not feel safe.

Meanwhile, on the border with Mongolia, there were clashes with shootings and hostage-takings - the Tuvans did not forget how, due to the generous gesture of the Soviet leadership, back in 1958, a noticeable piece of their territory went to the southern “brothers”.

Since 1994, the conflict has entered a low-intensity phase. Participants in those events say that the Tuvan majority either fired the Russians or bankrupted the enterprises. All this undermined the already not very developed economy of the republic.

After the fire gave way to rot, the activities of Khostug Tyva and NPST gradually began to fade away. Both organizations dissolved themselves by the end of the 90s.

The year 1994 was remembered for the first and only visit of Boris Yeltsin to the republic. Judging by photographs and eyewitness accounts, the president focused on learning local customs—dressing in traditional Tuvan costume, beating drums, and tasting local milk moonshine called araka. The drink went well, and speaking on the main square of Kyzyl, the guarantor of the Constitution almost fell down the steps in front of the crowd.

During this visit, the President of Tuva Sherig-ool Oorzhak managed to beg Yeltsin for money to modernize the local airport to the level of an international one (they were immediately stolen, nothing even flies from there to Moscow, much less abroad), a sheepskin coat a factory (built, but then it went bankrupt), a Yak-42 aircraft (used by the republic for several years for passenger transportation) and a museum (no data). Have politicians discussed the friendship of peoples? Maybe. But this question is best answered by local oppositionist and ex-minister of the republican government Igor Badra. I found his interview on Milena Kotlyar’s blog on Open Russia:

He (Oorzhak - author’s note) convinced me more than once that our main task was to leave Russia,” says Badra. — Oorzhak told me: “In order to protect ourselves from the aggressive actions of Russia, we must be cunning and insidious, like our ancestors during the occupation of Tuva by the Chinese. We will introduce uncontrollable thugs into “Russian-speaking” settlements. The Russians will immediately flee from Tyva. And I will pretend in front of Moscow, which can barely contain its Tuvinians. They will believe you and even give you more subsidies.”

Years passed. The republic eked out a miserable existence due to the above-mentioned subsidies, income from the sale of destroyed industrial assets and the collection of hemp. The last source of profit, by the way, was the most important - this grass covers tens of thousands of hectares in Tuva, even children collect it. An article in Novaya Gazeta entitled “Dur,” written in 2005, claims that the drug became a local currency, in exchange for which residents of the republic purchased everything they needed from couriers “from the mainland.” Marijuana was distributed throughout Russia and even went abroad. Of course, such a powerful business could not exist without the patronage of major officials.

Yeltsin's rule gave way to Putin's, and Tuva received something from the oil abundance of the 2000s. For example, we built the Subedey sports complex in Kyzyl and several agricultural enterprises.

All this time, all sorts of squabbles between Tuvans in power and Tuvans in opposition did not stop. Oorzhak, who ruled according to all the canons of Russian regional kings, served until 2007, after which he received the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, III degree, and went into retirement. He was replaced by Sholban Kara-ool, who holds the post to this day.

In 2001, Tuva adopted a new Constitution, from which the provision on the sovereignty of the region was excluded. At the same time, the clause on republican citizenship was repealed only in 2010.

Under Putin-Medvedev, the situation of Russians in this sad subject of the federation remained (and still remains) a taboo topic. The report “Interethnic situation and ethnopolitical processes in post-Soviet Tuva”, released by the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, states the following:

“At this stage, the interethnic situation in Tuva can be characterized as quite prosperous and stable. Thus, according to an ethnosociological survey carried out in 2006-2008. within the framework of the project “Problems of adaptation of the peoples of Southern Siberia to the new realities of life” (the head of this collective scientific project is Z.V. Anaiban), the overwhelming majority of residents of the republic, regardless of ethnicity, called interethnic relations calm and favorable.”

Well what can we say here? It is best to cite a few quotes from a letter written at the end of 2004 by 79-year-old resident of the village of Sailyg Nikolai Ilyin. A message with the eloquent title “Help me leave!” published by the local opposition newspaper Risk, the only local media outlet writing on the “Russian” topic.

“On November 15, 2004, my house was attacked by a group of teenagers of Tuvan nationality. It’s good that my neighbors helped me, otherwise they would have killed me, like they killed the mother and son on Gornaya Street. When the police were called, the district police officer suggested that I sell everything I have and leave Tuva.”

“...we (Russians - author's note) are considered an inferior race. We can be robbed, humiliated, killed, and no one wants to protect us, only replies from the authorities. I ask you to help me travel outside the Republic of Tuva.”

To understand that nothing has changed since 2004, it is enough to look through the archives of the same newspaper “Risk”.

June 2008 - a Tuvan official severely beat a 60-year-old Russian subordinate, and, apparently, not for the first time.

October 2010 - mass dismissal of Russian specialists from the government of the republic.

February 2013 - a Russian resident of the village of Khovu-Aksy, a group II disabled person, writes a letter to the newspaper in which he complains about “humiliation by the local authorities” that has been going on for 5 years.

May 2013 - Director of the Institute of National Problems of Education Olga Artemenko reported that in Tatarstan, Tuva and Bashkiria there is no opportunity to study Russian as a native language.

An even more gloomy picture of local interethnic friendship of the era of the fat zeros is drawn after reading the article ““Kill the Russians!”: Nazism in Tuvan style,” published in May 2009 in the Russian Observer. The famous religious scholar Roman Silantiev, who visited the republic, claims that local Russians try not to leave the house after sunset. Russians who come to Tuva on business are also warned that this is a bad idea.

Local nationalists regularly carry out bloody acts of intimidation against the “occupiers.” Thus, shortly before Silantiev’s visit, a group of Tuvan teenagers brutally beat a Russian couple in Kyzyl. The husband died, the wife received fractures. It is reported that the killers did not take any money or valuables. But during the attack they shouted “death to the Russians!”

In addition, according to Silantyev, “in the last 3 years alone, two employees of the Holy Trinity Church in Kyzyl were killed by bandits and another one was severely beaten.” On the fence of an Orthodox church under construction in the capital of the republic, inscriptions like “Russians, get out!” regularly appear. Leaflets with similar content were distributed throughout Tuva during the 2008 election campaign. “Observer” reports that “according to information from some sources, behind these propaganda materials were Tuvan nationalists, who in recent years have “repainted” themselves in the colors of “A Just Russia.”

Statistics are also inexorable: flight continued during the years of “stability.” In 1989, the share of Russians in the region was 32%, in 2002 - 20.1%, and in 2010 - only 16.3%. This is 49.4 thousand out of 307.9 thousand residents of the republic. The share of Tuvans increased to 82% (in 2002 - 77%, in 1989 - 64.3%). And with these sad figures it is worth starting the story of what the republic is like now.

Today

So, everything is clear with the national situation in Tuva. Unfortunately, new data will be published only based on the results of the next population census, but there are no signs of a change in trend. The flow of Russian refugees does not dry up, and the birth rate among the titular people of the republic is very high and continues to grow. According to this indicator, the region ranks first in Russia. In terms of population growth, Tuva (due to significantly higher mortality) is second only to Chechnya and Ingushetia. At the same time, life expectancy in the region is very sad: 62 years as of 2013. This is the worst indicator in Russia.

At the beginning of this year, 313.8 thousand people lived in Tuva. If we extrapolate the dynamics of 2002-2010 to recent years (not the most accurate method, but still), now there are approximately 13-14% of Russians left in Tuva. Other sources give figures of 10-15%. At this rate, Russophobia in the republic will disappear, as in Chechnya, for natural reasons - there will simply be no one to hate.

True, judging by crime statistics, everything is fine with hatred in Tuva. If in Russia as a whole the increase in crime began only in the crisis year of 2015, then in Tuva such dynamics have been observed for 4 years in a row. The republic is the undisputed Russian leader in the level of intentional murders. In 2014, there were 44.77 of them per 100 thousand population. This is almost 5.5 times higher than the national average and corresponds to the level of modern Venezuela, one of the most dangerous countries in the world. Compared to 2013 - an increase of 16.8%.

According to the official resource of the Prosecutor General's Office crimestat.ru, Tuva has a sad lead per capita in such criminal episodes as causing serious harm to health (including causing death), especially serious crimes committed by repeat offenders, serious and especially serious crimes committed in alcohol intoxication (drunkenness in the republic, especially in rural areas, is a separate big and terrible topic), unsolved crimes. Researchers from the Higher School of Economics note that Tuva also leads in such a terrible category as the prevalence of rape (28 per 100 thousand last year).

Leader of the Pan-Slavic Youth Association, Tomsk journalist Alexey Shitik (one of the activities of this organization is the fight for recognition of the Russian genocide in Tuva):

“Everyday nationalism is thriving in the republic, which, coupled with a high level of unemployment and resentment towards the state, gives rise to violence against Russians, and not only in Tuva itself. So, in 2014, a crowd of Tuvans carried out a real massacre in Tomsk, as a result of which two Russian guys were stabbed in the back. Similar cases occurred in Buryatia, Irkutsk region, and Krasnodar region. That is, with all factors being equal, it is Russians who become the preferred targets of crime.”

A recent case is the riots that occurred in the city of Nizhneudinsk, Irkutsk region, in November last year. Accounts of the event vary widely. According to regional Vesti, several Tuvan contract soldiers ended up in the hospital after a fight with local residents (it’s not very clear who started it first). After this, 150 Tuvan soldiers took to the streets of the city to look for those who had offended their fellow tribesmen. The punitive squad fairly frightened passers-by, but did not cause any damage. The Komsomolskaya Pravda version is much more exciting. According to local residents interviewed by the newspaper correspondent, on November 10, the military personnel received their salaries. After that, drunken Tuvan soldiers (and there were a thousand of them in the local unit) walked around the city for several days, beating local residents, molesting girls, smashing cars and breaking fences. As a result, the townspeople preferred not to leave their houses.

Shitik notes that Tuva still has big problems with drug trafficking. Up to 20% of the region’s working population is involved in the collection and distribution of drugs.

One of the main reasons for all this is high unemployment (22%, one of the worst rates in Russia). In terms of gross product per capita, the republic is in fifth place from the bottom (data for 2013), and only 16.7% of the regional budget is provided from its own funds (in 1990 it was 40%). The rest comes from federal grants and other forms of financial assistance. In 2017, according to the authorities’ plan, Tuva should independently fill as much as 23.5% of its treasury.

Whether it will work out is a rhetorical question. According to Tyvastat, in the 3rd quarter of 2015, the production of goods and services in the republic fell by 9.2% in annual terms.

Great hopes (and at the same time great irritation of separatist-minded citizens) are associated with the construction of the first railway in Tuva - the Kuragino-Kyzyl branch. The 412-kilometer-long highway will connect Tuva with the Russian railway system and will allow for the transportation of local coal. The reserves of the latter are estimated at 14.2 billion tons. The cost of the project (including field development) is 217 billion rubles.

The fate of this construction site is very difficult. The government approved it back in March 2007. A detailed description of all the misadventures of this project draws on impressive economic material. In short, almost nothing has been done since then. In May, it was decided that the Chechen oligarch Ruslan Baysarov, together with Chinese partners, would take on the project. At the end of the year it became known that he asked for money from the National Welfare Fund - 80 billion. It is still unknown whether they will be allocated; many people now want to get a piece of the National Welfare Fund.

The interests of the Celestial Empire in Tuva, by the way, are not limited only to coal mining and railway construction. In June 2015, the Chinese company Lunsin commissioned the Kyzyl-Tashtyg polymetallic mining and processing plant. Investments amounted to 16.8 billion rubles. And in September, the head of the republic met with representatives of the China Tianchen Engineering corporation. They discussed their participation in the construction of the Kyzyl CHPP-2. The budget of this project is about 20 billion rubles.

The problem is that China is not the USSR, which constantly tried to disinterestedly make happy all sorts of under-countries at its own expense. People in Beijing are very good at counting money. And most importantly, they still perceive Tuva as a legitimate part of the Celestial Empire. In the spring of the year before last, during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel presented him with a map of the Qing Empire of the 18th century. China then included the Far East and part of Siberia (including Tuva). This gift literally blew up the Chinese blogosphere. Many Chinese Internet users said that Frau Merkel's gift is “more eloquent than a hundred thousand words.” Moreover, on many quite modern political maps of China, Tuva is listed as a province of the PRC Tanu-Uriankhai.

The same card that Angela Merkel gave to Xi Jinping. Click to enlarge

True, there is another point of view. Alexey Shitik believes that the influence of the Celestial Empire in the republic is still exaggerated - Beijing is unlikely to want to take responsibility for such a disadvantaged territory.

However, let's return to the Russians. As it should be in the Russian Federation, which supports any national building of minorities, the strengthening of local identity in Tuva is strongly encouraged. The head of the PMO talks about it this way:

“The concept of “Tuvan nationalist” does not exist in Tuva itself. They are called whatever you like - patriots, true Tuvans, handsome men, but not nationalists. Name me at least one Tuvan accused of inciting ethnic hatred in Tuva! There is none of them. But Russians, who sometimes start talking about their rights from the pages of the local newspaper “Risk” and on the Internet, are accused of all mortal sins. As far as I know, many are summoned for questioning by local law enforcement agencies, where they also conduct educational conversations along the way. This is where the educational program in Tuvan, with rare exceptions, ends, since, in fact, there is no one to punish: the real, that is, passionate Russian nationalists in Tuva were either destroyed back in the 90s or left their native places.”

The fight against “great power chauvinism” is reflected even in the official symbols of the region. In 2011, the anthem of the republic, instead of the apolitical folk song “Forest Full of Pine Nuts,” became the composition “Men - Tyva Men” (“I am a Tuvan”). Its chorus translated into Russian sounds like this:

I am Tuvan

Son of the eternally snow-capped mountains,

I am Tuvan

Daughter of the land of silver rivers.

Beautiful. Now imagine the Russian anthem with the words “I am Russian.” Introduced? Fine. Imagine what the current Russian Federation will do to its author if he publicly proposes to replace Mikhalkov’s “Century Union of Fraternal Nations” with his creation.

Another problem (and this is perhaps more important than the anthem) is schools. In the early 90s, serious attempts were made to reduce the study of the Russian language to a minimum. Now there is no such thing, but there is still enough insanity.

Alexey Shitik: “Lessons of the Tuvan language are mandatory for everyone, but in fact no one forces Russians to learn it. They give an A and that's the end of it. The whole problem is that many schoolchildren could spend these hours studying the Russian language in order to successfully cope with the tasks of the Unified State Exam in the future.”

In addition: “Children have problems with socialization in predominantly “Tuvan” classes. And adults face discrimination in hiring and appointments.”

But the Tuvans, who had a blast in the republic in the 90s, are still not in poverty. The founder of the Popular Front of Tuva, Kaadyr-Ool Bicheldei, now works as the regional minister of education and is a member of the republican political council of United Russia.

The weight of any nationality in the Russian Federation is largely determined by people who are able to put in a good word for their fellow tribesmen at the federal level. Tuvans have only one such defender, but what kind of one: the second most popular person in the country after Putin, Defense Minister Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu. Of course, his position is troublesome and maintaining constant contact with his small homeland is not easy, but he does not forget about it. Thus, it was thanks to Shoigu’s efforts that the medieval fortress of Por-Bazhyn located in Tuva was declared a monument of federal significance. Excavations began at the ancient site, which were visited by Vladimir Putin in the summer of 2007. As long as Shoigu is on horseback, no one will offend the distant republic.

And who is fighting for the rights of Russians in Tuva? I have already mentioned the Pan-Slavic Youth Association. The organization collects information about the facts of oppression of Russians in the republic in order to stop their persecution and further exodus. Unfortunately, collecting information is extremely difficult - few people dare to talk about what is happening, and usually only anonymously.

I have already quoted the newspaper “Risk” several times. It cannot be called particularly nationalistic - there are also articles about the terrible “Russian fascism”. As an example, we can cite a relatively recent material with the mocking title “You can’t strangle our friendship, you can’t kill it!” Its author (pseudonym “Very Harmful Tuvan”) talks with visible voluptuousness about the suffering of Russians in the republic.

There is only one group on VKontakte, “Russians in Tuva,” where posts and reposts of materials about the current situation in the republic and the events of the nineties regularly appear. As of January 2016, it had less than 900 members. There are many Tuvan groups on VKontakte, their number reaches tens of thousands (however, it is difficult to find anti-Russian statements there for a rather funny reason - popular online translators do not know Tuvan). Once upon a time there was a public page “Russian Genocide in Tuva”, where more than 20 articles on this topic were published. The founders of this community included Alexey Shitik, Russians from Tuva, and even the indigenous inhabitants of the republic who sympathized with them. The community was closed due to denunciation. They even tried to open a case against the administrators under Article 282, but experts did not find any incitement in the group’s materials, so everything was limited to calling the activists for questioning to the Investigative Committee.

What to do?

There is a great temptation to compare Tuva with Chechnya - both there and there at the turn of the 80s and 90s similar things happened. But in fact there are many differences between these regions. The population density in Tuva is tens of times lower than in the Caucasus, therefore, despite the very high birth rate, Tuvans will continue to live quite compactly in the foreseeable future (according to the 2010 census, in all Russian regions outside of Tuva there were only 14.6 thousand of them. Chapter PMO also noted that they, as a rule, live very separately, communicating only with their own people and only in Tuvan). In addition, subsidies are subsidies, but we are unlikely to see the forty-story skyscrapers of Kyzyl City or the world’s largest fountain on Lake Sut-Khol.

One way or another, it is obvious that the current regime does not want and will not solve the accumulated pile of problems - which means this difficult task will fall on the shoulders of the creators of the future Russian National State. What measures should they take first?

The first and most obvious (not only in the case of Tuva) is the abolition of the crazy Soviet relic called “national republics”. True, in the region we are talking about, everything is so neglected that transformation into the Uriankhai region (or even the Belotsar region) will no longer help. It is more logical to divide the territory of Tuva between neighboring federal subjects in such a way that Russians no longer remain in the minority anywhere. To make it clear, the republic borders on the following regions:

Altai. Population - 213.7 thousand people, Russians - 56.6%

Khakassia. Population - 535.8 thousand people, Russians - 81.7%

Buryatia. Population - 978.5 thousand people, Russians - 64.9%

Irkutsk region. Population - 2.415 million people, Russians - 88%

Krasnoyarsk region. Population - 2.859 million people, Russians - 91.3%

As we see, in four of the five regions there are significantly more people living, and in all of Tuva’s neighbors, without exception, Russians make up the absolute majority. That is, a competent redrawing of the borders is necessary (which, however, will not solve the problem of predominantly Tuvan regions).

Secondly, (and this follows from the previous point) it is necessary to completely stop any state support for local national identity. Do you want to organize a Tuvan throat singing ensemble? No problem, we have a free country. Just please do everything at your own expense, and not with taxpayers’ money.

Thirdly, we need official recognition and a thorough investigation of the Russian genocide in Tuva with the most severe punishment for all those responsible - not only ordinary murderers, rapists and robbers, but also officials with whose connivance atrocities occurred in the republic. Compensation must be paid to the victims or their relatives using the property confiscated from them.

Fourthly, (this should be undertaken after the high-quality implementation of the previous points) it is necessary to increase the transport connectivity of the region with the rest of Russia and develop the local economy (not mindlessly flooding everything around with money in the Caucasian style, but by creating normal conditions for business). On the one hand, Tuva is very rich in natural resources. On the other hand, this harsh region will definitely interest tourists. The enormous potential of Tuva in this area is practically not used: although the local natural beauty will give odds to many US national parks, the number of hotels in Kyzyl can be counted on the fingers of one hand. In the ranking compiled last December, Tuva ranks last among Russian regions in terms of tourist attractiveness. What can I say, the risk of getting a knife in the throat at any moment is too much even for extreme sports fans.

Fifthly, although this measure may seem insignificant compared to all the others, the return of pre-revolutionary toponymy. Kyzyl should again become Belotsarsk, Saryg-Sep - Znamenka, and Bai-Khaak - Verkhne-Nikolsky. Some will say that this is not important, but such a step will have great symbolic significance - after all, at one time it was the Russian colonists who brought civilization to Tuva. It’s time for all residents of the region, regardless of nationality, to remember this.

This summer, the chairman of the Union of Russian-Speaking Citizens of Tyva, former deputy of the Khural of Representatives of Kyzyl, Viktor Molin, addressed an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Lyudmila Narusova, a member of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation from the executive branch of Tyva. Molin wrote about nationalism, corruption and oppression of the Russian-speaking population in the Republic of Tyva. All these processes, according to the deputy, have worsened since 2007, when Sholban Kara-ool became the head of the republic. It must be said that this is not the first open appeal from dissatisfied residents of Tuva to the President of Russia. The previous one was in 2016. There was no reaction from Moscow then. In August of this year, Andrei Babushkin and I, as members of the Human Rights Council, decided to visit Tyva.

Sholban Kara-ool. Photo: Vladimir Smirnov / TASS

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Tyva

The Republic of Tyva was part of China until 1912; two years later, part of its territory voluntarily entered under Russian protectorate. In 1921, the independent People's Republic of Tannu-Tuva was formed (since 1926 - the Tuvan People's Republic). In 1932, territories inhabited by Tuvans were transferred from Mongolia to Tuva. Tuva became the first state to officially ally the USSR against Germany in 1941. The republic became part of the Soviet Union in 1944 as an autonomous region of the RSFSR.

Tyva is perhaps the only region of Russia where planes do not currently fly from Moscow. There is no railway here either. But there is a road to Khakassia.

Tyva takes 7th place on socio-political sustainability in the country. In the presidential elections, the republic took 4th place in terms of the level of support for Putin (91.98%, with Kabardino-Balkaria in first place - 98.87%).

Tyva is in last place in Russia by quality of life. And on the first - by birth rate(in second place is the Chechen Republic).

By life expectancy Tyva is in last place: 63 years - for the urban population; for rural areas: women - 56.7 years, men - 51.7 years.

Tyva ranks second in the country by unemployment rate(in first place is Ingushetia).

Tyva is in first place in Russia by the number of crimes committed. And on the first one - on murders.

Letter to the Tsar

Victor Molin, ex-deputy of the Khural of Kyzyl representatives:

Victor Molin. Photo: Elena Masyuk / Novaya Gazeta

— There was no reaction from the presidential administration to my letter. Narusova called and said that there would be a meeting with Putin, and she would give him a letter. Lyudmila Borisovna keeps her word.

The deputies of the government of Tuva - Maxim Tunev, Alexander Brokert, Minister of Construction and Housing and Communal Services Evgeniy Ovsyannikov wrote a statement to the prosecutor and the Minister of Internal Affairs against me - for slander and inciting ethnic hatred. Then an investigator from the extremism department came to take my testimony. I referred to Article 51 of the Constitution.

And our deputies of the city Khural assembled a commission and said: “Why did you turn to Putin and Narusova, and not to us? We have no oppression of Russians.” Well, you can understand them: they are school directors or are involved in business, they are afraid...

There are only a little over 20 thousand Russians left here. Previously, the ratio was almost half. I was born and raised here. And now everyone is leaving, leaving, leaving... At the everyday level you can easily hear: “If you don’t like it, go to your own Russia.” Where are they sending us? Russia is here! You live off subsidies from Russia.

In 1991, we fought here, 32% of Russians left then. The then Chairman of the Supreme Council of Tuva, Kaadyr-ool Bicheldei, created the “People's Front of Tuva”, was the Minister of Education and Science, and then Kara-ool made him his deputy. A criminal case was opened against him in 2016 for the theft of 44 million rubles. Last year he was sentenced to three years probation. Now he is the director of the National Museum of Tuva, where the Scythian gold found in the Arzhan-1 and Arzhan-2 mounds is stored. And recently he was recognized as an honorary citizen of the Ulug-Khem kozhuun (district).

During Biceldei’s time, there were entire Tuvan squads that simply threw Russians out of their apartments and moved in themselves. The Russians left for the Sayans - to Abakan, Minusinsk. Then the outflow stopped, we thought: we were born here, we grew up here, we have the graves of our ancestors here, we have nowhere to go. But they still press and press... All these years, almost 30 years. The same thing happened in the Baltic states, then they split off. The same thing will happen here...

Vyacheslav Remezov, military pensioner :

— In 2007, when Kara-ool just came to power, I became the director of the housing and communal services agency in the government, before that I was the deputy mayor of Kyzyl. The republic is small, we all know each other. Six months were enough for us to understand where this government would go, where it would lead the Kara-ool Republic. Especially when Bičeldei was taken into power. Biceldey is an iconic figure for Russians. Oorzhak ( Sherig-ool Oorzhak - head of Tyva from 1992 to 2007. — EAT.) did not allow him to come to power.

Sergey Konviz, publisher of the opposition Tuvan newspaper “Risk”:

— Biceldey is the spiritual inspirer of Kara-ool. And therefore, everyone understands that if the irreplaceable Biheldey is with the first person, then the government’s course will be against the Russians.

Alla Dongur-ool, columnist for the opposition Tuvan newspaper “Risk”:

— In 2009, the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Tyva held the first republican youth rally. I participated there as a sociologist. They were expecting the head of the republic, Kara-ool, but his deputy Damba-Khuurak arrived. He is a former prosecutor of Tyva. So Anatoly Partizanovich Damba-Khuurak told the Tuvan youth who came from all over the republic (and there were only 13 Russians there) in Tuvan:

“Well, you are our replacement, we are getting old, you will come after us, grow, achieve all the heights, but know that we will have a serious threat. Now they are going to build a railway here, and 40 thousand Russians will come to build it. Think, new generation."

That is, the threat is that the Russians will come. Now Damba-Khuurak is still Kara-ool’s deputy, and he also heads its administration and government apparatus.

Alla Dongur-ool, journalist, and publisher Sergei Konviz. Photo: Elena Masyuk / Novaya Gazeta

Victor Molin:

— It’s hard for Russians to sell housing here. They drive down prices, they know there is nowhere to go, they will sell it anyway. With the money received in Kyzyl for the sale of a three-room apartment, in Abakan you can only buy a one-room apartment.

Sergey Safrin, Director of Selstroy LLC, ex-deputy of the Supreme Khural of Tyva:

— If earlier, in the 90s, people left noisily, there were conversations, rallies, now it’s quiet. Because otherwise the apartment will not be sold. And they are simply afraid. They quietly sell and quietly leave. Superintendents, engineers, chief accountants...

Valery Salchak used to be the chairman of the Accounts Chamber of Tyva

Valery Salchak , ex-chairman of the Accounts Chamber of Tuva :

— Over seven years, from 2010 to 2017, 43 thousand people left the republic.

Sergey Konviz:

— The most active, independent people who leave are the ones who know that they will settle down in a new place, find a job, and that they have the means. Those who remain are those who, either due to health or age, cannot leave, or who do not have money. That is, that part of the population that practically does not participate in the economy.

Where there are Russian leaders, especially business leaders, Russian people, workers, specialists gather there. If the business ceases to operate, the organizer of this business leaves, and the b O the majority of workers.

Russian people are not very convenient for authorities because they often have their own opinions. In this regard, Tuvans are more pliable, they worship bai, and in this regard they are easier to manipulate.

For example, there is an official protocol of the meeting of the political council of “United Russia” in the Piy-Khemsky kozhuun on April 27 of this year, where the secretary of the executive committee Shyryp said that the head of the office of the Head of Tuva, Artur Mongal, ordered him to remove Russians from the chairmen of the PEC, and replace them with Tuvans because they can be influenced. That is, this is the official policy of the Tuvan authorities.

Valery Salchak:

— Last year, Moscow sociologist Sergei Khaikin came to us. He does sociology on Chechnya and Dagestan. And so he said that 40% of the Russians living in Tyva now intend to leave.

reference

Speaking in April of this year at the 8th Grushin Sociological Conference, Advisor to the Head of the Federal Agency for Nationalities Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergei Khaikin spoke about the study of the ongoing processes in Tyva: “We need to work with the community where there could potentially be social tension. And when we catch this tension, we need to deal with what is happening.<…>Here's an example. Tuva, from which I recently arrived. In Tuva, the most dissatisfied are Russians, who were 39% and who are now, according to statistics, 12%, and perhaps 8%, and where there is a very high level of tension.

The share of citizens who positively assess the state of interethnic relations in the total number of citizens of the Russian Federation on average across the country is 78.9%. And this figure varies from 93% in Khakassia to 60% in St. Petersburg (in general, in large cities this factor is rated lower). But we are now seeing an outburst in the Republic of Tyva, where 67% of citizens who positively assess interethnic relations make up 67%.

Another, from our point of view, clearer indicator characterizing the state of interethnic relations is the answer to the question: “Over the last year, in your region, have you had to deal with distrust, hostility, violation of rights or limitations of opportunities?” 93% say everything is fine. But 5% said that they experience hostility and distrust.<…>this is the population of an entire different country.

“The number of dissatisfied people is not spread out in a layer of one atom throughout the entire territory of the country; it is concentrated, like cancerous tumors, in certain places, causing very serious real and potential conflicts that we must talk about. Here we see zones in which there are not 5%, but 11% - for example, Sakha (Yakutia). We see 27% of people who dislike themselves in Tyva, we see 9% in Crimea..."

“You are behaving incorrectly here by building temples.”

Vladimir Khemer-ool, ex-Deputy Head of the Government of Tuva (1998-2001):

— I have expressed dissatisfaction more than once: how can it be that if the Russians are leaving, what kind of development are we having here? I think this: the Russian people are native speakers, bearers of civilization. When we became part of the Soviet Union, Russians poured here, up to 40% of us were Russian. If everyone leaves, how will we speak Russian? There are almost no Russians in the villages anymore; my fellow countrymen are leaving. These are Russians who were born here, their grandfathers were born here. And young Tuvans are also leaving. I worked with Sholban Kara-ool a little, he doesn’t understand personnel policy.

Viktor Zimin (who just lost the elections in Khakassia), on the right - Sholban Kara-ool during Vladmir Putin's fishing trip. Photo: RIA Novosti

Sergey Konviz:

“The authorities see Russians as a danger, because Russians can write a statement, they can testify in court. It’s easier for them with Tuvans. Here we have a former prosecutor, and now the head of the office of the Head of Tuva, Artur Mongal. Nobody knows what he does. Do you know what its main function is? He identifies everyone based on family connections, makes a list: relatives, who works where, who studies where, who can be put under pressure, neighbors, friends, connections. As soon as you need to put pressure on a person, Mongal immediately turns on.

(I don’t know whether this is a coincidence or not, but after Andrei Babushkin and I met with the head of Tuva, Sholban Kara-ool, Kara-ool’s secretary gave me a paper from him with information about the relatives of Valery Salchak at the time he headed the Accounts Chamber of the Republic. Judging by this note with personal notes from Kara-ool, out of 30 employees of the Accounts Chamber, only three were not of Tuvan nationality, and nine employees of the chamber were close relatives of Chairman Salchak.— EAT.)

Alla Dongur-ool:

— The Russians who come here on purpose are the FSB, the Investigative Committee, the prosecutor’s office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Federal Penitentiary Service — these are the Varangians, that’s what we call them. They quickly fall under the influence of the local leadership and do not see or do not want to see what is happening here.

I believe that Russia itself is leaving here. She doesn't protect us. From here official, very good analytical papers go to Moscow, to the presidential administration, and to the Siberian Federal District. But no one pays attention to us, there is no reaction.

Sergey Safrin:

“We have repeatedly written to the President of Russia, to his administration, that there is genocide, nationalism in Tyva... And in response we receive: “Since your message does not contain the essence of the proposal, statement or complaint, it is not possible to give an answer on the essence of its content.” And we have dozens of such answers. They were signed by the advisers of the department of written appeals of citizens and organizations A. Vorontsov, I. Kurov and the consultant of the same department A. Chernyak. They do not respond to our requests. But believe me, literally two, three or four years will pass, and there will be a collapse here, and only Russian-speaking heads of the FSB, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Federal Penitentiary Service will come for their appointments. There will be no Russian-speaking population here. Even the priests are leaving here. In two years, five families of priests left. The bishop cannot hold them back. “We can’t, we’re afraid, we have children,” that’s what they say.

reference

Sergei Safrin. Photo: Elena Masyuk / Novaya Gazeta

Sergey Safrin is one of the largest developers in Tyva. His enterprise “Selstroy” began operating in the early 90s. During this time, he built several dozen apartment buildings in Tyva, an avalanche gallery 200 km from Kyzyl, the Buyan-Badyrgi hotel, two university buildings and engineering networks - sewer and water supply in Kyzyl, as well as the fire department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. But in recent years, Sergei Safrin was actually deprived of the opportunity to build under government orders.

Sergey Safrin:

— Why did we have a conflict with Kara-ool? Two years ago was the millennium of the Dormition of St. Vladimir, and at that time they decided to build an Orthodox church of St. Vladimir and erect a monument. After all, Saint Vladimir is the patron saint of both President Putin and Patriarch Kirill (Kirill is Vladimir from birth). And then the bishop told me: “Sergei Viktorovich, we need to build a temple for St. Prince Vladimir in Turan.”

The land in Turan was a draw, there was a forest there, we formalized everything, the regional authorities allocated the land, we notified the head of government and began to build. But we also built a monastery building there and two chapels. We have to maintain it all, and this is coal, this is light... We took it upon ourselves. This was in 2015-2016. And we immediately began to have very negative relations with the government.

I went to Minister Kilizhekov ( Minister of Tuva for regulation of the contract system in the field of procurement. — EAT.), I say: “We go to all auctions. Why are you throwing us out of auctions?” He says: “The command has been given. Go and negotiate." I say: “I will not negotiate with anyone, I don’t owe anyone anything.” All this happened because of the temple. Kara-ool started a war.

I stated that if this problem is not solved, and I was awarded by both Alexy and Patriarch Kirill, I will be forced to hand over these orders and medals in Moscow, then, I think, they will be concerned about my situation, because this is a protest.

Recently Lyudmila Borisovna Narusova was here, I showed her the temple, after which she talked with Kara-ool. But there is no result yet.

Lyudmila Narusova (center) and Sergei Safrin during a visit to the temple. Photo from the archive of Sergei Safrin

I do not participate in any political parties. I used to be a deputy. But I left and focused only on building and helping our Orthodox Church. However, members of the government (I’m afraid to name who specifically) reprimand me: “Why, Sergei Viktorovich, are our Tuvans converting to Orthodoxy? Why are you translating the Bible into Tuvan?” These are ministers. They say on the phone: “You are behaving incorrectly here, building temples.”

Now we have undertaken to build a temple in Sukpak, in Turan I am restoring a temple in the village of Saryg-Sep in the Kaa-Khem region. If you take a contract, then, of course, there is a profit. We make money, that's my job. But we pay for all utilities in churches.

The government also realized that I do not give them kickbacks. They asked me for kickbacks of about 20-30%, and I told them: I won’t pay out of principle.

What amounts are we talking about? For example, I built a house for 300 million rubles, pay 20-30% in cash. Now they are putting pressure on my business because they have seen that it is impossible to come to an agreement with me.

They realized that Selstroy simply needed to be destroyed, and then the topic of building churches would be closed. Nobody sponsors the construction of churches anymore. But we built not only churches, but also the first Buddhist temple in Tuva.

After all, many Tuvans go to church. And this is blamed on me.

Sergey Konviz:

— When the chairman of the government gave the command not to allow Selstroy to participate in government tenders, Safrin made the following move: he created a group to analyze auction documentation. And when they announce an auction and do not allow it to be auctioned, he makes an analysis of these auctions and submits it to the FAS. And there the auction is cancelled. Of course, construction deadlines are being missed. It happens that the conclusion of a contract for one object fails two or three times. And then Kara-ool directly began to say that “Safrin does not allow us to work, he goes to the authorities, disrupts our auctions, and everything has come to a standstill for us.”

Sergey Safrin:

“Am I not afraid that they will kill me?” That’s what Narusova asked me. We are friends with her. My wife and I wanted to leave here this year. But the priests do not give blessings, they say: “You have not finished everything yet.” Is it necessary to ask the priest for permission? That's how it's supposed to be.

Just recently I came to work in the morning, and I had OBEP and the tax office, seizing all the documents. I say: “What do you want? I delivered all the projects, I built everything. The tax audit was completed, I have already paid a 2 million fine there. In May of this year, I re-registered my company in Khakassia. What do you want from me?" And the head of the tax police department, Ondar Chechek Mikhailovna, says: “The Chairman of the Government said, “Why are you building a temple?” I say, “What do you care? I have income in Moscow, I have the right to spend it.” She says:

“He wants to know. We’ll go and measure all the churches and do an analysis.” And they went to measure the temples in the village of Saryg-Sepe, in Turan, in Kyzyl. They counted all the materials, they turned me inside out.

Then the head of the republican inspection says: “Sergei Viktorovich, you have claims for a million rubles.” I say: “What problems. We'll pay." That's all. A year ago we finished this, and they came here again, and again: “For what? Where did you get the money? Tuvans go to churches... You translate the Bible into Tuvan..."

Photo: RIA Novosti

At a meeting with the Head of Tuva, Sholban Kara-ool, we asked him about the conflict with businessman Sergei Safrin.

Sholban Kara-ool:

— Safrin’s profile as a person, as an entrepreneur... That the temple in Turan, that he was the only one who built the Resurrection Church in Kyzyl, is not true. I did everything to ensure that these churches were built, primarily through my decisions, which I made in his favor through the FSB.

In 2012, people in masks and with machine guns came to me here, primarily because this Safrin had another conflict with the state, in this case with the FSB, and he began to write papers one after another, including ROC and everywhere else, about the fact that the FSB is bad. The FSB came to my reception and asked: “Give us the guest register. When and with whom did the head of Kara-ool meet?” Then they found out when Safrin came to see me. This was followed by questions about why I decided to allocate funds for the construction of a youth palace in favor of Safrin. We must understand that Safrin built these cathedrals, including through our government orders.

Elena Masyuk:

— But Safrin invested his own money?

Sholban Kara-ool:

- No it is not true. It was built on government contracts. He built, and through this we built these churches.

Andrey Babushkin:

“But Safrin now even pays for the heating of churches at his own expense.

Sholban Kara-ool:

- Is this the same incident that he should talk about everywhere? The position he defends sounds very cool. He presents himself as a man who built churches and suffered for it. It is not true. I really don’t like that he always inserts the topic of blackmail into his business situation.

Andrey Babushkin:

- What is blackmail?

Sholban Kara-ool:

- That they are allegedly persecuting him because he built a church. It is not true. His business is based only on government orders. Now, if he built, for example, commercial housing and, while earning money, built churches... But in this case, this is not so.

Believe me, in Tyva there is no such thing as some kind of monster that gives nothing to someone. Is there some kind of oppression of Russians here? But then let the Tuvans complain about the fact that they are not allowed to do business. And so we reach an abnormal situation. If you look at the breakdown of entrepreneurship, then most likely there are many more Russian entrepreneurs than Tuvans. This is the reality of Tuva. And this is neither good nor bad, it is so.

Russian as a foreign language

Portrait of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in the Republican Administration building. Shoigu was born in Tyva. Today they talk about him here like this: “Thanks to Shoigu, Tyva has a chance to develop.” Photo: Elena Masyuk / Novaya Gazeta

Sergey Konviz:

— Tuvan has been spoken in the city hall at government meetings for a long time now. Russian is taught as a foreign language in the districts. In schools, everyone is taught in the Tuvan language. But teaching Russian as a foreign language is unacceptable, since Russian is the state language. ( At the same time, in the Decree of the Tyva government on the approval of the republican state program “Development of the Russian language for 2014-18” talks about methods of teaching Russian as a foreign language. — EAT.). Young people do not speak Russian at all.

If there is no Russian society, if there is no communication in Russian, Russian becomes foreign. This is an axiom, there is no escape from it. And we came to this, the prosecutor’s office established this, declared that the situation was alarming, but nothing further...

From the resolution of the Kyzyl interdistrict prosecutor's office of the Republic of Tyva (January 2013)

“Inadequate study of the state language can become an obstacle for citizens to obtain further secondary or higher professional education, military service, employment, freedom of movement and choice of place of residence outside the Republic of Tyva.

In addition, ignorance of the Russian language violates the constitutional rights and interests of citizens, making them dependent on their linguistic affiliation, which can affect the formation of a culture of interethnic and interfaith relations. The state language helps to strengthen interethnic ties between the peoples of Russia in a single multinational state.

There were cases at school when teachers of Russian language and literature taught the subject in the Tuvan language, which negatively affected the students’ knowledge.”

Vyacheslav Remezov:

— We have 16 kozhuuns and two city districts. That is, there are 36 heads of districts and chairmen of executive committees, of which only one is Russian. There is not a single Russian among the heads of the administration. There is no chairman of the court. Not a single head of the district clinic. Of the 165 school directors, 15 are Russian. There are no Russians at the tax office. All events that are held at the state level, as a rule, are held in Tuvan, and are rarely bilingual.

Sergey Konviz:

— One hundred and twenty-three villages in Tyva, and in more than a hundred villages there are no Russian people at all, there is no communication in Russian.

Zinaida Dekhtyar, teacher of Russian language and literature, Honored Education Worker of Tyva:

— Tuva began translating Pushkin into Tuvan in 1953. We have a Russian language department at a university where there is not a single Russian teacher. Who should create a Russian-speaking environment? Managers must speak two official languages. And this equality of languages is not respected in Tuva. The officials demonstratively speak the Tuvan language. That is why there is such an attitude towards the Russian language. And, accordingly, to the Russian people.

Sergey Konviz:

— It happens that we interrogate witnesses in court, and fourth-year students require an interpreter. Because at the university they also teach in Tuvan.

Sergey Safrin:

— Young people come to me to work with their parents, do you know why? They don't know Russian. And parents translate for their children.

Zinaida Dekhtyar:

— Whatever statistics are cited, there is one important indicator. The annual report of the Ministry of Education clearly indicates how many classes are with a native, non-Russian language, and how many are with Russian. So with the Russians it’s a tiny amount. Hence the level of education of young people that exists in Tyva.

On the right is Zinaida Dekhtyar at a meeting with members of the Human Rights Council. Photo: Elena Masyuk

reference

The annual report (2016) of the Ministry of Education and Science of Tyva talks about the results of the National Study of the Quality of Education, conducted by the Federal Service for Supervision of Education and Science. Diagnostic work on history gave the following results:

All of Russia: 6th grade was rated “2” by 33.1%, 8th grade by 38.1%, Republic of Tyva, 6th grade by 62%, 8th grade by 68.5%.

Diagnostic work in natural history:

All of Russia: 6th grade was rated “2” by 24.5%, 8th grade by 37.9%. Republic of Tyva: 6th grade - 52.6%, 8th grade - 57.5%.

« Old people speak Russian perfectly well, but young people hardly know Russian, why is this happening?” — I asked the head of Tuva, Sholban Kara-ool. “It’s a problem,” he replied. — I took office and tried to give positioning to the study of the Russian language. The first thing we did was create the position of state inspector for the Russian language at the level of the First Deputy Minister of Education. In this position we have a teacher who is responsible for the development of the Russian language.

When Putin initiated the “Zemsky Doctor” program, that is, the state allocates 1 million rubles to doctors who come to the village, we tried by analogy to do the same for teachers who are native speakers of Russian. We are allocating them 1 million rubles from our republican budget. This is a lot of money for us. A young guy came to Ivanovo, worked for a year and said that he couldn’t do it anymore, it was hard, the climate... And no hand was raised to take this million from him. And the contract was for three years. But several more girls came to us, they work in several kozhuuns. Now there are five such teachers. If I succeeded in life, it was also thanks to Russian teachers. We built a monument to them - the first Russian teachers. This is exactly our attitude.

We can be blamed for bad economic policies, but in no case against Tuvans and Russians.

Because I myself grew up in this environment, I am in good health and I understand that we live in big Russia. I have more Russian friends than Tuvans, and I think more in Russian than in Tuvan.”

Relatives

Vyacheslav Remezov:

— There are official, approved by Putin, 24 criteria for evaluating governors. Kara-ool has been in power for eleven years. Over these eleven years, Tyva has ranked last in many indicators.

Kara-ool accommodated all his relatives. One brother sits in the Supreme Khural, the unspoken leader of all construction. I remember I went to the Ministry of Construction, and he stood there and gave the minister instructions: “Transfer money to this one, you wait, but this is how much for you.” Until now, he oversees all construction and all personnel policies.

Further. My cousin is the mayor of the city and has been in office for 11 years. Kyzyl is recognized as the most criminal city in Russia. One nephew was first a senator, now he represents Tyva in the State Duma. The second nephew has been working as the secretary of the Central Election Commission for 11 years. I don’t take more distant relatives, who are also all local.

An ordinary person gets a job, say, in the police, so they check all his ins and outs, God forbid, one of his relatives has a criminal record. And then Kara-ool’s brother was convicted of selling a shipment of drugs - and nothing happened. The daughter of the convicted brother first became a judge of the magistrate court, and now she is already in the Kyzyl city court.

reference

“On January 25, the court of the Zheleznodorozhny District of Krasnoyarsk announced a sentence for a native of Tyva, Leonid Kara-ool: 3 years in prison. The defendant was detained in Krasnoyarsk with a briefcase containing 2.6 kilograms of hashish. “A year ago I was offered to buy a car,” said Leonid Kara-ool. “I drove it here by proxy for a very long time, got into an accident, and broke it a little.” Almost six months later they call and ask to pay. Moreover, they say that what is needed is not money, but Tuvan hashish. Help, it’s needed for domestic consumption, bring it carefully, and we’ll be even, we don’t need money. Well? If men ask, we need to help, especially since I already crashed the car. I collected these unfortunate “boxes” [matchboxes] and went to Krasnoyarsk, as requested...”

Newspaper "Tribuna" (02/02/2007)

Three brothers: Yuri, Sholban, Leonid Kara-ool (from left to right). Photo: Central Asia

Members of the HRC also discussed the problem of family ties at a meeting with the head of the republic.

Elena Masyuk:

— Your opponents, Sholban Valerievich, say that you rely on your relatives in government.

Sholban Kara-ool:

“I don’t think they could say anything like that.” Fact, give me one fact.

Elena Masyuk:

— For example, that the mayor of Kyzyl, Vladislav Tovarishtayovich Khovalyg, is your cousin.

Sholban Kara-ool:

“If anyone knows how I feel about this “cousin,” then they are unlikely to think about the fate of this “relative.” In this case, I will do everything to prevent him from being elected for another term. Not because they appeal to me that he is my relative, but because I have accumulated complaints about his activities. Personally to him.

The surname Khovalyg is like the Ivanovs among Russians, they have the same surname, but they are not relatives.

In this case, the surname Khovalyg is really the surname of my paternal family (Kara-ool Valery Khovalygovich) and the surname of the mayor of Kyzyl. But we are from different clans, we are from different communities of Tuva. Here is my predecessor Sherig-ool Oorzhak ( Head of Tyva from 1990 to 2007 od. — EAT.) was fond of compatriotic characteristics, and Vladislav Khovalyg was just a member of the administration of my predecessor. Surely it was no coincidence that he appeared there, because his father was from the same area where my predecessor was from. I have no family ties with him.

Another thing is that his mother studied with my mother at a pedagogical school. And when my mother holds some holidays, a birthday, he probably appears there. And, moreover, he doesn’t particularly try to distance himself from this matter, that he is a relative. I assume that this is also, to a certain extent, protection for him. I think so.

Elena Masyuk:

— And your brother heads the Committee on Economics in Khural...

Sholban Kara-ool:

— Yuri Valerievich Kara-ool is my brother, he was elected to the legislative body in a single-mandate constituency. I asked him to win, he is an active deputy. It was enough for me when the parliament was out of control, when a member of parliament came here with his aunt (he is the head physician of one of the medical institutions, she is also a doctor). They bargained with me: give us 200 thousand rubles so that I can vote for the budget. I realized for myself that we need to deal with parliament, and there should be patriots and sane people there. From this point of view, I think that

my brother in Parliament is my eye, if only to see the internal currents. I'm telling you this for the first time. He could quite formally simply answer: excuse me, he was elected through the people.

Elena Masyuk:

— And your second brother was convicted of drugs...

Sholban Kara-ool:

— In 2007, when I was being approved for my position in the presidential administration of the Russian Federation, my brother was caught by the FSB with cannabis. I think this is a provocation. But President Putin, despite this, invited me about my vision of the situation in Tyva, what needs to be done for the development of the republic. He casually asked: “What do you think about your brother? Are you not involved? I said that I think that my brother lived very good years. How he returned after Afghanistan, only we know what provoked him to act in such a way, that he ran with cannabis... I know that this is a provocation of the purest water, I also know the performers who did it. I clearly understand that I must be punished. This is my closest relative. I say: “As deemed necessary.” The President believed me.

Just a month ago, suddenly another public organization nominated my brother for some kind of award. I ran to him and said: “Listen, I beg you, you need to live now with your eyes lowered. And in connection with my activities, please try, while I am in office, not to encourage initiatives regarding your appearance in society.”

Meanwhile, this is my older brother, one of the most active people in the republic, he was a member of the CPSU, and headed the Tuvan branch here. In this regard, this is, unfortunately, a family tragedy for me.

Andrey Babushkin:

— Prisoners who served their sentences in IK-4 in Tyva together with your brother told me that he behaved very honorably in the colony, defended the rights of prisoners...

Sholban Kara-ool:

— My brother tried to shoot himself when he returned home...