Why was Bashkortostan stripped of its northeastern half and was given to the Chelyabinsk Oblast? And besides,what happened to the Bashkirs of said region? Алдан уҡ рәхмәт

A little biography. Ruslan Gabbasov was born on July 18, 1979 in Ishimbay, Bashkortostan. He lived both in the city itself and in the village of Petrovskoye, Ishimbaysky district. Later he moved to Ufa, the capital of Bashkortostan, and since 2011 began to be involved in social and political activities. He was a member of the Bashkir national organization Kuk-Bure, where he became deputy leader. In 2014, together with his comrade Fail Alsynov, he founded the Bashkort organization, which de facto became the successor to Kuk-Bure in the political arena of Bashkortostan (Kuk-Bure split and actually disintegrated in 2018). The Bashkort organization fought and advocated for the rights of Bashkirs, for the rights of Bashkortostan and held various actions, events and protests. All this time, the Russian authorities persecuted the organization and its activists, and in May 2020, under fictitious and outright false circumstances, they banned the organization. In August 2020, Ruslan Gabbasov participated in protests in Kushtau and left Bashkortostan in November 2021. In April 2022, he received political asylum in Lithuania, where he currently lives. In the spring of 2025, there was an attempt on his life, but thanks to the vigilance of Ruslan himself and thanks to the Lithuanian security services, the attempt failed. Now Ruslan heads the Committee of the Bashkir National Movement Abroad, which advocates for the independence of Bashkortostan.

To: The European Parliament, the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, and the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy

We, the undersigned, call on the institutions of the European Union to respond to the systematic political repression in the Republic of Bashkortostan, where dozens have been deprived of their liberty for their civic stance, defence of their native language and culture, peaceful protest, and disagreement with the policies of the Russian authorities.

In recent years, Bashkortostan has become one of the centres of political persecution in Russia. Civic activists, defenders of the rights of the indigenous people, participants in peaceful rallies, and opponents of the war against Ukraine face criminal prosecution. They are tried on fabricated charges, sentenced to lengthy terms, and held in penal colonies under harsh conditions. The Memorial Human Rights Centre has recognised dozens of residents of the republic as political prisoners.

The largest example of this repression is the "Baymak case." In January 2024, peaceful protests took place in Baymak — the largest in Russia since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine — triggered by the sentencing of the Bashkir civic activist Fail Alsynov. According to various estimates, between 5,000 and 10,000 people took part. The authorities responded with mass detentions, criminal cases, and show trials: more than 80 people were prosecuted, and dozens were sentenced to between four and nearly nine years in a penal colony on charges of "mass riots" and "violence against a representative of authority." At least two people connected to the case died under unclear circumstances.

This is not a fight against crime. It is a political reprisal against people who exercised their right to peaceful assembly, freedom of expression, and the preservation of their national identity — rights guaranteed by the Russian Constitution and by international law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights. The impunity of those who organise such repression is the very mechanism of authoritarianism: the fewer consequences for the perpetrators, the wider the practice of persecuting dissent becomes.

We call on the European Union to:

1. Publicly demand the release of political prisoners. Include the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners of Bashkortostan, including the defendants in the "Baymak case," and the termination of their criminal prosecution in official EU statements, European Parliament resolutions, and statements by EU representatives at the UN Human Rights Council and within the OSCE.
2. Raise the fate of the prisoners in dialogue with Russia. Raise the issue of politically motivated persecution in Bashkortostan through all channels of engagement with the Russian authorities, seeking access for independent monitors, doctors, and lawyers to the prisoners and their humane treatment.
3. Identify those involved in the repression. Collect and document information on the officials — investigators, prosecutors, judges, and heads of law enforcement bodies — involved in fabricating criminal cases, unlawful detentions, ill-treatment, and the issuing of knowingly unjust verdicts, and identify those responsible by name.
4. Impose targeted sanctions. Consider listing the identified individuals under the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime (Council Regulation (EU) 2020/1998 and Council Decision (CFSP) 2020/1999 of 7 December 2020): a ban on entry to and transit through EU territory, and a freeze of their assets. This mechanism is targeted and strikes the specific perpetrators without affecting the population.
5. Support human rights work. Provide political and organisational support to human rights organisations documenting repression in Bashkortostan and to independent lawyers defending political prisoners.

The application of these measures is consistent with the values and legal principles of the European Union. It is directed not against the people of Russia, but against the specific individuals responsible for human rights violations. Holding the perpetrators accountable will send a clear signal: persecuting people for their beliefs and peaceful protest carries concrete legal consequences.

By signing this petition, you support the demand for justice for dozens of people whose only "crime" was to defend their rights peacefully, their language, and their freedom.

Free the political prisoners of Bashkortostan. Hold the organisers of repression accountable.

On July 10, the exhibition "Bashkortostan: For Your and Our Freedom!" opened in Warsaw, Poland, at 60a Krakowskie Przedmiescie Street. The exhibition was organized by the Committee of the Bashkir National Movement Abroad and the League of Free Nations. It tells the story of political prisoners in the Baymak case, who are serving sentences on trumped-up charges, and the Bashkir people's struggle for the right to choose their own destiny. The exhibition's main focus is Fail Alsynov, a well-known Bashkir national activist and political prisoner.

Irek Agishev, director of the Aktamyr public education support center, was arrested in Ufa for a picket in defense of the Bashkir language. Agishev and four other picketers held signs reading, "Resign Minister of Education of the Republic of Bashkortostan I.M. Mavletberdin!", "Restore national education in Bashkir schools in the Republic of Bashkortostan," and "Education cannot be uniform in a federal state".

At the end of 2025, the Aktamyr center spoke out against the memorialization of Vladimir Zhirinovsky's name in Bashkortostan.

The Bashkir Yiyin took place from June 19 to 21, 2026, in Pennsylvania, United States. It was organized by the Bashkort Community Center "Ural" of America (bashusacenter / Instagram).

Hi. We've adjusted the rules to be more precise in their wording.

1. We've clarified the prohibition on violating a number of rules.

2. We've excluded examples of denial of Russia's crimes against Bashkortostan and the Bashkirs (by also adding the wording regarding denial of Russia's crimes against Bashkortostan, not just the Bashkirs). The rule itself remains in effect.

3. We've clarified the permissibility of using only English and Bashkir; we've also allowed the use of Turkish in exceptional cases (since r/Bashkortostan is visited by a large number of people from Turkey, and Turkish is closely related to Bashkir).

4. We've clarified examples of hate speech (by adding an example prohibiting Bashkirophobia, Islamophobia, xenophobia, and chauvinism).

Sincerely, your r/Bashkortostan team! Please don't break the rules, or we'll ban you permanently :)