"Coal companies deliberately damage monuments because it's easier for them to pay a fine than to keep them. There's an entire steppe in burial grounds, from which the majority will be excavated."
Khakassia suffers not only from coal companies but also from gold miners. The Shorians, a small indigenous people who live in these lands, have especially suffered from this.
In 2021, the government of the Republic of Khakassia amended Resolution 508, effectively depriving the Shorians of the opportunity to control their land. Gold mining, like coal, is carried out by barbaric methods, destroying forests, polluting rivers, and destroying the traditional way of life of the Shorts. Territories that are sacred and culturally significant to them are turning into industrial landscapes. This process leads to the loss of their ancestral lands and the destruction of the natural environment that has supported their existence for centuries.
The lands of Khakass villages have been seized, and the coal company has continued to extract coal for export. Khakass peoples have been fighting for the preservation of their lands, but are not able to resist the coal "mafia," as the government works in the interests of raw material companies. While there are tools to protect the right to favorable environments, they are useless, and indigenous peoples are left with virtually no working mechanisms to protect their lands.
This situation shows how the economic interests of businesses have led to environmental and social disasters. The local population is losing its lands and livelihoods, and coal explosions threaten their lives. Despite all these difficulties, local residents have continued to fight for their land, culture, and human rights.
Mineral exploitation is not only an ecological crisis but also a social catastrophe. When working on a farm becomes impossible, people lose the meaning of life. Some leave and some commit suicide. For many Khakass people, losing land is not just losing the source of income, but also losing the meaning of existence --- the connection to their ancestors.
We often hear that coal is a necessary resource for the economy. But here is when the question arises: what kind of economy can exist without people? While coal companies leave behind a desert unfit for farming and living and the state government indulges in this, citizens are left with nothing.
In the context of modern Russian politics, we see how activism, especially one that contradicts the economic interests of large businesses, is brutally suppressed. Those who dare to oppose coal mines and protect the local population face repression from authorities.
And in light of all of this, it's difficult not to wonder: how long will people have enough strength to fight?
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