“I knew that something would suddenly happen there,” Adyana recalls how she was getting ready for a rally against the arrest of Alexei Navalny on January 23, 2021.
Adyana came to the Ulan-Ude rally in puffy sweatpants and a warm jacket but still froze to the bone. For the first time, she saw with her own eyes “police lawlessness,” and what happens to “people undesirable to the state” who protested.
That day, the rally gathered up to 1,000. Citizens came out to the square near the Ballet Theater with posters, chanting "Shame!," "Freedom for Navalny", and "One for all and all for one!" The man who gave the speech was immediately grabbed by the arms and legs of the police and carried into a paddy wagon. They tried to fight him off but to no avail. At some point, the cosmonauts began to push the protesters out of the square in a column.
At the rally, Sayana saw many of her acquaintances - thoughtful, successful people who own businesses. Many of them, like Sayana, had left Russia within the last two years. A young colleague, whom she had persuaded to come with "fiery speeches," also went to the rally.
A year later, Sayana took part in anti-war rallies, including the protest against mobilization on September 21, 2022, where at least 11 people were detained. Despite extreme repression, people came out to protest and picket.
At the same time, the Buryat protest took on an online form. At the beginning of the war, Buryat activists created the Free Buryatia Foundation - the first anti-war national movement. Buryat activists conducted research, carried out human rights activities, and fought for the future of their people.
“It’s ingrained in us to be quiet, not to stick your neck out. In our country, anyone who raised their head was shot and drowned. At the same time, we shouldn’t forget that the Buryats in Buryatia are a non-titular nation. I remember all the teasing, like “Buryat pants are on fire,” and calling them slant-eyed. We were never taught to speak out against something, especially against the government. No one wants trouble, and a rally is a surefire trouble.”
In turn, Rajana Dugar-De Ponte, the organizer of the protests against the liquidation of Buryat autonomies, doesn't believe that there is little political activity in Buryatia.
"We were constantly suppressed. However, the protests of the 2000s showed that our people had potential. If a patient person is suppressed, humiliated, insulted, or subjected to violence for a long time, then eventually their patience snaps."
Despite all the years of repression, the Buryat people still survived, showing how strong and resilient the Buryats really are.
“This is a bad time for our people, but it will pass, and our people will survive.”
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