Rafis Kashapov: The threat to Ukrainians and other free nations will disappear with the collapse of the Russian Empire
Many in Ukraine hope for the disintegration of Russia into independent nation-states, as was the case with the USSR, and place great hope in national movements fighting the Kremlin’s colonial policies. Other Ukrainians criticize these hopes because there are no signs that the Russian Federation is about to collapse. The current constitution of Russia does not provide for the option of voluntary withdrawal of the subjects of the federation from its composition.
But as for the national movements for the exit from the Russian Federation and the creation of independent states, they really exist and in May 2022 they united in the ” League of Free Nations”. And it was this body, not the Russian liberal opposition, who called on the Tatars, Bashkirs, Chechens, Buryats, Kalmyks, Yakuts and representatives of other nations to boycott Putin’s election and advocate the defeat of Russia in the war against Ukraine.
Unfortunately, little is known in Ukraine about these movements and their leaders, who are Ukraine’s partners in the fight against the Kremlin. We begin to fill this information vacuum with an interview with Rafis Kashapov, a well-known human rights defender, political prisoner and Prime Minister of the Government of Independent Tatarstan in exile, on the air of the program “Questions of National Security” with Valentina Samar.
Valentina Samar: Let’s start not with the elections, but with the general situation in the Russian Federation in terms of decolonization. What does it look like to you, your government-in-exile and the League of Free Nations?
Rafis Kashapov: We have been cooperating with Ukrainians for 35 years. My twin brother Nafis Kashapov, who now lives in Warsaw, participated in all actions during Euromaidan and called on our compatriots to support Ukrainians. Not long after, Putin’s fascist regime invaded Ukraine: it seized Crimea, then secretly sent troops to Donbas. I criticized the regime, for which I spent three years in prison and one and a half years in solitary confinement. ( After his release, Rafis Kashapov received political asylum in Veklikia Bpmtania – ed. )
My compatriots are well aware of the events in Ukraine and support your struggle. Long live free Ukraine!
We created the government of Independent Tatarstan abroad. They appealed to their compatriots to work on creating an independent Republic of Tatarstan in the future. Currently, our republics are colonies. Among them are Bashkortostan, Chuvashia, Mari El, Udmurtia, Erzya and Moksha. We want to unite all seven republics and create the Union of National Republics of Idel-Ural. We want a future together with Ukrainians and Europeans.
More than five years ago, representatives of the people of Idel-Ural created the public movement “Free Idel-Ural”. Later, the Forum of Free Peoples of Post-Russia was created, which is headed by your compatriot Oleg Magaletskyi. Later, the League of Free Nations was created. Many leaders of social and political organizations living in foreign countries and even in colonial territories support the League of Free Nations. We hold online meetings and street events, accept appeals and hold conventions. The next forum will be held in April ( the 10th Forum of the Free People of Post-Russia “The Collapse of Russia and Western Policy” is scheduled for 16 April in Washington (USA) – ed. ).
We — Tatars, Bashkirs, Chuvash, Udmurts, Mari, Erzyans, Volga people — will not be able to free ourselves from the imperialists, the Moscow occupiers. Therefore, we work with representatives of the people of the Caucasus, Siberia and other regions of the Russian Federation.
Activists of the League of Free Nations at actions in the USA Photo: League of Free Nations/ Free Nations League Facebook
Valentyna Samar: The League of Free Nations and you, as the Prime Minister of the Tatarstan government in exile, appealed on the eve of the so-called “elections” to boycott them. You said that Putin will conduct a new “SVO” — a special election operation aimed at disguising a concentration camp as a state in which there are institutions, in particular election institutions.” Have you been heard in Russia?
Rafis Kashapov: They didn’t hear. But our conscience before the citizens of Russia, before compatriots and colonized people is clear.
At one time, to strengthen his power, Putin blew up houses, invaded and staged a genocide in the Chechen Republic. At that time, 250,000 Chechens were killed, including 42,000 children. Currently, Putin continues his criminal activities on the territory of Ukraine. Rockets, “Shahedy” are flying towards Ukraine every day. I’m sorry we can’t do anything about it. We have partisan units in Tatarstan, but they are few. Instead, Russia is strengthening its power structures in the colonized regions. Our compatriots put up leaflets and try to hold protests – they are beaten, imprisoned, fined. Even with small forces, we will have to fight against the Russian invaders.
That is why we created the Forum of Free Nations of Post Russia, the League of Free Nations, the Government of Independent Tatarstan and the Free Idel-Ural movement. We are actively working on decolonization with these organizations. We must destroy the criminal imperial regime. If independent states emerge from the ruins of the empire, there will be no threat to Ukrainians, Belarusians, the Chechen Republic, Syrians, Georgians or other nations and states. That is why we must fight together against the Russian Empire.
Activists of the League of Free Nations at actions in the USA Photo: League of Free Nations/ Free Nations League Facebook
Valentyna Samar: How widespread are such sentiments in the same Tatarstan? I ask because the influential clans of Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov and former President Mintimer Shaimiev have great preferences for Putin and colonized the southern coast of occupied Crimea.
Rafis Kashapov: Regarding Crimea, we cooperate very closely with the Crimean Tatars. My deputy for religious and national affairs, Aida Abdrakhmanova, is in constant contact with Mustafa Dzhemilov and Refat Chubarov.
We have historically common positions. In ikams, the Crimean and Kazan Tatars supported each other. Crimean Tatars burned Moscow twice. I think the time will come when Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars, Georgians, Belarusians and Kazan Tatars will reach Moscow and make them pay reparations for the destruction of our nations.
We also cooperate with other public and political leaders of Ukraine. We are very grateful to them, the deputies of the Verkhovna Rada, for the support of the colonized nations’ representatives. This is very important, it inspires us to fight. If European countries supported us as Ukrainians do, millions of Tatars and representatives of other enslaved nations would rise up against Putin’s criminal regime.
Valentyn Samar: Do you cooperate with that part of the Russian opposition that supports the military units in which the Russians are fighting against the Russian army? Are there Kazan Tatars among them and do you coordinate your activities with them?
Rafis Kashapov: We support the founders and members of the Russian volunteer battalions, which are waging war against Putin. There are also Tatars in the ranks of the Armed Forces, who are fighting against the Russian invaders. About 30 Tatars wanted to create a Tatar battalion in Ukraine. Unfortunately, we have not been able to do this yet. We welcome such activity.
Forum for the support of Russian volunteers in Kyiv on 17 March 2024 Photo: forumfreerussia.org
We don’t support organizations like FBK (” The Anti-Corruption Fund – a non-profit foundation created by Aleksey Navalny in 2011 – ed.” ), stormtroopers, Dmitry Gudkov, Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Although when I was in prison, Navalny, Khodorkovsky, Kasparov — they all helped. But our paths diverged.
Valentina Samar: Another anniversary of the referendum on sovereignty, which was held in Tatarstan in 1992, is approaching. Few people remember or know that Tatarstan was the last republic that agreed to sign a federal agreement with Moscow. Then the majority of Tatars voted for the state sovereignty of Tatarstan. How did Moscow manage to break this mood?
Rafis Kashapov: After the collapse of the Soviet Union, we were able to rise to the challenge. The Chechens made a huge sacrifice but proved that they are capable of creating their own state. With the demand for independence, many thousands of actions were held in many large cities and not only in Tatarstan. Moscow was scared then.
We managed to rise because the number of Tatars in Russia is second only to Russians. Our numbers still give us a chance and confidence in the fight against the Moscow Empire. In the 1992 referendum, 64% of Tatars and about 25-30% of Russians voted for the independence of Tatarstan. They understood: that all underground and terrestrial wealth wwii work for the benefit of the independent republic. Now we count 1 trillion 250 million rubles to Moscow. These same funds are used for the colonization of territories, for the destruction of us, Ukrainians, Chechens, Georgians, and representatives of other nations. Therefore, sooner or later we must destroy this imperial regime.
*****
On 20 March, the Congress of People’s Deputies and the League of Free Nations published a joint statement on the illegitimacy of the Russian Federation authorities, which called on the governments, parliaments of the world and international organizations “not to recognize Putin as the president of the Russian Federation, not to recognize the State Duma as a parliament, to recognize the Putin regime and all its institutions illegitimate, and Putin – a usurper of power and a self-proclaimed dictator.”
ЦЖР
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