Protests in Russia Put Spotlight on Wartime Ethnic Grievances: The conviction of an activist in the Ural Mountains sparked one of the biggest outbreaks of social unrest since the start of the war
“The Kremlin is afraid of nationalism and separatism,” said Abbas Gallyamov, an exiled ethnic Bashkir and former speechwriter for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, in a written response to questions. “Putin and his circle were traumatized by the collapse of the U.S.S.R. and are worried that Russia will repeat its fate.”
In his public war speeches, Mr. Putin has portrayed Russia as a harmonious multiethnic society united against what he claims are Western attempts to dismember it. He has lauded ethnic minorities for their contribution to the war and stressed the shared history of the country’s diverse ethnic groups and a common commitment to what he calls “traditional values.”
But Mr. Putin’s use of Russian imperialist rhetoric to justify the war in Ukraine has also empowered once-ostracized far-right movements, leading to an outbreak of xenophobic rhetoric.
