Kremlin steps up repression against indigenous peoples – Ukrainian intelligence
The Kremlin is intensifying repression against indigenous peoples while hiding behind rhetoric about Russia being a "multinational state."
Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service (FIS) said this in a statement seen by Ukrinform.
"The Kremlin is consistently increasing pressure on Russia's small indigenous peoples, combining repression, control over international discourse, and disproportionate involvement in the war against Ukraine," the statement said.
In December 2025, Russian law enforcement agencies detained at least 17 representatives of indigenous peoples from the Altai and Sakha republics, as well as from the Tomsk, Murmansk and Kemerovo regions, and Krasnoyarsk Krai.
FIS reported that all of those detained had for years been engaged in defending the rights of their communities in northern Russia, Siberia and the Far East.
"Previously, these activists spoke at a UN environmental forum, where they publicly addressed environmental degradation, the loss of opportunities for traditional livelihoods, and the effective extinction of their peoples. These statements sharply contrast with the Kremlin's official rhetoric about a 'multinational state' in which the languages, cultures and traditions of more than 190 peoples are allegedly preserved," the intelligence service said.
FIS added that to promote a controlled narrative, Moscow has turned the "Association of Indigenous Small-Numbered Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation" into a fully loyal structure.
"From 2013 to 2025 it was headed by State Duma deputy Grigory Ledkov, and later by Senator Alexei Sitnikov. Delegates of this organization at international platforms convey exclusively the Kremlin-approved version of 'harmonious coexistence,' while publicly supporting the war against Ukraine," the statement said.
The intelligence service explained that this stance contradicts the position of 172 human rights organizations working with Russia's small indigenous peoples that are part of the Free Nations of Post-Russia Forum, an international movement which Russia's Supreme Court has designated as "terrorist" and banned.
FIS also noted that alongside repression of activists, indigenous peoples are being physically destroyed through the war.
"In Khabarovsk Krai, before the full-scale invasion, the population stood at 1.29 million, including 21,129 representatives of indigenous peoples such as the Nanai, Negidal, Nivkh and Oroch. During mobilization, for every 10,000 residents, 34 ethnic Russians and 95 indigenous people were sent to the front – a disproportion that further increases the risk of their disappearance," FIS said.
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