Bashkirs are urging the head of the Republic of Bashkortostan “to ban sending Bashkir guys to the war in Ukraine”

The appeal signed by Ruslan Gabbasov, one of the leaders of the Bashkir national organization “Bashkort”, states:  “If this war is waged by Putin, our guys from Bashkortostan should not take part in it. You should issue a decree not to send our guys to war. Show wisdom and willpower. Show such will, as the President of Tatarstan Shaimiev showed when he issued a decree that Tatarstan guys should not go to Chechnya. How many lives of Bashkir guys do you need to realize that this war is not ours? Be courageous in denying Putin the right to send our guys, regardless of nationality, to Ukraine. This is not our war and our guys should not die there”.

Authorities have officially acknowledged the deaths of three people from Bashkortostan killed in the war in Ukraine. Human rights activists and independent military experts are questioning this figure as too low.