Garmazjapova was born in the Russian republic of Buryatia, but has lived in Saint Petersburg since she was six. She worked there as a journalist and was active in the youth movement of the opposition party Jabloko. She has been living outside of Russia for several years. She recently founded the Free Buryatia Foundation with some like-minded people, which opposes the war in Ukraine, stigmatization of the Buryats and racism in general, and advocates ‘denazification’ of Russia.
She feels empowered by the many reactions she received on her initiative from other population groups in Russia, such as Udmurts, Chuvashen, Mari, Karelians and Tatars. “I used to think that only Asians and Caucasians have to deal with racism, simply because we look different from Russians,” Garmazjapova said.
‘But Udmurts resemble Russians, often have Russian names, and yet hear from an early age that it is ‘bad’ to be Udmurt and speak Udmurt. Karelians told me how their mothers and grandmothers were forbidden to speak Karelian, so they forgot their own language and could not pass it on to future generations. And that has a massive character, it affects all ethnic population groups.’
How did this initiative come about?
‘As early as 2015, the term ‘Putin’s warring Buryats’ came into use. Then the first ‘Donbas Indians’ appeared there, as the Buryats were called by the local population. This year again Buryats were sent to Ukraine, many have died, and again the Russian propaganda spoke of ‘Putin’s warring Buryats’. Of course we as ethnic Buryats are not happy about that. First of all, I am not a ‘warring Buryat’, let alone Putin’s. A week after the start of the war, Buryats from the United States, Europe and Kazakhstan put their heads together. We were depressed and decided to record a video message as ‘Buryas against the war’. It was viewed by more than a million people.
How were the reactions?
‘We received enormous support, more and more Buryats also wanted to speak out against the war. Relatives of contract soldiers who are in Ukraine asked how they can break their contract if they do not want to fight and return home. We have engaged lawyers and human rights activists and distributed instructions about this.’
What explains the large number of Buryats among the Russian military in Ukraine?
‘That is because of the extremely low standard of living in the republic. Those boys from the villages see no other way out than a contract with the army. That does not exonerate them. They can refuse, although I know that many are now under threat. Buryatia ranks 81st among 85 Russian regions in terms of living standards, although it is rich in resources and borders Lake Baikal. That got us thinking: why don’t we have a real federation? Why is Russia governed from the center, where is it determined who has how much to spend, how people live and what language they speak?’
You call the war with Ukraine a xenophobic war. What Do You Mean By That?
“Russia says it will ‘denazify’ Ukraine. A bizarre argument, given the level of xenophobia, racism and chauvinism in Russia itself. If Russian society itself was really tolerant and open, it would not have been able to incite it against Ukraine with the help of that propaganda. You keep hearing that Ukraine is not a real country, that the Ukrainian language does not actually exist and that the Ukrainians are not a separate people, but Russia’s smaller, incomplete brothers.’
What was the state policy towards the Buryats like in the Soviet period?
‘Some people like to muse on the ‘friendship of the peoples’ in the Soviet Union. But I remember very well the story of my grandfather, who was told in the polyclinic to speak Russian, not Buryat. The government has discouraged Buryats from learning their own language. The less accented your Russian, the better. People were proud of that, and still are. Russia’s native peoples are in fact in the same category as the Ukrainians. In Soviet times, Ukrainians were also constantly told that their language was a rural language. That is why we must support Ukraine, because it is trying to tear itself away from that Soviet imperial legacy and go its own way.”
What is your own experience with racism?
“I have witnessed enough racist incidents in Russia myself. You must constantly prove that you are equal. That’s why in the shop or cafe you speak emphatically in pure Russian, without a hint of an accent. You dress well to show that you are ‘normal’. And in the subway, you have to walk past the police with the most confident look possible, so that they don’t stop you to check your papers.
“I didn’t realize the constant tension I’d been living in Russia until after I left the country. I now live in the Czech Republic. After the invasion of Ukraine, I did not go out for days, because I thought that everyone would look at me in the street and see that I am from the country of the aggressor. That was not the case, but I did think: why do I feel so bad now, as if I am not full? And I had a déjà vu, because I had felt the same before in Russia. That’s how the psychological trigger works.’