unsaveSave
Violence has arisen in connection with protests in Russian Bashkiria.
Groups of men clashed with police in the small town of Bajmak, in connection with a trial in which a Bashkir activist was sentenced to several years in prison.
Both protesters and police have been injured, according to Russia’s Federal Investigation Agency, which describes the incident as a “riot” in which the use of stun guns was used.
The police used tear gas against protesters and arrested dozens of people, according to the independent organization OVD-Info, which tries to keep records of the interventions of the Russian police force. Images circulating from the event show long lines of helmeted police with riot shields.
Independent Russian media reports that several Telegram channels that have reported on the events have been shut down.
The convicted activist, Fail Alsynov, is prominent in a movement fighting for the rights of the Bashkir minority group and also against various mining projects in the region. He has also spoken out against the war in Ukraine and the mobilization that has come to include many men in the impoverished sub-republic.
Bashkiria is formally one of Russia’s sub-republics. It is located in the southeastern part of the European part of Russia, just west of the Ural Mountains and just north of the border with Kazakhstan. About four million people live there.