The policy of the Kremlin regime during the full-scale war against Ukraine demonstrates classic features of colonial domination, where national republics and depressed regions of the Russian Federation are viewed solely as an endless mobilisation resource. According to independent sociological and human rights research, casualty rates among the indigenous populations of Buryatia, Tuva, Dagestan, Bashkortostan, and other national subjects significantly exceed those of ethnic Russian regions on a per capita basis. The Kremlin deliberately avoids mass mobilisation in major cities like Moscow or St. Petersburg to prevent social unrest, directing the punitive mechanism of military enlistment offices toward national republics instead.
The socio-economic conditions artificially created by the federal centre in these regions—high unemployment, lack of prospects, ruined infrastructure, and low wages—become a trap for thousands of men. Participation in the aggressive war is framed by state propaganda as the only “social elevator” or an opportunity to earn money, though in reality, it is a one-way ticket. Ethnic minorities are thrown into the hottest frontline spots as cannon fodder, leading to the catastrophic demographic exhaustion of indigenous peoples.
Human rights defenders emphasise that this policy bears the hallmarks of targeted ethnocide. Weakening the demographic and intellectual potential of national republics ensures that Moscow will face no organised resistance in the future. Therefore, stopping this criminal practice is tied not only to defeating the aggressor on the battlefield but also to these territories achieving real state sovereignty and breaking free from imperial control.
