The leaders of public associations of Chuvashia have addressed the Ukrainian parliamentarians with an Appeal on the need to prepare and adopt a Resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on the recognition of the genocide of the Chuvash by the Russian Federation-Moscow. The initiators of the Appeal are convinced that if the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine supports this resolution, the Chuvash people will receive a significant political and legal achievement in the cause of restoring the independence of the Republic of Chuvashia-Volga Bulgaria.
“For centuries, the Russian Empire has committed criminal acts aimed at capturing and colonizing new territories, destroying millions of people and entire nations. One example is the centuries-old genocide of the Chuvash, which Russia has been carrying out to assimilate them and destroy the Chuvash as a separate nation.
The decline of the Chuvash language: Chuvash is the sole representative of the Bulgar group of Turkic languages. According to the UNESCO Atlas of Languages, Chuvash is listed as endangered. Critics argue that policies that favour Russian as the dominant language in education, media, and public life have marginalized the Chuvash language.
Educational policy: The reduction or elimination of Chuvash-language schools and the lack of adequate resources for teaching Chuvash are seen as deliberate steps aimed at eroding linguistic identity. Since 2017, the number of students studying Chuvash has decreased sharply, as has the number of hours.
Cultural assimilation: the loss of cultural practices, and limited presence of Chuvash culture and language in national and regional media contributes to its erasure from public consciousness.
Demographic and economic marginalization. The peak of the number of Chuvash people was recorded in 1988, and since then we have seen a sharp decline in their number, to 700,000 people! It can only be explained by Moscow’s targeted policy aimed at the destruction and assimilation of the Chuvash ethnic group.
Emigration and urbanization: economic policies and lack of investment in areas where the majority of the population is Chuvash, lead to their emigration, reducing the number of Chuvash in the regions of their ancestral residence
Development disparities: socio-economic neglect of the territories inhabited by the Chuvash foments poverty and forces the Chuvash to assimilate and adopt dominant Russian cultural norms.
Historical repression: Cases of repression during the Soviet era, such as the repression of Chuvash intellectuals and leaders, are examples of state efforts to weaken the Chuvash identity.
Forced Russification. Policy in both the Tsarist and Soviet periods prioritized the assimilation of non-Russian ethnic groups, including the Chuvash, into the Russian cultural fabric.
Disproportionate mobilization of rural Chuvash men during the ongoing war in Ukraine. Creation of conditions that force rural men to sign military contracts. The current confirmed death toll in Chuvashia is approaching several thousand.
These arguments confirm the statement about genocide as a process of systematic and institutionalized erasure of the language, culture and identity of the Chuvash people, which is consistent with broader definitions of cultural genocide,” says the Appeal, signed by Oleksandr Yasenchuk, Consul of the Diplomatic Council of Chuvashia – Volga Bulgaria in Ukraine, Mishshi Oreshnikov, Ombudsman of the Republic of Chuvashia – Volga Bulgaria, Rodion Yevdokimov, Representative of the Republic of Chuvashia – Volga Bulgaria in Finland, Roman Petrov, political activist of the Republic of Chuvashia – Volga Bulgaria, Republic of Lithuania.
