The “Siberian battalion” is composed exclusively of men of Russian nationality, originating from the regions located east of the Urals. Among the sixty fighters, some come from Russian ethnic minorities.
They traveled thousands of kilometers from the border regions of Mongolia or from the depths of Siberia, to find themselves in this abandoned gravel pit not far from kyiv. “There they receive basic knowledge, their instructor explains. We start from scratch with them: tactics, shooting, everything that can help them survive.” Some have no military training. The gestures are not assured, the shots imprecise, but the motivation is high.
“I think we must destroy the Russian empire and put an end to colonialism to allow the colonized peoples to choose their future themselves,” explains Guenady, a 29-year-old Buryat, an ethnic group who lives on the borders of Mongolia. “Since the time of the Tsars, when the Russians colonized us, they destroyed our culture, our language, our traditions, he continues. They Russified us. Since 2014, the Buryat language has become optional in schools. It’s ethnocide.”
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Buryats, Yakuts, Ingush and Dagestani
“I have rage built up inside me. We must stop this Russian, terrorist and fascist regime”, confides Saïtoromus, a Yakut, originally from the north of the Russian Far East. In three months, he will be on the front facing, in the Russian camp, perhaps Yakuts like him. “I will kill them, without hesitation. They shame the Yakut people. They are worthless people who only think about money and power,” says Saïtoromus.
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Guenady and Saitoromus chose Ukraine. The country today has several battalions made up of Russian ethnic minorities: Buryats, Yakuts, but also Ingush and Dagestanis.