US And Ukraine Promoting Separatism In Chechen, Circassian, Nogay, Kumyk And Ingush Areas – OpEd
By Paul Goble
Yana Amelina, the coordinator of the Caucasus Geopolitical Club, a group of pro-Moscow experts in that region, says that today just like 40 years ago, the West is seeking to dismember the Russian state by promoting both ethnic separatism and regionalism, which she defines as separatism without an ethnic component.
Now, as then, she says, the United States is the chief instigator of this policy; but what is new is that Ukraine is the primary executor. And what is also new, Amelina continues, is Russia has the experience of the 1980s and 1990s and thus knows how to counter such actions (ukraina.ru/20230512/104614 5703.html).
There is no part of the Russian Federation that Washington and Kyiv are ignoring in their efforts to stir up trouble and weaken Moscow, she says; but the North Caucasus remains a particular focus, and there the main targets of such actions are the Chechens, the Circassians, the Nogays, the Kumyks and the Ingush.
If no one will be surprised by the inclusion of the Chechens on this list and only a few will find it odd now to see the Circassians listed given past and present actions, the inclusion of the other three is intriguing and suggests the areas Moscow is currently most concerned about and most inclined to take action.
For background on these three and the reasons Amelina and Moscow are worried about groups few in the West know much about, see windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2022/11/turkic-nogays-now-seeking-independent.html, windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2023/02/kumyk-activist-wants-non-russians-to.html and windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2023/04/ingush-independence-committee-forms.html.
