Mobilization in Russia as a Manifestation of Imperial Policy

The mobilization policy of the Russian Federation in the war against Ukraine is taking on the features of classical imperialism, in which ethnic minorities are the main target. Why is Russia's war against Ukraine at the same time Russia's war against itself as a multinational state?

A special role in this paradigm is played by the rhetoric of even part of the Russian opposition, in particular, the statement of Vladimir Kara-Murza, which reproduces colonial ideas about “Russians” and “non-Russians.” The Kremlin's state policy is aimed at using poverty, political powerlessness, and marginalization to force representatives of colonized peoples to participate in the war.

Racism Under the Mask of Opposition: The Case of Kara-Murza

In April 2025, a statement by Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was released in last year’s prisoner exchange, sparked backlash. He claimed that “Russian soldiers are hardly involved in the war; it's Buryats, Chechens, and Dagestanis who are dying.” His remarks drew understandable criticism from members of those ethnic minority communities, as the phrasing implied not solidarity, but a disturbing notion that “real Russians” should be shielded, while others are expendable. Critics argued that the comment echoed colonial hierarchies rather than promoting equality or shared national accountability.

This is not just an incorrect phrase; it is a symptom that part of the Russian opposition also thinks in terms of imperial superiority, where the “Russian” is the bearer of statehood and everyone else is its servant. Thus, the oppositionist Kara-Murza does not oppose the empire as a system, but only the fact that this system kills the “wrong” people. This is a repetition of the narrative where the empire is valuable, but should simply be “better administered.”

In addition, the statement contains a different attitude towards people of different ethnic backgrounds, as if they might be more suitable for killing other people because of their “genes”.

Military Mobilization: who is Being Mobilized and Why

The AsiaNews study documented the large-scale involvement in the war of Russian citizens of non-Slavic nationalities, in particular from Tuva, Buryatia, Dagestan, Ingushetia, and Yakutia. In Buryatia, home to less than 1% of the Russian population, the death toll is significantly higher than the national average, indicating that mobilization is uneven.

The mechanisms of this policy are simple:

Psychological pressure and disinformation: local media and “military commissariats” create the perception that participation in the war is a “patriotic duty.”

Economic vulnerability: regions with poor access to infrastructure and jobs see war as a means of survival;

Disconnection: the active movement of mobilized people away from their homeland blurs local identities.

All of these elements are part of the classic colonial tactic of the imperial center using the periphery as a human resource. It is no coincidence that acts of disobedience or sabotage of mobilization, especially among young people, are recorded in many of Russia's national republics.

How Russia Implements the Policy of Demographic Depletion

Ethnic minorities, which are already under demographic pressure (due to urbanization, low birth rates, and assimilation), are actually being subjected to a new stage of reduction. The idea is not only physical extermination, but also demographic weakening, which makes independent political and cultural projects impossible.

The appeal on the Indigenous Russia website emphasizes that the state's mobilization policy is actually destroying entire generations of potential leaders, activists, and cultural figures. The document says that “sending people to war is a method of fighting against self-determination.”

This policy evokes associations with the Soviet practices of deportation and forced assimilation, but is adapted to new realities - instead of wagons and camps, a military contract is now used.

The Position of the Peoples Themselves: Do Resistance and National Dignity Matter?

The reaction of the representatives of national communities themselves is of particular importance. The statement of the Chechen National Liberation Movement “United Force” directly states that “participation in the war against Ukraine is not a choice of the Chechen people – it is an act of coercion aimed at demographic weakening and repression.” The appeal also calls for the creation of an independent platform within PACE that would represent the interests of the occupied peoples.

Such documents show the growth of political awareness within the communities. They no longer perceive themselves as “part of Russia” but as separate entities that need international human rights support. In his statement, Kara-Murza ignores this dimension – he does not see Buryats or Chechens as bearers of statehood or legal personality.

Imperial Russia has always balanced between multinationalism and centralization. However, the current model has abandoned hybridity in favor of unification. The Kremlin seeks to transform the federation into an ethnocentric state dominated by the Russian language, culture, and historical memory.

The Mobilization of National Minorities is not merely a military operation, but an ethno-social experiment aimed at reducing the number of non-Russian groups, disintegrating their culture, and eliminating them as political subjects. This is a path toward transforming a multiethnic federation into a “Russia for Russians.” In other words, we are dealing with goals that are purely Nazi in nature, which allows this policy to be described as a form of “ethnic cleansing,” with the particularity that the participants in this cleansing supposedly take part in it “voluntarily,” motivated by promises of high income.

Conclusions

1. Kara-Murza’s statement is an example of racist thinking within the framework of an imperial narrative that views “non-Russians” as expendable material.

2. The mass mobilization of ethnic minorities is a form of colonial exploitation based on economic inequality, political disenfranchisement, and social isolation.

3. The use of war as a means of demographic reduction of ethnic minorities indicates an intention to transform Russia into a homogeneous nation by eliminating multiethnicity as a phenomenon.

4. The positions of indigenous peoples reflect the growth of national resistance and the awareness of themselves as victims of internal imperial aggression.

5. Russia’s mobilization policy is not merely military, but deeply colonial in its essence, approximating “ethnic cleansing” in its very nature.

Petro Oleshchuk, political scientist, Ph.D, expert at the United Ukraine Think Tank