INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Seseg Jigjitova, a Berlin-based illustrator from the Siberian republic of Buryatia, has emerged as a prominent critic of Russian colonialism
kilometers with Mongolia, has a population of just over 970,000, with 32% of residents identifying as ethnic Buryats, a Mongolic ethnic
interview has been edited for length and clarity.MT: You are an architect by trade who now works as a freelance illustrator, but how did you
become an activist??SJ: Becoming an activist was not entirely my choice
Many people know about the disproportional mobilization and higher per-capita death toll among the Buryats compared to ethnic Russians
But very few know of thousands of Buryats who left Russia to boycott the mobilization and of the many Buryat activists opposing the
Could you tell us a bit about your upcoming book? Is this project an extension of your activist work?My illustrated book, which will first
Even some Russians in Buryatia have started learning Buryat
This is great!MT: You are a vocal critic of the Russian opposition
Over the past few years in activism, have you found any allies among the Russians? Or do you think Indigenous activists are destined to
fight for their rights alone?SJ: We have allies among some Russian civil rights activists, among people in the countries that were subjected
been capable of self-criticism
Many members of the Russian opposition, the so-called Moscow intelligentsia, have long lived in a parallel reality detached from the rest of
but I think we need to reconsider the idea of unity when applying it to the Russian Federation
clear and honest recognition of historical wrongdoings by Russia and its predecessor states, without it taking ownership of a difficult
collective and personal responsibility for having done too little to prevent the war in Ukraine
We must also recognize that the conviction that the Russian identity is superior over all others, the great Russian chauvinism, played a key
Putin is a symptom of this, not the cause.MT: You have lived in Germany for 20 years
In reality, Siberia is a vast region inhabited by different peoples who speak Turkic and Mongolic languages and have diverse religious
They amplify voices like that of Vladimir Milov, who claims there was no violent russification in Russia, or Vladimir Kara-Murza, who
return to?SJ: The only thing I can say for sure about the future is that we have hope.I envision a republic of Buryatia where all people,
regardless of ethnicity, are free
A republic where people know how to exercise their fundamental rights, understand and respect its difficult history and live free from
