INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Eight people were arrested in the Siberian republic of Altai on Thursday for staging a protest against reforms initiated by regional head
scrapping the two-tier system of local self-government, which he announced amid growing fears of a possible merger of the republic and the
ranging from fines to 14 days of administrative arrest, according to the local branch of the Interior Ministry.Turchak condemned the
protests in a statement released late on Friday, labeling the participants "vandals who disrespect the sacred Altai [mountains] and its
sacred places."Videos shared by local bloggers showed large crowds gathering near a local court building in the village of Onguday, where
The Moscow Times could not independently verify this number.Passed by Russian lawmakers in March, the local government reform has been
potential merger of the republic of Altai and the neighboring Altai region, in turn, would dramatically alter the position of Indigenous
Altai peoples, making them a small minority in the new majority Russian region.Turchak, a St
Petersburg native and the son of a longtime Putin associate, was appointed by the Kremlin to head the republic of Altai in June 2024
