This is the extermination of indigenous peoples

АП: Tell me, please, in more detail what happened? Then we will try to discuss this issue.

ЖБ: Yes, of course. My father fell under mobilization, first of all, some of my friends. They live in Ulan-Ude, maybe you know that this started from the 21st, from the 21st they mainly went around the districts, that is, Buryat villages, settlements. Now this has started more actively in the city. Yesterday around eight in the evening they rang the doorbell, my father was expecting guests, so he opened. There were two unfamiliar people in civilian clothes who didn't introduce themselves, didn't provide him with identification. They just gave him a summons and insisted that he sign acknowledging receipt. He's 45 years old, he never served. Right after university he got category "B", he didn't study at the military department either, that is, he has no connections to the army. He has a negative attitude toward the war, so it was very unpleasant, it was a shock.

АП: One clarifying question. Category "B", not "C", correct?

ЖБ: Second category - partially unfit, as far as I remember. To be honest, I don't understand it well, I remember that it's the second.

АП: Your father didn't serve in the army?

ЖБ: No, he didn't serve.

АП: Has no relation to service, to military specialty?

ЖБ: Nothing at all.

АП: What did the people who came to your father say?

ЖБ: I'm now actively trying to contact human rights defenders, lawyers, to understand how lawful it [the summons] is in itself, since it doesn't indicate the date when you need to appear or when it's served. It just says: "Immediately appear at some cultural center", something is supposedly going to happen there. The people themselves who issued it, they said that it's not necessary right now, at night, but tomorrow morning.

АП: Were in civilian clothes? There were no IDs, they didn't introduce themselves in any way?

ЖБ: Yes, yes.

АП: What did your father do? Did he sign this paper?

ЖБ: He was confused... Of course, we thought about the fact that they might conscript him too, since now they're grabbing everyone indiscriminately. But, naturally, it was still unexpected. He took the summons, but didn't sign, just put a cross.

АП: That is, they gave him a paper where he should sign that he received it?

ЖБ: Yes, that's right.

АП: What happened next? What was the reaction? What did your father do, what did you do?

ЖБ: Of course, it was scary. He came, I just heard that something was said about a summons. I started calling friends, mom, I got scared. Then he came with the summons. He lives with his mother, he takes care of my grandmother. She, naturally, got very upset, said: "You're not going anywhere, I won't let you go anywhere." I completely agree with her.

We started looking for information, because I was sending to my friends, those who fall under the conscripts category. But here I began research in much larger volumes. I sent him various telegram channels, websites, options with AGS [editor's note: alternative civilian service], with guardianship arrangements. I started writing to Buryat activists.

АП: Do I understand correctly that you were together at the moment when this happened?

ЖБ: Yes. I returned to Buryatia for some time recently, at the most inappropriate moment.

АП: What is happening in Ulan-Ude in general? From various sources it's clear that very many are being conscripted specifically in Buryatia. Do the residents themselves explain this somehow for themselves? Are there hypotheses why specifically in this region so many people are being conscripted, ethnic Buryats?

ЖБ: In general, from the moods of my friends, acquaintances, from those I see in activist accounts, - people think this is extermination of indigenous nationalities, because very many reports and stories come specifically from national regions: Buryatia, Dagestan, Udmurtia, Yakutia. From my bell tower [editor's note: Russian idiom meaning "from my perspective"], it's very convenient to use and antagonize people who differ from you externally, who also come from not the most prosperous regions. Often not well-off, very poor, where there are no opportunities.

АП: What do the people themselves say? Are there conversations not among activists, but among ordinary citizens?

ЖБ: Yes, of course. People are against it. I know that many of my father's friends left. My friends are also planning to leave, someone has already left the country. Nobody likes this, nobody wants to die.

АП: How difficult is it now to leave Buryatia? How do people do this? Is this done by legal means or are there already workarounds?

ЖБ: As far as I know, before receiving a summons you can absolutely legally leave the country. I don't know about those who served, since there seem to be different conditions there. But even conscripts, those who are not military personnel, they can leave the country without problems, they shouldn't be restricted. But because partial mobilization has no rules, nobody knows anything. It's very difficult to search for information, because all laws are written for full [mobilization], under normal conditions. And now everything is changing right before our eyes. Someone is stopped, someone isn't stopped, so it's very difficult.

АП: Among your acquaintances are there those who didn't manage to leave, who were stopped?

ЖБ: No. Among my acquaintances, those who wanted to leave, they already left. [...] АП: We stopped at the moment of people's departure. Is there a possibility to leave?

ЖБ: There is a possibility, now buses are actively running to Ulaanbaatar, to the border with Mongolia. Now there are big queues there, as far as I know, dozens of cars are standing. Plus, many are also leaving for Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan. That is, to places where you can go quickly and without visas.

АП: Do you know about people who left already after a summons was served to them?

ЖБ: No. Among those I know, only those who left before they received a summons.

АП: Do I understand correctly that your father couldn't leave because he takes care of his mother? Or did he have thoughts about leaving?

ЖБ: He thought about leaving. But really, this would be a very difficult decision, because he would need to take care of grandmother, he has work, he's a journalist, editor at a local newspaper. If you leave, then there you need to somehow adapt, look for ways to earn money, arrange a visa, everything is also not so simple.

АП: You said that your father is a journalist. Do you have assumptions that his conscription might be connected to his work and his active [civic] position?

ЖБ: No. Their newspaper adheres to quite neutral views, and in general now there appeared a possibility that those working at this newspaper will be recalled, that is, they'll sign a decree to leave them. This is a small chance, but it exists, since journalists are needed who will cover the situation in the region and remain.

АП: Can you tell a bit more about this? Cover the situation in the region in what key and where did this assumption come from?

ЖБ: It's not known exactly. They were told this today at work. As far as I know, employers have the right to serve summonses and also they are obligated to give lists of working people, those who may be subject to conscription. From among them will already be selected those who remain, and those who go. This is decided by the military system.

АП: If I understand correctly, your father went to work today, his supervisor came to him and said that there is an order according to which journalists will be left?

ЖБ: Yes. Nobody knows for sure, because everyone is now in a conditional risk zone, but for now the information is such.

АП: Is the newspaper state-owned?

ЖБ: No, but close to them. All this will be known in a few days. For now nobody can tell anything. As far as I know, either one of the directors of the local news division, or who, in general the one without whose permission you can't sign any decrees about salary, no payments can be made, he also got a summons. Now this issue is being actively resolved in the city: what to do, how to change all this. This is all a process that's not quick, tedious and confusing.

АП: If I understand correctly, even officials and those in leadership positions in Ulan-Ude are receiving summonses?

ЖБ: About officials I can't say, I doubt this very strongly.

АП: The person you mentioned, isn't he an official?

ЖБ: No, he works at a newspaper.

АП: Are you aware of precedents when they conscript not ethnic Buryats, but, for example, ethnic Russians in Ulan-Ude? Is there some ratio? Can we say that they conscript specifically more of the indigenous population?

ЖБ: Personally I have no examples, perhaps. I know that there is one distant acquaintance, I know, he was supposedly conscripted... He's a contract soldier, he was supposedly conscripted to southern Russia. But since I have no contact with him, I can't say for sure. Personally among my friends and relatives there are no indigenous Russians. I know that Slavs live in the districts, and they were sent.

"Meduza" published a completely horrible, completely small article, where it tells about how residents of Buryatia from certain districts, almost joyfully, went off to war. For me this looks like complete antagonization of our people, that here, Buryats are warlike, so they rejoice in war. Nothing like that, people don't rejoice, people walk frightened on the streets. All conversations are only about how someone got a summons, someone is evading, someone is doing something. All conversations are only about this.

АП: You said that you have several friends who also were served summonses. What kind of people are these, do they have military experience or not? Is their summons the same as came to your father, or is it more official?

ЖБ: We haven't discussed this much with them, since honestly, there's no time for this. They're about 20 years old, they, I think, didn't even serve - many of them. This obligatory year - they didn't even fall under it. They studied at university or worked. One of my friends - I was corresponding with him yesterday - he says, a summons came to him, he should appear in early October, on the 3rd.

АП: What do these people plan to do?

ЖБ: Of those who got summonses, they plan to apply for AGS [editor's note: alternative civilian service].

АП: That is, fight for refusal of military service, correct?

ЖБ: Yes, [want to go for] alternative state service, since nobody wants to go to war. They're against it, they will try to get AGS, possibly now this is very-very difficult, but while there is such an option, they will try.

АП: Can you approximately say how many of your acquaintances have already received summonses?

ЖБ: About 5 people.

АП: All these are people without combat experience?

ЖБ: Yes.

АП: As far as I understand, there is now an active anti-war movement in Buryatia, is this so?