Buddhist Buryats and Kalmyks Commit War Crimes in Ukraine, but It’s Not a Matter of Religion
Russia’s Buddhist minorities figure prominently in war crime stories from Ukraine. That’s because they got russified.
A shocking video got viral in late July 2022 where Russian army soldiers emasculate a Ukrainian prisoner of war. The main perpetrator has been originally identified as coming from Kalmykia (although Yakutia and Tuva were also named later).
The Republic of Kalmykia, sometimes called the only Buddhist land in Europe, is located in the east of the European part of the Russian Federation, at the northwestern shore of the Caspian Sea. Its indigenous population is Kalmyks, a people of Mongol descent. Most of them are followers of Tibetan Buddhism.
Yes, the war in Ukraine is more than just Orthodox Christian Russians against Orthodox Christian Ukrainians. Russia is actively mobilizing its minorities of various faiths. Muslim Chechens, the “Kadyrovites”, are notorious for their violence during this conflict, too.
The third group, after ethnic Russians and Chechens, that gets the most attention in relation to atrocities in Ukraine, in particular in Bucha, is Buryats. They have been present in Donbas since Russia created here its puppet “governments” in 2014. Borderline racist Internet memes about “combat Buryats” were known in Ukraine long before the full-scale invasion of 2022.
The Republic of Buryatia is located in Siberia, to the north of Mongolia, near Lake Baikal. As well as Kalmyks, Buryats are of Mongol origin and predominantly profess Tibetan Buddhism.
So why are followers of what some call the most peaceful religion in the world — although historically Buddhist “human, all too human” acts of violence are not that infrequent — so grossly cruel in this war?
Some may say that, in the case of Buryats and Kalmyks, it’s their Mongol blood, Gengkhis Khan and all, but in fact it hardly has anything to do with their origin or religion. These Mongol peoples were subjugated and bullied by the Russians for centuries, so they are no longer the dominant alphas of the Middle Ages.
It’s rather a matter of psychology. When underdogs want to get some respect from their masters, or at least not to be bullied that much, they try to imitate the masters.
Russians “colonized” and subjugated over a hundred ethnic groups. Some of them are now extinct, while others are close to extinction with only a few representatives left. Multiple larger groups have their own republics with nominal autonomy within the Russian Federation, but, ironically, in some of these republics they are but a minority.
There are actually only a few republics where indigenous peoples are the absolute majority. (Below, I’m using approximate numbers from the 2010 census.)
In Chechnya, Chechens make up 95% of population. In Ingushetia, almost 95% are the Ingush. In North Ossetia, 65% are Ossetians and 20% are Russians.
Dagestan is a multinational republic populated by multiple groups of the Nakh-Daghestani family as well as some Turkic peoples, most notably Kumyks, with only 3.5% of Russians.
In Karachay-Cherkessia, 40% are Karachays, 12% are the Cherkess (Circassians), and about 32% are Russians. In Adygea, only 25% are the Adyghe (a group of Circassians), and about 63% are Russians. In Kabardino-Balkaria, Kabardians (another Circassian group) make up 57%, while 13% are Balkars and 22% are Russians.
In Karelia, Karelians only make up 7.5% of population, while 82% are Russians. In the Komi Republic, 24% are the Komi and 65% are Russians.
In Tatarstan, 53% are Tatars, and almost 40% are Russians. In Bashkortostan, less than 30% are Bashkirs, 25% are Tatars, and 35% are Russians. In Chuvashia, almost 68% are the Chuvash and 27% are Russians. In Mordovia, 40% are Mordvins (Erzyas and Mokshas) and 53% are Russians. In Mari El, 42% are the Mari and 45% are Russians. In Udmurtia, only 28% are Udmurts and 62% are Russians.
In Sakha (Yakutia), 50% are Yakuts (Sakha) and 38% are Russians. (Some sources claimed that the war criminal from the viral video is a Yakut. Many Yakuts still practice a traditional animistic religion.)
In Altai, only 34% are Altaians and 57% are Russians. In Khakassia, the Khakas make up only 12% of population while 80% are Russians.
In Chukotka (an autonomous region, although not a republic), only 25% are the Chukchi and 50% are Russians. In Evenkia (an autonomous district), only 21% are Evenks, and 62% are Russians. In Koryakia (also an autonomous district), Koryaks make up 30% while over 46% are Russians.
In the Yamalo-Nenets autonomous region, only 6% are the Nenets and 62% are Russians. In the Khanty-Mansi autonomous region, the Khanty and the Mansi together make up only 2% while 68% are Russians.
Finally, in the three republics with significant numbers of Buddhists — the aforementioned Buryatia and Kalmykia as well as Tuva (Bellingcat and The Insider claim that they have identified the war criminal as a Tuvan; Tuvans, unlike Buryats and Kalmyks, are a Turkic people, but they also profess Tibetan Buddhism) — the situation is as follows: In Buryatia, Buryats make up less than 30% while 65% are Russians; in Kalmykia, 57% are Kalmyks and 30% are Russians; and in Tuva, 82% are Tuvans and 16% are Russians.
The pattern is clear. With few exceptions, Russians are either the majority or a significant group constituting between 20% and 50% of population. Since it’s the Russian Federation, and considering the imperialist history, even when Russians aren’t the majority, they tend to behave as the masters.
Russian influence on other ethnic groups is so powerful that it’s often hard to say which behavioral traits are inherent to a group and which ones were borrowed from Russians. Despite low presence of Russians in Chechnya, even Ramzan Kadyrov’s behavior often makes one wonder how much of it is typical Chechen temper and how much is trying to look cool in the eyes of his Kremlin masters.
In other words, to avoid being bullied and looked upon as inferior, people from those minorities often try to behave like bullies, emulating their Russian role models.
A perfect example of such a role model would be gopniks — those squatting Slavs in tracksuits you’ve probably seen in pictures (if you’ve never been to Russia). They are low-educated dregs of society who worship the criminal world, use prison jargon, and enjoy mobbing and bullying those who are weak or who look different.
And although Ukraine, too, inherited the gopnik phenomenon from the USSR, here it’s long out of fashion, a fringe minority, an endangered species. In Russia, on the other hand, this scum is held in high esteem as “normal guys” and “true men” (and women) as they like to call themselves.
In civilian life, only a small percentage of gopniks commit grave crimes, while the rest make do with theft, brawls, bullying, domestic abuse, and other petty misdeeds, and some prefer to stay on the periphery and mimic only those aspects of the alpha behavior that would give them some respect without getting in trouble.
But in war there is no law — the Geneva Conventions and other international acts have proved to be impotent and ineffective, — and so those infected with the imperialist culture can give free rein to their sick fantasies.
It’s a matter not of religion or ethnic background, but of values inculcated in the process of Russification.