Am 16. August 2020 verteidigten die Baschkiren den Kushtau Shihan vor der Zerstörung durch das russische Regime

In August 2020, protests began on the Kushtau shikhan (mountain) in Bashkortostan against its destruction for the purpose of resource extraction. The shikhan is a solitary mountain that was formed as a remnant of the reefs of the ancient Permian Sea (there used to be a sea in the Urals, but now there isn’t). There were 4 shikhans in total, but during the Soviet era, the Shakhtau shikhan was destroyed for the purpose of resource extraction. Now the Bashkir Soda Company has run out of resources and they have decided to destroy Kushtau as well in order to continue their operations. In fact, there are other, more favorable ways of extracting resources, but it was easier for the soda company to destroy another shikhan, because it is more economically profitable for the company. The shikhans are a symbol of Bashkortostan and there are no such shikhans anywhere else. The Bashkir people rebelled against this and defended the mountain. Of course, the destruction of the shikhan was supported by the so-called head of Bashkortostan, Radiy Khabirov, because he could make a profit from it.

From August 3 to 16, the Bashkirs fought for the mountain and defended it. Then Fail Alsynov showed himself, who became one of the leaders of the Bashkir national movement and because of his detention in January 2024, the largest protests since the beginning of the war in Ukraine took place in Bashkortostan. Kushtau was defended and Radiy Khabirov admitted his defeat.

There are 3 shihans in total – Kushtau, Yuraktau and Toratau. Tau means mountain in Bashkir.

Bashkirs are fighting for independence. Join the r/Bashkortostan and learn news about our fight for freedom!