Protest
Baymak protests, 2024
The jailing of Bashkir activist Fail Alsynov triggered one of Russia's largest wartime protests, followed by mass prosecutions.
What happened
On 17 January 2024, a court in Baymak sentenced Bashkir activist Fail Alsynov to four years in a penal colony over a speech about a proposed gold mine, in which he used the term "kara khalyk" ("common people"); law enforcement characterised the term as a xenophobic slur, a characterisation Alsynov and his supporters disputed.[1]
The sentencing triggered protests beginning 15 January 2024 in Baymak, with an estimated 3,000 participants — one of the largest public demonstrations in Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022; riot police used tear gas, batons and flashbang grenades to disperse the crowd, injuring at least 40 people.[2] Nearly 80 people were subsequently convicted or faced trial in the "Baymak case," with human rights organisations characterising some as political prisoners.[3]
Analysts have linked the protests to Bashkortostan's longer history of political and cultural grievance dating to the 1990s sovereignty movement.[4]
Sources for this page
Each number marks a specific claim. Notes give the source, its locator and how it relates to the claim.
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1.
Claim: On 17 January 2024, a court in Baymak sentenced Bashkir activist Fail Alsynov to four years in a penal colony over a speech he gave to villagers in Ishmurzino about the consequences of a proposed gold mine, in which he used the term "kara khalyk" ("common people"); law enforcement characterised the term as a xenophobic slur, which Alsynov and his supporters disputed.
- Court in Russia's Bashkortostan sentences activist Fail Alsynov to four years in prison, sparking renewed protests (Meduza, 17 January 2024) link, article text. Source record
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2.
Claim: The sentencing triggered protests beginning 15 January 2024 in Baymak, with an estimated 3,000 participants — one of the largest public demonstrations in Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022; riot police used tear gas, batons and flashbang grenades to disperse the crowd, injuring at least 40 people.
- 2024 Bashkortostan protests (Wikipedia) link, Protest and response sections. Source record
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3.
Claim: Following the protests, nearly 80 people were convicted or faced trial in the "Baymak case," with human rights organisations including Memorial's successor groups characterising some of those convicted as political prisoners.
- 2024 Bashkortostan protests (Wikipedia) link, Aftermath section. Source record
- Court in Russia's Bashkortostan sentences activist Fail Alsynov to four years in prison, sparking renewed protests (Meduza, 17 January 2024) link, article text. Source record
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4.
Claim: Analysts have linked the 2024 Baymak protests to a longer history of Bashkir political and cultural grievance dating to the 1990s sovereignty movement, describing the episode as a rare instance of large-scale, ethnically framed protest within Russia during the war in Ukraine. Attributed to The Moscow Times analysis, August 2025
- From Rakhimov to Khabirov: How Bashkortostan Became the Seedbed of Russia's Indigenous-Led Protests (The Moscow Times, 13 August 2025) link, article text. Source record