Demonstrators in the Russian region of Bashkortostan grew to number several thousand people on January 17, who clashed with police in what is now the largest public protests since the war in Ukraine started almost two years ago.

Dozens were arrested in the town in central Russia near the Kazakh border, as security forces fired tear gas and beat protesters with batons, according to local media reports.

The public was outraged by the arrest of Bashkir activist Fail Alsynov who was sentenced to four years in prison under charges of inciting hatred and ignited the largest protest in Russia in two years.

Thousands of Alsynov supporters gathered outside the courthouse during the trial that started several days ago in a rare show of public dissent.

Alsynov is well known in the region for being at the forefront of a movement dedicated to preserving Bashkir language and culture, one of Russia’s hundreds of ethnic minorities, as well as being staunchly opposed to environmentally damaging gold mining operations in the region. The advocacy group, Bashkort, was labelled as extremist in 2020 by the government that has sharply cracked down on any sort of opposition movement, creating legal troubles for Alsynov.

The problems started when Alsynov was imprisoned after delivered a speech in the spring of 2023, where he used the expression "kara halyk" at a rally to protest illegal gold mining, which is a derogatory terms translated to “black people” in Russian in reference to Caucasus residents. He complained that while Bashkirs fight in Ukraine, their lands in Bashkortostan are being taken by immigrants from the south.

The local governor Radiy Khabirov, who is a former deputy head of domestic policy for the presidential office, subsequently filed an official complaint of inciting racial hatred. Alsynov denied the accusation, claiming his words had been mistranslated from Bashkir.

Alsynov's supporters allege that the case against him was initiated following a complaint from the regional head, Radiy Khabirov, The Bell reports. The verdict, initially scheduled for January 15, was postponed due to the gathering of thousands of protesters demanding Khabirov's resignation.

Despite efforts to suppress the protest using riot police, it persisted and reached a violent crescendo after the guilty verdict was announced on January 17.

The violence escalated after police used stun grenades and tear gas against the protestors. Reports indicate injuries among protesters, with some urging compatriots fighting in Ukraine to return home and defend their land.

The Kremlin has become extremely sensitive to public protests since the start of the war in Ukraine almost two years ago, afraid of galvanising anti-war sentiment, which has been rising slowly, but remains low for the time being. At the same time, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s bid to be re-elected president for the fifth time kicked off in December and the Kremlin is keen to portray Russia as a peaceful and prosperous place ahead of the election Putin is widely expected to win by a landslide.

Since the return and jailing of opposition blogger and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny in January 2021 the Kremlin has abandoned any subtlety in repressing opposition groups and grown almost totally intolerant of any form of protest at all, banning demonstrations and closing down NGOs and opposition media outlets en masse.

Following the start of the Bashkortostan protests, Russia’s Investigative Committee opened a criminal case for organising and participating in mass riots and using violence against a government official. Charges under these serious offences are being investigated, with the committee claiming that the riots involved violence with objects used as weapons, causing injuries, including to law enforcement officers. The charges could be used against any participant in the demonstrations.

In addition to promoting Bashkirian culture, Alsynov is better known as an organiser of protests against the mining development of Kushtau.

The timing of Alsynov's sentencing, just two months before the presidential elections, and the security forces' swift response to the protests, highlights the political tension beneath the surface. Notably, the authorities rapidly shut down opposition Bashkir channels on Telegram to prevent the protests spreading and becoming coordinated – a technical ability the Kremlin has not previously possessed. WhatsApp users in the republic also reportedly faced difficulties accessing the app.

Telegram has played a key role in demonstrations across the Former Soviet Union (FSU) in recent years. As bne IntelliNews reported, the Nexta telegram channel played a central role in the Belarusian mass protests that started in August 2020 after Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko massively falsified the returns on the presidential elections.

The Kremlin tried to block Telegram in 2018, but the government finally gave up on trying to block Telegram after a two-year-long battle and removed a ban on the service, which ran circles around the security services attempts to cut it off. Since then the Kremlin has invested heavily in new technological services provided by US companies that now gives it the power to control access to the service.

Alsynov was convicted of breaking Article 318 of the Criminal Code, which was previously employed against participants in mass protests supporting Navalny in January 2021 – the last sizable protests in Russia with hundreds of thousands coming out to demonstrate in what some hoped would turn into a revolution that could oust Putin.

Half a dozen protesters in Bashkortostan now face up to 15 years in jail on charges of “mass rioting” in Baymak. The number of detentions reported by independent Russian media varies.

The situation in Bashkiria, known for its military-industrial complex and significant mobilizations, presents challenges for the authorities, as momentum builds. The Kremlin has already launched a counteroffensive with government-aligned bloggers attributing the unrest to external influences.