“Tatars have never been enemies of Ukrainians,” Rafis Kashapov, head of the government of Independent Tatarstan in exile
29 August 2025 15:28
INTERVIEW
Colonization and repression by the Russian Federation, says the leader of the Tatar movement, did not break the people’s desire for independence.
on August 30, Tatarstan celebrates the Day of the Republic of Tatarstan. This holiday was established in honor of the adoption of the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Tatarstan on August 30, 1990.
Despite the fact that Tatarstan never became an independent state, in the 1990s it managed to defend its significant powers and status as a strong subject of the Russian Federation.
However, when Vladimir Putin came to power, the republic gradually lost most of its rights. The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation declared the provisions on Tatarstan’s sovereignty unconstitutional, and in 2002 the State Council of the republic adopted a new version of the Constitution, harmonizing it with Russian legislation.
Tatar activist Rafis Kashapov spent three years in prison for picketing against the occupation of Crimea, and after his release, he left Tatarstan and joined the Government of Independent Tatarstan in exile. In an interview with Kommersant Ukrainian, he spoke about the repression of Tatars, the struggle for the independence of his homeland, and how the Kremlin is forcing his people to fight against Ukraine.
Mr. Rafis, to what extent is the idea of full state sovereignty and independence from Russia popular among the Tatars today?
35 years ago, we adopted the declaration of sovereignty of Tatarstan, and then the people celebrated this event with great enthusiasm. Thousands of people took to the central streets with posters reading “Sovereign Tatarstan,” “Declaration,” and “Tatarstan is an independent state.” The main events took place on Freedom Square, where not only residents of Kazan, but also residents of neighboring cities and other republics gathered.
There were even telegrams of support from other countries, such as the United States, Finland, Turkey, and China. Everyone was interested in Tatarstan becoming a sovereign state.
on March 21, 1992, a referendum on the status of the republic was held in Tatarstan. It was attended by 81.7% of the population. The question was: “Do you want the Republic of Tatarstan to be a subject of international law, a sovereign state that has the right to establish relations with the Russian Federation and other states on the basis of equal treaties?”
61.4% answered “yes,” supporting the creation of an independent Tatar state. But the Russian empire and the local pro-Russian elite grossly ignored this expression of will.
I am convinced that even today the majority of Tatars would vote for Tatarstan’s independence. The reasons are obvious: first, approximately 1.3 trillion rubles go from Tatarstan to Moscow every year. This is an outright robbery that everyone knows about. Second, a lot of Tatars have already died in the war against Ukraine.
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Do you know how many Tatarstan residents Russia sent to fight against Ukraine?
Three years ago, the puppet authorities of Tatarstan created five volunteer battalions for the war against Ukraine. Today, all of them have been destroyed.
In addition to those who succumbed to propaganda and voluntarily went to fight, there is forced mobilization. This is very similar to what is happening now in the occupied Ukrainian territories.
We, the government of Independent Tatarstan in exile, strongly declare that the Ukrainian people have never been and are not the enemy of the Tatar people. On the contrary, it is our friend and ally in the struggle against the Moscow occupation regime.
Tell us more about the government in exile. How was it created?
on December 24, 2008, a congress of the socio-political organization Milli Majlis of the Tatar People was held in Naberezhnye Chelny. More than a hundred delegates from different regions of Russia and dozens of representatives of Tatar organizations adopted the program documents of the National Assembly.
As a result of the work of the Mejlis, an appeal was adopted to the presidents and parliaments of other states and to the UN with a request to recognize the state sovereignty of Tatarstan.
At the same time, a government-in-exile (Milli Nazarat) was formed, headed by US citizen Wil Mirzayanov. on February 5, 2023, he resigned, and during an expanded online meeting, I was elected as the new head of the government of Independent Tatarstan in exile.
How does official Kyiv view your movement? Does Ukraine recognize Tatarstan’s independence?
In November 2022, we appealed to the President of Ukraine and the Verkhovna Rada to recognize our independence.
A draft resolution recognizing Tatarstan’s independence was even registered in the Ukrainian parliament. It was authored by five MPs – Oleh Dunda, Yulia Klymenko, Heorhii Mazurashu, Maria Mezentseva, and Vitalii Bezghin.
The text of the resolution refers to the tragic date of the fall of Kazan in October 1552 after the storming by Moscow troops. This was the beginning of the centuries-long genocide and ethnocide of the Tatar people, who, despite all the repression, managed to survive.
What repressions are the Russian authorities carrying out against the Tatars today?
Many people are still being persecuted in Tatarstan. For example, 70-year-old journalist and local historian Fazil Valiakhmetov has been in prison for more than 270 days for “discrediting the Russian army” – in fact, for anti-war posts in the Tatar language.
In Naberezhnye Chelny, the trial of 73-year-old Zinnur Agliullin, one of the key figures of the national movement, is underway. He is accused of making statements in support of the Tatar people. The prosecutor is demanding 2.6 years in prison.
In addition, in May of this year, Russian security forces searched the homes of me, my brother Nafis, our wives, and other activists. We are accused of “publicly justifying terrorism” for our comments on Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian military targets. This shows that the activities of the Tatar movement are a real threat to the Kremlin regime.
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Tatarstan and Chechnya have a similar experience of fighting Russia. What parallels do you see with the Chechen independence movement?
Our peoples have long supported each other. During the First Chechen War (1994-1996), the leadership of Tatarstan openly condemned Moscow’s actions, and aid was sent from Kazan to Grozny.
Back then, it was the Chechens’ armed struggle for freedom that served as an example for us. I personally met with Dzhokhar Dudayev, Aslan Maskhadov, Shamil Basayev, and Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev. Today, we are cooperating with the government of independent Ichkeria headed by Akhmed Zakayev.
We believe it is important to bring Tatars and Chechens closer together politically and culturally, and to create a common platform for diplomatic cooperation in the future.
Asif Aliyev
