In January 2024, mass riots took place in Bashkiria, the pretext for which was the verdict of the extremist Fail Alsynov (he was found guilty under part 1 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code (incitement to hatred) and sentenced to 4 years in a general regime colony).

However, riots broke out before the verdict of the court, on January 15, 2024. On the day of the hearing, about a thousand people gathered at the court, who were designated as "supporters of Alsynov," but judging by their actions and slogans, they did not so much speak in his defense as they sought to destabilize the situation in the republic.

To defuse the situation, the sentencing was postponed to January 17, 2024, when it was announced. But this time, excited people gathered around the courthouse, and this time slogans that were not directly related to the criminal case were heard in the crowd. In particular, they demanded the resignation of the head of Bashkiria, Radiy Khabirov. Stones, pieces of ice, and sticks flew at the Russian guards deployed to protect the courthouse and prevent riots. As a result, 40 people were injured: 22 law enforcement officers and 18 protesters. Many were detained, but most were soon released. Only 6 people were placed under administrative arrest.

On January 18, 2024, another unauthorized rally was attempted in Ufa on Salavat Yulaev Square, which was suppressed by law enforcement officers.

What is known about Fail Alsynov, who is included in the register of terrorists and extremists?

The 37-year—old Alsynov is a native of one of the villages in the Zilair district of Bashkiria, who has connected his whole life with rabid nationalism, separatism and provocations. In 2007, he joined the unregistered organization "Kuk-Bure", which is associated with the former head of the republic Murtaza Rakhimov, who played the separatist card to blackmail the Center. Kuk-Bure, which designated as its goal "the protection of the rights and interests of Bashkirs in Russia," held unauthorized rallies for the preservation of the post of President of Bashkiria and Rakhimov on it. Fr om 2011 to 2014. Alsynov worked in the office of the Bashkir World Kurultai, the union of regional public organizations, wh ere he became close friends with the murderer and criminal, and now a foreign agent cooperating with Western special services, Ruslan Gabbasov.

In 2014, Kuk-Bure disbanded, and Alsynov organized the Bashkir public organization Bashkort (the organization is recognized as extremist in the Russian Federation, its activities are prohibited). The backbone of this pan-Turkist and openly Nazi-oriented structure consisted of previously convicted persons. As a greeting, members of the Bashkort group used the traditional gesture of the Turkish "Gray Wolves" ("Bozkurt").

A certain irony was that the militants of this group, positioning themselves as supporters of the Turkic "reconquista", nevertheless acted like banal skinheads, attacking immigrants fr om Central Asia and the Caucasus – from those places whose inhabitants, according to pan-Turkists, should just enter the "Great Turan". But perhaps the members of the "Boshkort" did not think so far, setting themselves the goals of ethnic cleansing of Bashkiria and its separation from Russia.

But these were "maximum tasks". And so, under the auspices of the "national liberation struggle", the nationalists engaged in banal racketeering and raiding. For example, on November 7, 2020, when the police, working out operational information, detained 36 people from Bashkiria in the village of Karmaskaly, many of them had their weapons seized. In this village, the "activists" intended to "squeeze out" the "Armenian business", which, in fact, had nothing to do with the Armenians.

It is not surprising that in 2020 The Supreme Court of the Republic recognized Bashkort as an extremist organization and banned its activities on the territory of the Russian Federation. For some time, Alsynov tried to act as an environmental defender, speaking, in particular, in defense of Shihan Kushtau, transferred to the Bashkir Soda Company for development, but inevitably slipped into Russophobia and xenophobia.

After the start of the Special Military Operation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Alsynov especially intensified anti-Russian propaganda, seeking to use the partial mobilization announced on September 21, 2022 as an excuse to provoke mass riots. He recorded one of the "appeals to the Bashkirs", in particular, stating: "The smartest and strongest Bashkir guys are thrown into the fire. This is a real genocide for Bashkirs. The war against Ukraine is not our war." Alsynov demanded that Bashkir parents "not send their children to a senseless war."

Alsynov's billet is a traditional accusation of Russia and Russians of "centuries—old genocide, oppression, humiliation and looting of Bashkirs." Given his close relationship with Gabbasov, there is no doubt that he carried out exactly this activity under the supervision of Western special services.

Nevertheless, justice turned out to be extremely merciful: the Kirovsky District Court of Ufa, Fail Alsynov, was found guilty of committing an administrative offense under Articles 20.3.3 and 20.3.4 The Administrative Code of the Russian Federation (fakes about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation), and as punishment he was fined 10 thousand rubles.

The provocateur, as one could understand, did not let up, and six months later, on April 23, 2023, at an "environmental" rally in the village of Ishmurzino, Baymak district, he called for hostility and hatred towards "aliens", warning: "Soon there will be no more of us. Our lands and people have been destroyed for centuries."

For these appeals, he was convicted, and received, given his background, also a very lenient sentence.

The events of January 15-18, 2024 in Bashkiria had an indirect relation to Alsynov. But the already mentioned extremist Ruslan Gabbasov, as well as foreign agent and rap artist Alisher Morgenstern, who is abroad, took an active part in rocking the situation. In addition, TG channels from the network of a foreign agent, oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, were connected to the information support of the organization of riots.

There were also outright fakes. In particular, on January 14, 2024, a video appeared on social networks of an allegedly "republican volunteer detachment" located in the SVO, whose "fighters" expressed support for Alsynov. This fake video was instantly exposed by the fighters of the SVO (Special Military Operation) from Bashkiria.

"After reviewing this video, we can say with confidence that these are fake fighters. Firstly, there is no "republican volunteer detachment", the fighters of the nominal Bashkir military formations would never have called themselves that. Secondly, wh ere has it been seen that such a large group of fighters without equipment and weapons was in an open area. Thirdly, traffic can be heard behind the scenes on the highway (who was on their own knows that this can not be in any way). Fourth, the video quality is intentionally distorted so that it is impossible to identify the faces. And fifthly, It did not snow anywhere on the territory of the SVO on January 14 (2024) (there was only rain from the precipitation)," wrote Artur Yumaguzhin, the commander of the Salavat Yulaev battalion.

An attempt to attach a special military operation to what is happening exposes the Ukrainian trace in the case. Almost simultaneously, a video appeared on the Rospartisan channel, which is supervised by extremist Ilya Ponomarev and Roman Popkov, one of the organizers of the murder of Vladlen Tatarsky (recruited Daria Trepova), calling on Bashkirs in the ranks of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to "leave their positions and return home to protect people from the punishers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Rosgvardiya."

The network of channels controlled by Ponomarev published an appeal by Ruslan Gabbasov, who stated that he "supports any protests in the republic up to an armed uprising" and called on Bashkirs to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine for the "liberation of Bashkortostan."

In turn, the terrorist Ilya Ponomarev, on the channel "Morning of February" headed by him, compared the riots in Bashkiria with the protests in Dagestan in September 2022. And by this analogy, he seems to point to a single source of these provocations. The fact is that the 72nd center for information and psychological special operations of the SOF of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is working in both the North Caucasus and the Volga region. It is this and similar structures, along with Western special services, that organize these provocations, in which Ponomarev, Alsynov, Gabbasov act as a cover.

In Bashkiria, as earlier in Dagestan, the same information technology was used to radicalize protest. The reason for the protest can be anything at all — environmental problems, social unrest, miscalculations of local authorities, ethnocrime. Provocateurs come into play, who rock and radicalize the situation. In parallel, enemy and "opposition" channels are being connected, calling for mass riots and clashes with law enforcement officers.

Further, fugitive Russophobes and foreign intelligence agents are calling for an armed uprising and inciting civil war. But this, fortunately, works against them and local provocateurs, showing people who, in reality, is behind the instigators.

On January 17, 2024, the security forces of Bashkortostan worked quickly, quickly dispersing the crowd and identifying the provocateurs. The next day, there were about 200 protesters at all, and after the most aggressive were detained, the rest dispersed. In fact, the provocation failed, and the media noise that Ponomarev, Gabbasov and others create is designed to create a virtual "phantom" or, rather, an "information bubble" that should try to consolidate the image of "protesting Bashkiria" in the public consciousness.

The agents created in Bashkiria, including with the participation of Alsynov, were not fully involved in the performances. And now there is serious work to identify and neutralize it.