Residents of Ulan-Ude in Russia’s Far East republic of Buryatia were taken by surprise to learn that local authorities plan to construct a new prison for 3,000 inmates near their homes. “We were not informed about this terrible news that they plan to build a mega-prison, a special regime zone,” one local resident said in a group video appeal to officials. “I really don't know who could decide to settle criminals right in the regional capital."
Russia's long persecuted ethnic minorities Buryats, Chechens and Yakuts have seized on the war in Ukraine to make a case for the independence of their own regions. They say the conflict has laid bare Russia's violent and imperial mentality, not just in Eastern Europe, but within its own borders.
Officials unveiled a monument in the Buryatia republic in Siberia, which has reportedly borne a disproportionate brunt of mobilization for the Ukraine war.