Russian disaster in Tuva. The taboo topic of Putin's power
The territory of the Republic of Tyva is located on a high mountain plateau between the spurs of the Sayan Mountains. There are only two roads leading here from Russia and one from Mongolia. Such inaccessibility allowed the Tuvans to preserve not only their pristine nature, but also their national identity.
Han and salty tea
Tuvan cuisine will shock everyone who is introduced to the culinary traditions of this people for the first time. The most common treat for guests is khan, a dish made from a whole ram, after cooking which only the skin, horns and hooves remain from the animal.
Tuvans have great respect for animals. They believe that the khan will only come from a ram that was not afraid of death. If an animal experiences fear, it spoils the taste of its blood. Therefore, before killing the ram, they put it into a trance: they put it on its back, with its hooves up. Blood is an important component of the khan, and it should not flow out of the body. To do this, the animal is killed with lightning speed, cutting its trachea in one second.
When cutting the carcass, all the blood is collected in a separate container to prepare blood sausage. Then the intestines are thoroughly washed, filled with blood and boiled over a fire in a large cauldron. Then the meat is cooked. It is noteworthy that no spices are added to the rich broth except onions and salt.
An amazing drink - Tuvan khan tea. Actually, there is not much tea there: a couple of handfuls of black or green tea are added to a large cauldron with boiling milk. But instead of sugar they put salt and sometimes add ghee. Tuvans say that such a drink is refreshing in the heat.
Throat singing
Tuvan throat singing - khoomei - is famous throughout the world. Sounds are produced not with the help of the vocal cords, but due to the contraction of the diaphragm. Professional khoomeiji rarely live long: due to the constant trembling of internal organs, they quickly wear out.
Only a few years ago, singing songs in the national style in Tuva was recognized as a profession, and now Tuvan khoomeidzhi receive a state pension.
The human ear is not able to hear the full range of sounds produced by throat singing masters. However, some animals can hear ultrasound, and they can also affect the human subconscious.
The very first known khoomeiji is considered to be the Nightingale the Robber - the same Mongol warrior whose whistle caused horses to fall dead.
Buddhist calendar
Tuvans live according to the Tibetan lunar calendar. They usually celebrate New Year - Shagaa - in February. Every resident of the republic is well versed in the Tibetan horoscope and takes it very seriously.
His whole life depends on whether a person was born in the year of the Rat or the Dog. This factor is also taken into account in everyday matters. For example, only those born in the year of the Horse can pour alcoholic drinks, then the feast will pass peacefully.
When choosing a date for major events and celebrations, Tuvans always consult the lamas. Buddhist monks will tell you the best time for a wedding or a long trip.
Shamanism and animalism
The official religion - Buddhism - in the Tuvan consciousness is perfectly combined with shamanism, which is very developed in the republic. Moreover, unlike other “shamanic” regions, there are no artists here dancing with a tambourine for the amusement of the public.
The shaman is a very important person in Tyva. People go to him if they need to improve their health, find a lost item, find out the past and future, communicate with deceased relatives, and even order the weather for a certain day.
Each Tuvan clan has its own animal patron - a wolf or a hawk, a snake or a fox. In general, Tuvans have close contact with the world of wildlife. Some shepherds even manage to tame snow leopards. And the inhabitants of remote pastures “negotiate” with local wolf packs so that they do not attack their livestock.
Children's racing
According to legend, Genghis Khan’s mother was a Tuvan, and they are still looking for his grave somewhere here in the Sayan Mountains. Tuvans sacredly honor this historical kinship. From an early age, Tuvan boys are brought up as powerful fighters, which is why the Mongols call Tyva “the land of heroes.” One confirmation of this is the two-time world champion in sumo wrestling, Tuvan Ayas Mongush. And the national wrestling - khuresh - is very popular among Tuvan boys.
Another passion of Tuvans is horses. Every year, races are held in Tuva, in which anyone can take part. This sport is so popular that the winners get really expensive prizes, such as cars.
But the most amazing thing is the jockeys. The average age of riders is three to four years. After all, the lighter the rider, the faster the horse gallops.
A place in heaven for five
There are many strange customs in Tuva. For example, girls get married only at “odd” ages - 17, 19, 21 years old. Moreover, if she becomes pregnant out of wedlock, this is not condemned.
Tuvans love children very much and strive to have many children. It is believed that if a woman gives birth to five children, she automatically gets a place in heaven. This rule also applies to adopted children, which is why there are no street children at all in Tyva.
Funeral traditions are also interesting. Only in the 20th century did regular cemeteries appear in Tyva. Previously, the deceased were not buried in the ground, but were left in the steppe, having built a stone mound over the body. It is customary to greet the dead with applause to ward off evil spirits.
If a child clapped his hands while playing, then his hands were spread to the sides, they spat on his palms three times and drew crosses with soot (they clap their hands when there is bad news). Therefore, clapping your hands, and even more so stormy applause to express delight, is completely alien to Tuvans.
During the Great Patriotic War, the Germans called the Tuvans “Der Schwarze Tod” - “Black Death”. The Tuvans fought to the death even with the obvious superiority of the enemy, and did not take prisoners.
"This is our war!"
The Tuvan People's Republic became part of the Soviet Union already during the war, on August 17, 1944. In the summer of 1941, Tuva was de jure an independent state. In August 1921, the White Guard detachments of Kolchak and Ungern were expelled from there. The capital of the republic became the former Belotsarsk, renamed Kyzyl (Red City). Soviet troops were withdrawn from Tuva by 1923, but the USSR continued to provide all possible assistance to Tuva, without claiming its independence. It is commonly said that Great Britain was the first to support the USSR in the war, but this is not so. Tuva declared war on Germany and its allies on June 22, 1941, 11 hours before Churchill's historic radio statement. Mobilization immediately began in Tuva, the republic declared its readiness to send its army to the front. 38 thousand Tuvan arats stated in a letter to Joseph Stalin: “We are together. This is our war too." Regarding the declaration of Tuva War on Germany, there is a historical legend that when Hitler found out about this, he was amused and did not even bother to find this republic on the map. But in vain.
Everything for the front!
Immediately after the start of the war, Tuva transferred to Moscow its gold reserves (about 30 million rubles) and all production of Tuvan gold (10-11 million rubles annually). Tuvans truly accepted the war as their own. This is evidenced by the amount of assistance that the poor republic provided to the front. From June 1941 to October 1944, Tuva supplied 50,000 war horses and 750,000 head of cattle for the needs of the Red Army. Each Tuvan family gave from 10 to 100 heads of cattle to the front. The Tuvans literally put the Red Army on skis, supplying 52,000 pairs of skis to the front. Prime Minister of Tuva Saryk-Dongak Chimba wrote in his diary: “they destroyed the entire birch forest near Kyzyl.” In addition, the Tuvans sent 12,000 sheepskin coats, 19,000 pairs of mittens, 16,000 pairs of felt boots, 70,000 tons of sheep wool, 400 tons of meat, ghee and flour, carts, sleighs, harnesses and other goods totaling about 66.5 million rubles. To help the USSR, the arats collected 5 echelons of gifts worth more than 10 million Tuvan aksha (rate 1 aksha - 3 rubles 50 kopecks), food for hospitals worth 200,000 aksha. According to Soviet expert estimates, presented, for example, in the book “The USSR and Foreign States in 1941-1945”, the total supplies of Mongolia and Tuva to the USSR in 1941-1942 in volume were only 35% less than the total volume of Western allied supplies to those years in the USSR - that is, from the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, the Union of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand combined.
"Black Death"
The first Tuvan volunteers (about 200 people) joined the Red Army in May 1943. After a short training, they were enlisted in the 25th separate tank regiment (since February 1944, it was part of the 52nd Army of the 2nd Ukrainian Front). This regiment fought on the territory of Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. In September 1943, the second group of volunteer cavalrymen (206 people) were enrolled, after training in the Vladimir region, into the 8th Cavalry Division. The Cavalry Division took part in raids behind enemy lines in western Ukraine. After the battle of Durazhno in January 1944, the Germans began to call the Tuvans “Der Schwarze Tod” - “Black Death”. The captured German officer G. Remke said during interrogation that the soldiers entrusted to him “subconsciously perceived these barbarians (Tuvians) as the hordes of Attila” and lost all combat effectiveness... Here it must be said that the first Tuvan volunteers were a typical national unit , they were dressed in national costumes and wore amulets. Only at the beginning of 1944 did the Soviet command ask Tuvan soldiers to send their “objects of Buddhist and shamanic cult” to their homeland. The Tuvans fought bravely. The command of the 8th Guards Cavalry Division wrote to the Tuvan government: “... with the enemy’s clear superiority, the Tuvans fought to the death. So, in the battles near the village of Surmiche, 10 machine gunners led by the squad commander Dongur-Kyzyl and an anti-tank rifle crew led by Dazhy-Seren died in this battle, but did not retreat a single step, fighting until the last bullet. Over 100 enemy corpses were counted before a handful of brave men who died the death of heroes. They died, but where the sons of your Motherland stood, the enemy did not pass...” A squadron of Tuvan volunteers liberated 80 Western Ukrainian settlements.
Tuvan heroes
Of the 80,000 population of the Tuvan Republic, about 8,000 Tuvan soldiers took part in the Great Patriotic War. 67 soldiers and commanders were awarded orders and medals of the USSR. About 20 of them became holders of the Order of Glory, and up to 5,500 Tuvan soldiers were awarded other orders and medals of the Soviet Union and the Tuvan Republic. Two Tuvans were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union - Khomushka Churgui-ool and Tyulush Kechil-ool.
I have been to Tuva several times and could write even more, both good and bad, but the article as a whole gives everything you need for a general understanding
http://rusrep.ru/article/2011/05/25/africa_tuva/
Inner Africa
What to do with people for whom modernization is violence against the individual
There are only thirteen lines in the anthem of the Republic of Tuva, four of which are translated as follows: “When I walk in the forest, I am always happy - because here there is everything I need for life.” This region of Russia is in the top three in environmental ratings and in the bottom in terms of living standards. But for Tuvans, a developed economy is not a goal, but a horror. They don’t need the twenty-first century, or even the eighteenth, they want eternal timelessness. This social position is worthy of romantic respect, but it inevitably turns the region into either an economic hole or a colony. And, unfortunately, this “African syndrome” in Russia is more than just a Tuvan problem.
Vladimir Antipin
Tuva on its own
— After eight in the evening, do not leave the hotel unless absolutely necessary. Yes, and even before it is undesirable. If you urgently need to go somewhere, call a taxi. Here are the phones, this is a reliable company. Don’t stress when you see two people in a car: in the evenings, many people don’t dare drive there alone. Almost everyone speaks Russian in Kyzyl, but the further you go from the capital, the fewer people there will understand you. And in general, don’t pester locals unless absolutely necessary. They are kind people, and if they kill, it will be by accident.
Abakan taxi driver Lech begins his trip on the route Khakassia - Tuva with the usual instructions. Those who are going to the republic for the first time are always told about the peculiarities of life in the region, which only 65 years ago became part of Russia. Today there are only three of them: me and two military men from Saratov. They will have to pick up five Tuvan conscripts from Kyzyl and deliver them to their place of service.
“You’re lucky, guys,” Lekha smiles. — Tuvan warriors are excellent. It is not customary for the army to mow there. They will even come with their weapons.
- What about weapons? — the military man tenses.
- As usual. At best, with knives.
Today it is impossible to fly to Kyzyl by plane, by train, or by boat. And since the price of gasoline jumped to 50 rubles per liter, buses and taxis also became a luxury. A real overseas territory, much like French Guiana. The only difference is that Guiana is separated from Paris by the Atlantic Ocean, and Tuva is separated from Moscow by its own territory.
Tuva became part of the Soviet Union in 1944. Before this, for a couple of decades, local residents were citizens of the completely independent Tuvan People's Republic. In the USSR, they decided not to give the newly acquired territory the status of a union republic, limiting it only to autonomy within the RSFSR.
By the way, Taiwan still considers Tuva its territory. This island is home to China's Kuomintang government in exile. These Chinese do not recognize either the independent Tuvan People's Republic or the Republic of Tuva as part of Russia. For them, this is a part of mainland China illegally seized by the Russians called Uriankhai. About the same as the Southern Kuril Islands for Japan. However, until Russia recognizes Taiwan as an independent state, these problems need not be remembered. But as soon as we admit it, we will get another country that officially has territorial claims against us.
- Why don’t you leave the hotel after eight in the evening?
— Not specifically after eight, but when it gets dark. Because there is almost no work in the republic, so all sorts of scumbags from all over Tuva go to Kyzyl to work in the fields. Take a business card, our phone numbers are there. If you're going back, call. We'll evacuate you.
The hotel is located on the banks of the Yenisei, next to the “Center of Asia” monument - one of the main city attractions. The Republic is truly located in the geographical center of the largest continent on the planet.
There are notices on every stall: “There are no single cigarettes. Cell phones are not offered.” The most popular advertisement on local TV is taxi services; I counted at least 20 companies. Almost every local newspaper necessarily has an article about what to do with visiting journalists from Krasnoyarsk, who constantly write negative materials about the republic, hinting at the possible annexation of Tuva to the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Options for punishment: sue, spit in the face, bring here again to show that there is more good than bad in Tuva.
There are a minimum of Caucasian faces familiar to Central Russia on the streets. Tuva is a mono-ethnic region: more than 80% of the population are Tuvans. After walking around the city for an hour, I begin to roughly understand how visitors from the Caucasus or Central Asia feel when they find themselves in Moscow for the first time - it’s not very pleasant to feel like a clearly defined person of a non-local nationality. Especially when you don’t understand local rules and customs.
Which one of us is poor?
Finding a working industrial enterprise in Tuva today is problematic. The machine-building plant and the Tuvacobalt plant are closed. “Tuvaasbest” exists only by processing its own waste dumps that accumulated in the last century. All these enterprises were built during the short years of Soviet power. Then most of the visiting specialists left, and the “Russian” factories, which no one knew how to use, were transported by KamAZ trucks to neighboring regions for several years and stupidly scrapped. At one time, this was almost the only source of income, first for the local elite, and then for the ordinary population.
Thanks to mass protests by nationalists, the regional authorities in the 1990s achieved virtual independence of their territory from the rest of Russia. Moscow was busy with Chechnya and did not pay much attention to Tuva. As a result, businesses closed, Russian-speaking people fled, and locals returned to the Middle Ages. In recent years, Tuvans have lived mainly through cattle breeding and huge subsidies from the federal center. Moreover, the amount of these subsidies per capita is still significantly higher than similar subsidies allocated to the majority of the republics of the North Caucasus. This is something that people in Tuva are proud of. At least among people who consider themselves to be among the elite.
— How do you like our republic in general? — Galina Syuryun, director of the Republican Center for Folk Art, asks me.
- Nature is beautiful, but people are poor.
- Why are our people poor? — Syuryun’s voice begins to have bureaucratic notes; after all, she is first and foremost an employee of the republican government apparatus. — We recently went to a meeting in Minusinsk, Krasnoyarsk Territory. So there our delegation was almost all in mink coats, and the Minusinsk people came in Chinese down jackets. And which of us is poor?
The budget of Tuva, where 300,000 people live, exceeds 14 billion rubles. Of this, Moscow provides 10 billion in the form of direct subsidies. On a per capita basis, this is one of the best indicators in Russia. It's really a shame to be poor. True, the day before I spent half a day running around the city, trying to buy a pack of cigarettes: the stores simply didn’t have change for a thousand rubles. Apparently, federal subsidies are coming to some kind of parallel Tuva, where not everyone will be allowed.
We met with Galina Syuryun at the Republican Center of Russian Culture. There are really few Russian speakers in Tuva, therefore, unlike the rest of the country, Russians here are supported at the highest bureaucratic level - as a specially protected small people on the verge of extinction.
— Russians are largely to blame for the fact that they cannot get along with the locals. They don’t want to accept Tuvans as they are,” the director of the center, Vera Lapshakova, explains to me the difficulties in relations between the indigenous and non-indigenous population of the republic. She herself is also one of the newcomers: she came to the republic from Kazakhstan. — Russians just love to cry and suffer.
The day before, every second non-indigenous person “cried and suffered” when communicating with me. They complained of harassment from locals. There are still many complainants, but their number is decreasing every year: the outflow of the Slavic population from Tuva began twenty years ago, but the echoes of mutual massacres and massacres in Kyzyl are still felt. Even the inscriptions on the walls “Russians, get out of Tuva” did not have time to fade.
“The Russians then probably provoked the Tuvans themselves,” Galina Syuryun interrupts Lapshakova. They had just discussed a plan for joint cultural events, but suddenly switched to the topic of interethnic relations. — I came to Kyzyl as a very young girl from the region, so at dances Russian girls pushed me out of the area. It was a shame. The Russians perceived us as savages. And even now some people think so. After the recent murder of three Russian fishermen by Tuvans, they started talking about savagery again. I don't justify murderers. But a Tuvan fishing will catch as much as he needs for food, no more, and the Russians came with nets and dynamite - that’s the reason for the conflict.
“Russians believe that everyone around them owes them money,” the director of the Center for Russian Culture continues the interrupted thought, and I’m trying to understand how sincere she is. — Many people reproach me that Tuvans perform in my hall. If it is the Center of Russian Culture, this does not mean that others are prohibited from entering here. In general, a Russian does not get along in a Tuvan team, but a Tuvan, on the contrary, feels normal among Russians.
Lapshakova is often called the “director of the Russian diaspora.” Although she herself admits that the very concept of “Russian diaspora” offends her. True, he cannot explain why.
Power under investigation
By and large, only the Tuva Mining Company (TGMC) is more or less operating in the republic today. She mines coal ten kilometers from Kyzyl. Moreover, with the official cost of a ton being 600 rubles, it is sold to the public for one and a half thousand. In the near future, the price is going to be increased by another 22% without explanation. As a result, it turns out that for the needs of the local thermal power plant it is cheaper to import fuel from neighboring Khakassia, which is what the new owners of the heating plant are now doing. The local population living in the private sector has no choice: they have to swear and buy coal from TGRK - forty-degree frosts are not uncommon in Tuva.
The vast majority of people here live from agriculture. There are two types of it here: cattle breeding and collection of wild hemp. Hemp has long unofficially become the main regional export product, and Tuva itself has secretly received the status of “Siberian Columbia.” Drug trafficking is not considered something shameful here; even the brother of the chairman of the local government, Leonid Kara-ool, was once involved in this business. He was detained in Krasnoyarsk with three kilograms of hashish, and he received a year in prison for each kilogram found.
“The Criminal Code is not an obstacle to active work at all for republican officials,” says the main Tuvan opposition leader Sergei Konviz. He has been in opposition to the authorities almost all his life, he even spent time in a pre-trial detention center twice, so he knows the subject. — The chairman of the government himself was involved in the case of beating a security guard of a local club; his eye was knocked out. The head of the government chancellery was suspected of murder. The taxman was tried for a VAT refund scam. One of the prominent deputies of the Supreme Khural, Roman Mongush, was convicted of beating a policeman. The FSB suspects the main United Russia member, Sholban Irgit, of involvement in fraud involving the supply of meat from Mongolia. In general, all of our local nobility have either already been under investigation, or are currently under investigation, or will be under investigation tomorrow. And this doesn’t bother anyone. It’s like the joke: “You didn’t serve in the army, you didn’t go to prison - what do you know about life and how can you lead people?”
Konviz himself does not have a business in Tuva. Here he only has politics and personal scores with the authorities. Two years ago, Sergei's son was killed. Officially - during an attempted robbery. Konviz himself is sure that his child was dealt with on the direct orders of local officials: they did not like the materials that the oppositionist published in his newspaper.
“All over the country, money is stolen at the exit, but here at the entrance,” says Konviz. “At the same time, people address all the troubles of Tuva to the federal center. The overwhelming majority of Tuvans see prospects in secession from Russia. There are already Russians who think the same way. My mother, who was one of the Russians who lived here during the times of the independent Tuvan People's Republic, said directly: “The fewer Russians remain, the more they will appreciate us.”
I'm taking a taxi again. There are two people in the cabin, as Lech from Abakan warned. Both look Russian. The one on the right reads the newspaper out loud:
— At the 74th kilometer of the route, the remains of a man, presumably of European nationality, were discovered. On the bones of the skull there were injuries in the temporal part, the brow ridges and the left jaw, which presumably became the cause of death. The remains are at least six months old. No personal belongings were found. Hey, Andryukha, maybe this is our Pavlik? He disappeared for six months. Maybe he ran into the “surgeons”?
“Surgeons” are local scumbags who kill people for a cell phone or a pack of cigarettes. It is because of them that there is a voluntary curfew in Kyzyl: with the onset of darkness, the streets completely die out. Together with the police.
Capital doesn't like to joke
“When I was the chairman of the khural, I specifically asked to bring one such scumbag to me. He stabbed a man on the street. Stabbed and killed. Just. They brought the guy in, I asked him: “Did you know the murdered man?” - "No". - “Did he say something offensive to you?” - "No". - “Maybe he pushed?” - "No". - “So why did you kill him?” - "Don't know".
We are discussing the socio-economic situation in the republic and the problem of Tuvan separatism with the director of the Tuvan Institute of Humanitarian Studies and part-time adviser to the current head of Tuva, Kaadyr-ool Bicheldei. Bicheldey is today the second most famous Tuvan in the Russian Federation. The first place has long been taken by Sergei Shoigu, who is simply called “countryman” here, but everyone immediately understands who exactly we are talking about. At one time, Bicheldey was a deputy of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR, a member of the Federation Council, and chairman of the Supreme Khural. He is one of the authors of the law on the Russian language, which is now in force in the country.
— Tuvinians live not by capitalism or socialism, but by earlier concepts. The homeland and the people are not empty words for us,” explains Biceldey. “We don’t need a national idea.” Territory, language and religion are the basic values that a person should have.
The mentality of Tuvans is indeed fundamentally different from the European one. Money is far from the most important thing in life for them. This is what most strikes the adherents of capitalism. For example, in the republic for a long time there have been no bank branches whose main function is express lending to the population. All sorts of “home loans” and “Russian standards” have closed their offices due to the huge number of non-repayments. Well, the locals have no reverence for money! People reasoned something like this: “You sold us this money yourself, so why now demand it back?” The bankers failed to explain to clients that the money had to be returned. Get out of debt too. It turned out to be easier to close the branches altogether.
The attitude towards property among Tuvans is also quite specific. For example, they don’t understand how this land can be private. It simply doesn’t fit in the head of a nomadic pastoralist. As well as the existence of some incomprehensible state borders. Tuvans regularly drive their cattle to and from neighboring Mongolia past Russian border guards. And they just watch silently. It is useless to detain violators: they still won’t understand why.
Honesty and straightforwardness are characteristic features of Tuvans that amaze visitors. It is always customary to answer all questions here honestly, even to your own detriment. That is why prosecutors in courts are prohibited from asking Tuvan witnesses any questions except one: “Is your signature on the testimony?” If you ask anything else, the Tuvan will honestly begin to remember when, where and how exactly this testimony was obtained from him and what exactly the investigator promised him for this. You can even feel sorry for the judges and prosecutors: unlike the rest of Russia, contract cases are given to them with great difficulty.
An example of Tuvan honesty was shown to me by Bicheldei himself. Commenting on the results of the latest elections to the khural, in which United Russia formally won a resounding victory, the official said with utmost honesty:
— As the chief of staff of United Russia, I did things in these elections that, as a democrat in the 1990s, I could not even think about, let alone implement.
Today, the main headache of the republican authorities is the construction project of a railway in Tuva. The decision on this has long been made, the estimate has been approved, but the seemingly good deed is received with hostility by the majority of the local population. People are afraid that the hardware will disrupt their traditional way of life. In addition, it will change the very structure of the population of Tuva - at the expense of visiting specialists. The same Kaadyr-ool Bicheldei was first elected as a deputy precisely by opposing the construction of the road. But now he too has resigned himself to the inevitable.
— The road is the main way to make Tuva more Russian. This will affect both social services and finances. But it will lead to the destruction of nature and traditional society. Nevertheless, the railway is like the sunrise, it is inevitable.
Then he lights a cigarette and adds:
“And the main thing is that there is no point in arguing about this.” This can be argued with the state. And then there are the interests of transnational corporations. You can't scare them with separatism. International capital has no homeland, and it doesn’t care about any locals there.
Waiting for colonization
They are going to build a railway to Kyzyl in order to export numerous minerals discovered in the republic in recent years. The coking coal deposit alone is estimated at 20 billion tons. Almost all Russian oligarchs have already staked out plots here. And if the Tuvans managed to somehow come to an agreement with the state and constantly push back the construction deadlines for the line, then they were unable to resolve the issue with transnational capital - they will begin to build the road.
— In conditions of large-scale production, the Tuvan will inevitably change. My goal is for Tuvans to be able to work not as laborers, but as managers,” says Bicheldei.
However, reality tells a different story. The village of Ust-Elegest. Classic Tuvan poverty. There is practically no work, although there is a coal mine nearby that belongs to the Yenisei Industrial Company. Mostly visitors from neighboring regions work there. Simply because they have the necessary qualifications. The situation is the same in the upper reaches of the Yenisei. A Chinese company is building a mining and processing plant here. Of the three hundred jobs, only one hundred were given to local residents, and then only for the construction period. Then they will finally be replaced by imported Chinese. And everything here will be like in equatorial Africa: visitors extract minerals, and local residents are driven away from the mine by shots into the air.
— From Moscow it is easy to talk about the need to keep Tuva intact. But one cannot put a person’s environment above the person himself,” says Alexander Brokert, director for interaction with government authorities at Yenisei Industrial Company CJSC. This company is the customer for the construction of the railway line. — And as for the attracted specialists... So the best will come here. And you don't have to be afraid of it. Just as there is no need to be afraid that the railway will destroy a huge number of monuments. They have long been destroyed and looted.
Local authorities believe that the construction will indeed lead to the complete or partial disappearance of more than a thousand natural, archaeological and cultural monuments of Tuva.
“Yes, all this is nonsense,” Brockert is sure. — I’ll tell you honestly: the archaeological mafia is the most influential in Russia. They find a mound and say that it is a mound. They demand five million for its research, and while they are researching it, they cannot build. The customer pays for the research, and the specific required company does the research. So all these thousand monuments are just a way to extract money from developers.
“We don’t knock out money just like that, but we load projects related to roads and minerals with real social obligations,” retorts Kaadyr-ool Biheldei in absentia. — So far, most oligarchs do not agree, but the process is underway.
One of those who disagreed with this opinion for a long time was the senator from Tuva, owner of the Yenisei industrial company Sergei Pugachev. As a result, the republican government simply asked him to vacate his seat in the Federation Council.
— To be honest, it is simply unprofitable for the Tuvan authorities to develop the republic. It’s easier and more profitable to use tranches from Moscow than to try to earn money yourself,” says Vasily Oyun, former chairman of the Supreme Khural of Tuva. He is one of those officials who have already been under investigation, are now under investigation and do not rule out new criminal cases. The prosecutor's office accuses Oyun of beating a cattle thief. Oyun himself considers the case fabricated.
— The goal is simple: a criminal record and a ban on politics. After all, our elections are 80% rigged. So everyone who sits in parliament is simply illegitimate. We tried to complain, we wrote to both the prime minister and the president. The only result is criminal cases against us. And the former presidential envoy to Siberia, Kvashnin, actually told me that he used our complaint for its intended purpose - he went to the toilet with her.
I get into the car again. I ask the driver to take me to the main shaman. Despite the fact that Tuvans are formally considered Buddhists, the influence of shamans here is enormous. Even the head of the republic enters the voting booth according to the rules of shamanic numerology: exactly at 10 hours, 10 minutes and 10 seconds.
“The shaman died,” the Tuvan driver answers. “We were left without protection.”
Final moral
Rolan Oorzhak is the main cultural phenomenon of Tuva today. The young guy is considered the founder of Tuvan cinema. He has already produced nine feature films: action films, comedies, melodramas and even one horror film. Moreover, almost all films, unlike many works of famous Russian directors, are box office successful, despite the fact that they were filmed in the Tuvan language. Oorzhak invested 80 thousand rubles in the filming of the first film “Only for You”, and earned 108.
- I'm self-taught. By specialty, which he received at Moscow State University, he is generally a political scientist. I just bought a camera, mastered editing and started shooting. Kind of like Robert Rodriguez.
Roland's films are truly impressive, especially considering that he makes them without special equipment or computer effects. And the degree of its popularity is evidenced by the fact that all of Tuva is littered with pirated discs with Oorzhak’s films. But he's not particularly offended by it. He says that not everyone has enough money for a movie ticket.
“All my films have a final moral,” Roland reveals the secrets of his mastery. — This is a feature of the local mentality. Indians have obligatory dancing in movies, Tuvans have obligatory final morality. Just don’t take a picture of my bandaged hand, it’s somehow awkward in front of the boys, last night they cut me with a “rose” from a bottle.
Before returning to Abakan, I am finally convinced that Tuva is still Russia, despite the fact that the majority of the population does not understand a word of Russian. There are much more similarities than differences. For example, there are no industrial enterprises, but the coolest building in the city is near the arbitration court, which resolves disputes between business entities. As part of the national project, they give money to the State Unitary Enterprise “Yeniseiskaya Poultry Farm”, but since no one takes the poultry, state employees are forced to buy it. At the same time, meat officially purchased in Mongolia is three times cheaper than meat produced in Tuva. There is no human rights ombudsman in Tuva. Like the shaman. There is no one to protect the population from the state.
Everything here is like in Russia, only taken to the point of absurdity and looks like a parody of Moscow. Except for the film director Roland Oorzhak. Nikita Mikhalkov looks like a parody of him today.
Most of the time spent in Tuva, I could not shake the feeling that the rest of the world treats Russia the same way we treat the Tuvans. For them, we are mysterious savages with principles of life incomprehensible to a civilized European and innate cruelty, who, due to some misunderstanding, live on land rich in mineral resources. And the only good thing we have is our original culture. Therefore, any outside intervention will only benefit these natives. So, by and large, we are no different from the Tuvans. At least in the eyes of foreigners. While we are trying to colonize Tuva for the second time, someone is trying to colonize us.
Tuvans are people. Very unlike us, very peculiar.
1.
A wild tribe, robbed for centuries by all newcomers, from the Chinese to the Russians. Naive, like children. Fierce as wolves, descendants of fearless warriors. Lazy like us. Even lazier than the Russians, yes. The villagers went to the canteen and bought whole pots of boiled pasta there because they were too lazy to cook it themselves. They do not cultivate the land because it is easier to eat away pensions and meager salaries.
They drink a lot. When drunk, they cannot control themselves and can easily kill themselves. Every second person here has knives. This one was lying on the street, broken:
2.
As the locals say, when you go to a Tuvan wedding, you never know whether you will come back alive. There is some truth in this. Tuva really ranks first in Russia in terms of murders, and no Caucasus can compare with it. Unreasonable, poorly motivated, cruel. In the morning, the killer, as a rule, throws up his hands and barely remembers what happened. Walking through the streets of Kyzyl, I peered into people’s faces and unconditionally believed the sad statistics.
3.
There are a lot of homeless-looking people. When you don’t understand - still in human form, or already a predatory beast, looking for money for the next bottle. There are, of course, quite normal, ordinary people, like everywhere else, but it is in Tuva that you understand what Russia’s ass looks like. Not along the cracks on the facades of houses and not through street garbage dumps. By facial expressions.
4.
5.
I want to leave immediately. The Russians did just that in the 90s, when, along with the growth of national self-awareness, clubs and knives appeared in the hands of Tuvans. Then sobering came. Without Russia, Tuvans in the 21st century have only one path - into total poverty and oblivion. Or absorption by the ubiquitous Chinese and complete assimilation, disappearance of the ethnic group. The Chinese, by the way, are already active in Tuva, digging up rare earth metals.
The only thing that gives hope is advanced youth. She has videos and Facebook. She might not want to live in a sad fucking shithole like their parents do now.
6.
7.
8.
Some of them will certainly go to civilization, to a wonderful world, to Abakan or even Krasnoyarsk. But someone will stay, and will certainly make sure that electricity appears in the park of the Kyzyl-Jurassic period and the carousel starts working.
9.
10.
A new generation of Tuvans will learn that the railway is very long and real, and not a ten-meter attraction named after a visiting president. An excellent guy named Chingiz will receive an education, will not kill anyone, will become the head of the Kyzyl-Glavnaya station and will not take bribes. At all. This is something unheard of these days. 
In the meantime, young people have their own lives in uncomfortable Kyzyl courtyards, while adults have theirs.
11.
12.
13.
Huge steppe eagles fly above all of them. They describe circles over the city, slowly and majestically. I will also slowly talk about Kyzyl in the next excerpt of Tuvan impressions.
Napoleon admired Subadei's extraordinary personality. He, the son of a commoner, easily communicated with great rulers and did not feel fear of them, because the only person to whom he bowed his head as a sign of respect was Genghis Khan. Many military leaders and commanders used the tactics that Subedey used during the battle in 1223 on Kalka.
The essence of the plan was to use small forces to give the enemy a sense of imminent victory and lure him into a pre-prepared trap. Diplomats were sent to the assembled Russian princes with the words: “We heard that you are going against us, having listened to the Polovtsians, but we did not touch your land, nor your cities, nor your villages; They did not come against you, but by the will of God they came against the slaves and grooms of their Polovtsians. You take peace with us; if they run to you, drive them away from you and take away their property; We heard that they did a lot of harm to you too; We beat them for this.” The princes killed the ambassadors and moved troops against the Mongol-Tatars.
Twice they managed to defeat the small detachments of Subedei, Jebe and Tohuchar. Inspired by the victory, they began to cross Kalka. There, the united troops of the Kyiv Rus and Polovtsians, having again met a small detachment of the enemy, chased after him. The formation of the army was broken, the Polovtsians pulled ahead, and the detachments of the Kyiv princes fell behind. And at this time the Mongol-Tatars moved the bulk of their forces. The Polovtsians fled, and the Kiev army was defeated. Henry of Latvia in his “Chronicle of Livonia” claims that there were more than 100,000 dead Russians. Cunning and deceit helped Subedei destroy the Polovtsian army on the way back.
The troops of Subadei and his comrades acted according to a clear plan. The first rows are prisoners and light troops. Behind them were archers, whose task was to sow panic and divide the orderly ranks of the enemy. Behind was the heavy cavalry. The tactics of small sudden skirmishes were used, exhausting the enemy.
The right hand of Genghis Khan, a Tuvan commoner, left an indelible mark on the history of the creation of the Mongol Empire, expanding its borders from China to the Caucasus. Even after Temujin's death, he continued his warrior's path and became the mentor of Batu, the grandson of Genghis Khan.
Today, the total number of Uriankhians is about 300 thousand, with about 30-35 thousand living in Mongolia, 3-3.5 thousand in China, and the rest living in Russia.
