Executive Leadership of the Congress of Oirat-Kalmyk People

Batyr Boromangnaev,
Chairman of the Congress
of the Oirat-Kalmyk People

Vladimir Dovdanov,
Principal Deputy Chairman of the Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk People

Arslang Sandzhiev,
First Deputy Chairman of the Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk People

Maria Ochir-Goryaeva,
First Deputy Chairman of the Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk People

Daavr Dordzhin,
Executive Deputy Chairman of the Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk People

Erdem Tikeev,
Deputy Chairman of the Congress
of the Oirat-Kalmyk People,
Special Envoy in Ukraine

"Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk People" was founded in late year 2015 by a group of activists led by esteemed political activist Batyr Boromangnaev since the beginning, was underground and persecuted, and not permitted and even registered as  nongovernmental organization by government Russian regime of President Vladimir Putin. Even being unregistered and prohibited, "Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk People" held 3 Oirat-Kalmyk Conventions in 2015, 2017. The last 3rd, on May 29th, 2021, gathered in the city of Elista, which was based till March 2022 after starting an Awful invasion of Sovereign Ukraine, a bloody regime each event got We are a nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating for the fundamental rights and freedoms of the Kalmyk people against violations by the Russian government. 

The Congress of Oirat-Kalmyk People is a nonprofit organization that serves as non-profit organization under US IRS rules determinated us 501(c)(3) was registered first time all history since establishment on December 12th, 2015. IRS EID 93-2743125, all donations and contributions are fully tax deductible and will be very appreciated.

Also, the Congress serves a clearinghouse for information about the ethnic Oirat-Kalmyk heritage and fight for rights and freedoms was violated by the Russian government strive to protect and promote the cultural identity and rights of the Oirat-Kalmyk community around the world, ensuring their voices are heard and respected by around the world and to know Oirat-Kalmyk discrimination and persecution in racial hatred in Russia.

Russia's Supreme Court ruled at the request of the Attorney General Semenchenko V.V. as extremist organizations of the Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk People on August 23th, 2023 and banned any activity on all territory of Russian Federation. All who belong, support or any kind affiliated with particular entity will be persecuted at all laws Russian Federation up to prison sentence.

Self-Exiled Buddhist Leader Of Russia's Kalmykia Resigns Over 'Foreign Agent' Label

The self-exiled supreme lama of Russia’s Republic of Kalmykia, who was the first religious leader in the country who publicly condemned Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, has announced his resignation.

Telo Tulku Rinpoche, also known as Erdni-Basan Ombadykov, issued a statement on January 29 saying that he was stepping down from the post of the Shajin-Lama, the leader of Kalmykia's Buddhists, after Russia added him to its registry of "foreign agents."

"In the situation that occurred, I consider it reasonable to pass on all the duties related to the position of the Shajin-Lama of the Republic of Kalmykia to the current leader of the centralized religious organization - the Kalmyk Central Buddhist Monastery of Geden Sheddup Choi Korling -- Tendzin Choidak (Mutul Ovyanov) and the administrator Yonten Lodoi (Sergei Kirishov)," Telo Tulku Rinpoche's statement said.

The statement came two days after Russia's Justice Ministry added Telo Tulku Rinpoche to its list of "foreign agents."

Telo Tulku Rinpoche had led Kalmykia's Buddhists since the early 1990s.

The Buddhist monk, who represented the Dalai Lama in the Russian Federation and holds a U.S. passport, fled Russia for Mongolia last fall, where he is helping thousands of Kalmyks who left Russia after Moscow launched its war against Ukraine in late February, 2022.

In early October, he became the first religious leader in the Russian Federation to condemn Moscow's ongoing unprovoked invasion in Ukraine.

Kalmyks in Russia's southwest and Buryats in Siberia are mostly Buddhist, Mongol-speaking ethnic groups. Tyvans are another mostly Buddhist indigenous people in Siberia, whose language is Turkic.

*The article was published in Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, an international media non-profit organization funded by solely the U.S. government.

https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-buddhist-rinpoche-kalmykia-resigns-foreign-agent/32245991.html

The second “foreign agent” after the lama. Interview with Kalmyk politician Vladimir Dovdanov

On August 18, 2023, the Russian Ministry of Justice declared Kalmyk politician Vladimir Dovdanov a “foreign agent”. “Idel.Realii talked to him about this decision, his activities and future plans.

Vladimir Dovdanov, 63, is a native of the district center of Gorodovikovsk (Bashanta in Kalmyk) in the southwest of the Republic of Kalmykia. In the Soviet years he served in Mongolia, then worked in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in 1991 he organized and headed the republican taekwondo federation in Kalmykia. For a long time he participated in various opposition movements, was a member of the regional branch of the Yabloko party, and cooperated with independent ethno-linguistic activists.

In 2021, Dovdanov was elected a member of the Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk people, a representative body of national intellectuals and opposition communities, which held face-to-face meetings in Elista before the outbreak of full-scale war in Ukraine. In 2022, the Congress leadership publicly condemned the Russian invasion of the neighboring state, after which most of the organization's members were forced to leave the country. At the end of the same year, the Congress published a declaration of Kalmykia's independence as its main goal.

- You are now living in Lithuania. How did you end up there?

- I never thought that in my old age I would be forced to leave my native republic. Especially considering that in recent years I had health problems that limited my ability to work, and I was not much of a public figure. I helped my friends from our opposition, wrote articles - but nothing more. Everything changed after Russia's attack on Ukraine: on March 8 and 10, our Congress signed a statement of sharp rejection of this criminal war and an appeal to our youth not to take part in it.

We were immediately under pressure from the Center “E”, a vile organization that should be banned immediately after independence and its employees should be lustrated. It was clear that it was dangerous to stay in the country, so my wife and I went to Moscow and tried to get visas for Greece so that we could at least leave temporarily. At first everything went well, but then they abruptly refused. I suppose that they could have received some kind of signal from the authorities. Since I myself am a former employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs - Soviet, of course - I understood perfectly well their methods of work and future plans, I knew perfectly well what they could do to us, so we had to look for other possibilities of urgent departure.

- Did you receive personal threats? Or was it about pressure on the Congress as a whole?

- Personal, of course. It is true that I was afraid to be openly denounced, called names, scolded. After all, I have some authority, including among police officers - many of them learned taekwondo from me, they all know who I am and what I used to do. Besides, they knew that I was telling the truth, and how can you punish me for that? At one time I tried to hide, I slept out, but I stopped pretty quickly, I decided - what would I do on a point in the steppe? I returned home and was immediately “caught”. They drew up two protocols on me, and I signed everything. I must admit that the officers who drew them up felt uncomfortable. Apparently, our rhetoric, built on the truth, on historical events, takes over. They simply have nothing to counter it. Of course, they could not yell “shut up” at me - they realized that I was right.

We should take into account that every family in our nation, every clan, every sub-ethnos - all suffered during Stalin's time. Everyone went through Stalin's deportation, a real genocide: I lost nine uncles in Siberia - out of a family of 12, among whom my mother was one; three survived. Most of the family perished, and this story is clear to every Oirat (some people consider the historical connotations of the ethnonym “Kalmyk” offensive and prefer the self-name “Oirats” - Idel.Realii).

We can say that the extermination of the Oirats in Russia in one form or another had been going on systematically since 1918, since the Civil War, and ended only in 1957. Then we were allowed to return to our homeland, but they did not return many territories to the republic, did not return people their homes, did not apologize, did not pay compensation. And in the deportation, entire clans ceased to exist.

- So the law enforcers could sympathize with your rhetoric because they know the history of their people?

- Exactly so. Everyone here knows about it, even if he works in Center “E”. When I reminded the law enforcement officers about it, I saw that I touched something, I saw that there was a hidden pain for my people in their souls. I recently gave an interview to a Ukrainian blogger and pointed to this point. He asked me, “How many people will support you if you try to come to power?” Not me personally, but the national liberation movement as a whole. And I gave a figure of 50-60% among police officers, especially among the rank and file, junior and middle officers. Among FSB officers, of course, it is less - 10-15%.

We expect that when we go back, many people who have not been drugged or zombified will take our side - and we will build our state together without the participation of Russians. We do not wish evil to the Russian people, let them also build their state - just without us.

- How did you eventually leave Russia?

- We discussed the situation with our family, with our colleagues in Congress and realized that we had to leave as soon as possible, even if we didn't have European visas. We flew from Mineralnye Vody (where, by the way, I was delayed for half an hour again) and were supposed to get to Istanbul with a connection in Yerevan, but the flight was delayed and we didn't make the connection in time. In the end we took a cab to Georgia, got to Tbilisi, and flew from there to Istanbul. In Turkey we waited about a month for Lithuanian visas, and since then we have been in Vilnius.

- In what status do you live in Lithuania?

- We are refugees, we have been waiting for an asylum decision for a little over a year, and for a long time we did not have the right to work, but these are small things - I am very grateful to the Lithuanian government and the people of Lithuania for accepting us. We were under stress, in a suspended state, we did not have visas, and here they gave us such an opportunity to breathe freely. Moreover, I see many allies of our cause in Lithuania - we participated in political clubs here, met with representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Many Lithuanians, who themselves suffered from Russian colonialism, are well aware of our problems and hopes. I am sure that if - or rather, when - we gain independence, we will have fruitful and mutually beneficial political and economic ties with this state.

- How did you react to the news that you were recognized as a “foreign agent”?

- First of all, I was probably surprised, I was shocked. Not that I was frightened. On the contrary, I was happy: after so many years - recognition! I was surprised that I was chosen. If you look at the activities of our Congress Chairman Arslang Sanjiev or his deputy Batyr Boromangnaev, their merits are much higher than mine. I began to think: why did they choose my candidacy? And then I realized that this is a bit of a conspiracy explanation, but it's the only one I have.

Anyway, there was one interview where they asked me whether I was a “foreign agent” or not, and I said - probably more as a joke - that the title of “foreign agent” is given to all sorts of “good Russians,” that is, nominally oppositional supporters of imperial values, to make it easier for them to infiltrate the Western community. Not a few days later, I was appointed one of them - as if they were mocking me.

- So you became the first Kalmyk “foreign agent”?

- No, second to the Supreme Lama Telo Tulku Rinpoche. He is a spiritual leader; how can I, an ordinary citizen, a commoner, compare with him? But of course I was following him, his knowledge, and suddenly I was put in the same rank as him - it's an honor for me.

*The article was published in Idel. Realities, the Volga River region's news outlet of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a media resource wholly funded by the U.S. government.  https://www.idelreal.org/a/32556921.html

04/26/2024 UPDATE:

The deputy chairman of the Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk people, Vladimir Dovdanov, has been put on a wanted list. The information about it appeared in the database of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

It is not clear when exactly Dovdanov was put on the wanted list - his presence in the police database was noticed by Mediazona on April 26. In March, it became known that a criminal case had been opened against him for calling for activities against Russia's security.

The activist himself told Kavkaz.Realia in an interview that he learned about the existence of the criminal case from journalists. According to him, any of his videos and interviews in which he expressed support for Ukraine could have given rise to the case. The investigative authorities have not yet provided any information about the charges against Dovdanov.

Vladimir Dovdanov is the deputy chairman of the Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk people and a member of the League of Free Nations. In 1991 he organized and headed the republican Taekwondo Federation. In 2004-2005 he worked as Minister of Youth Policy, Sports and Tourism of Kalmykia, then as Head of the Territorial Department of the Federal Service for Financial Markets in Volgograd and Astrakhan regions.

In August 2024, the Elista City Court fined Vladimir Dovdanov 70,000 rubles for calls to violate Russia's borders. Together with him, the court found Batyr Boromangnaev, the former head of the Yabloko party branch in Kalmykia, guilty under the same article.

Earlier, Dovdanov was included in the register of "foreign agents". After the outbreak of full-scale war in Ukraine, the activist left the country.

Dovdanov is one of the authors of the declaration "On the State Independence of the Republic of Kalmykia". Earlier, the document was included in the list of extremist materials.

*The article was published in Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, an international media non-profit organization funded by solely the U.S. government.
https://www.svoboda.org/a/zampreda-kongressa-oyrat-kalmytskogo-naroda-obyavili-v-rozysk/32922335.html

Batyr Boromangnaev with expired Russian passport on his way to the U.S. after Mongolia refused entry

A leading Kalmyk activist, the Chairman of the Oirat-Kalmyk People Congress, Batyr Boromangnaev whom Mongolian officials did not allow to enter their country because his Russian passport had expired has left Ulan Bator international airport for the United States.

The #1ROOT and #NoWar groups said on March 1 that Batyr Boromangnaev, the chairman of Kalmyk’s self-governing Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk people and former leader of the Yabloko party’s branch in Kalmykia, was allowed to leave Mongolia for the United States. It is unclear how and under what conditions Boromangnaev was allowed to travel to the United States.

Former Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj placed a video on Twitter on March 1 showing Boromangnaev leaving the airport's gates with an added caption: "Good-bye, Hero."

A day earlier, Boromangnaev told RFE/RL that his passport expired while he was temporarily detained in Kazakhstan, which he passed through en route to Mongolia.

According to Boromangnaev, Mongol authorities tried to deport him to Kazakhstan, the last country he was in before arriving in Mongolia, but the move was postponed until March 2 after he filed a request addressed to the chief of the Mongolia's Border Guard Service not to deport him.

The Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk people has regularly coordinated Kalmyk activists' congresses in Russia's Republic of Kalmykia near the North Caucasus region since 2015.

After Russia launched its ongoing unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, most of the group's members fled the country.

In October 2022, Boromangnaev's group published a declaration on Kalmykia's independence from Russia.

The influx of Russian citizens, mostly of Kalmyk, Buryat, and Tyvan origin, to Mongolia has dramatically increased since President Vladimir Putin announced a partial military mobilization to support the war in Ukraine in late September last year.

Kalmyks in Russia's southwest and Buryats in Siberia are mostly Buddhist, Mongol-speaking ethnic groups. Tyvans are another mostly Buddhist indigenous people in Siberia, whose language is Turkic.

*The article was published in Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a media resource funded wholly by the U.S. government. 
https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-kalmyk-activist--boromangnaev-flees-kazakhstan-mongolia-us/32294658.html
https://www.svoboda.org/a/ne-dopuschennyy-v-mongoliyu-kalmytskiy-politik-uletel-v-ssha/32296025.html  
https://www.idelreal.org/a/32294768.html

First Deputy of the Congress Oirat-Kalmyk People Arslang Sandzhiev admitted second time as extremist

June 2nd, 2025 First Deputy of Chairman of the Congress of Oirat-Kalmyk People Arslang Sandzhiev was admitted by the Federal Service for Financial Monitoring of the Russian Federation (Rosfinmonitoring) as extremist second time for his contribution to Ukraine.

Earlier, on August 23rd, 2023 he was an extremist being a part of the banned and admitted as an extremist organization "Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk People".

The Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk people published a declaration of Kalmykia's independence

The national activists who drafted the document consider full independence a prerequisite for preserving the Kalmyk language and culture.

In the evening of October 27, 2022, the text of the document drawn up a day earlier - the declaration “On the State Independence of the Republic of Kalmykia” - appeared online. The Declaration of Independence of Kalmykia was drafted and signed by members of the Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk people.

Among the authors and signatories are Arslang Sanjiev, ex-director of the Center for the Development of the Kalmyk language, Batyr Boromangnaev, leader of the regional branch of the Yabloko party, Vladimir Dovdanov, Erentzen Dolyaev, Albert Sharapov and others.

The text of the document refers to another declaration adopted by the Supreme Soviet of the Kalmyk ASSR in 1990. At that time, the people's deputies proclaimed the sovereignty of a democratic and legal Kalmyk state, based on the right of peoples to self-determination.

According to the authors of the 2022 declaration, the principles laid down in the first declaration during the collapse of the USSR were not put into practice due to the actions of the first president of the republic, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, and pressure from Moscow, which has become particularly intense since the beginning of Vladimir Putin's rule.

The Congress declaration lists the main claims against the current Russian regime that prompted the authors of the document to proclaim the beginning of the struggle for independence. Among them are “the insane centralization and militarization of the country,” “the Kremlin's total assault on the cultures and languages of non-Russian peoples conquered by Russia,” “the commission of international crimes,” and five other points referring to the authoritarian and imperialist nature of Russian policy.

The authors of the declaration separately note the disregard for the rights of repressed citizens - victims of the deportation of the Kalmyks and the problem of “illegally taken away lands” - territorial disputes that arose between the Astrakhan region and Kalmykia as a result of the abolition of the latter by Stalin's decree of 1943. Earlier, one of the members of the Congress, Dolyaev, argued that an independent Kalmykia should include the entire territory of Astrakhan Oblast as the historical area of Kalmyk settlement.

Expressing disagreement with the policy pursued by the Kremlin, the Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk people “declares the need for the complete liberation of the Oirat-Kalmyk people from colonial dependence on Russia” and “declares its determination to seek the withdrawal of the Republic of Kalmykia from the Russian Federation, the proclamation and establishment of a sovereign independent state”.

According to the authors of the document, the independence of Kalmykia is the most important and the only condition for preserving the language, culture, traditions and the very existence of the Kalmyk people. The text of the declaration ends with an appeal to the governments of other countries to recognize the need to liberate Kalmykia and the words “Let justice prevail”.

The Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk people is the body that coordinates the chuulgans - people's congresses of national activists held in Elista since 2015. In 2021, the organizers of the next congress were detained by the police. Today, some members of the Congress are in exile, while others remain in Russia and continue to be persecuted. The leadership of the organization calls the Congress the only legitimate representative body of the Kalmyk people.

The topic of Russia's possible disintegration became more frequently discussed after the outbreak of war in Ukraine in February 2022. The independent future of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation was discussed at conferences of the League of Free Nations and the Forums of Free Peoples of Post-Russia. National activists from among the Erzyans, Tatars, Bashkirs, Cossacks, Buryats, and other peoples of Russia expressed their desire for independence for their regions. In October, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine recognized the self-proclaimed Chechen Republic of Ichkeria as “temporarily occupied by Russia”.

*The article was published in Idel.Realities, the Volga River region's news outlet of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a media resource wholly funded by the U.S. government. https://www.idelreal.org/a/32104989.html

CERTIFIED TRANSLATION DOCUMENT FROM RUSSIAN TO ENGLISH

CONGRESS OF THE OIRAT-KALMYK PEOPLE

DECLARATION
"On the state independence of the Republic of Kalmykia."

October 26, 2022

The Oirats have had several sovereign states in history. The last independent state was liquidated by decree of Catherine II on October 19, 1771. The territory of the Oirat-Kalmyk Khanate was annexed to the Russian Empire.

From July 2nd to July 9th, 1920, the First All-Kalmyk Congress of Councils of the Working Kalmyk People took place in the village of Chilgir, which proclaimed the formation of statehood in the form of an autonomous region within the RSFSR. Its work was attended by delegates representing all Kalmyk uluses of the Astrakhan and Stavropol provinces, Kalmyks living in the Don and Terek regions, in Kyrgyzstan, in the Ural region, and from the Orenburg province.

The Kalmyk Autonomous Region was transformed on October 20, 1935, into the Kalmyk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, which was abolished on December 27, 1943, and the Oirat-Kalmyk people were subjected to deportation and genocide.

On January 9, 1957, the Kalmyk Autonomous Region was re-established as part of the Stavropolsky Krai, which was transformed into the Kalmyk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic on July 29, 1958.

On October 18, 1990, the Supreme Council of the Kalmyk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic adopted the Declaration “On the State Sovereignty of the Kalmyk Soviet Socialist Republic.” The Declaration solemnly proclaimed the state sovereignty of the Kalmyk SSR throughout its entire territory and declared the determination to create a democratic rule-of-law state, “based on the law of the Kalmyk people for free self-determination and taking into account the desire of the people of Kalmykia for socio-economic progress, cultural revival and a radical increase in the standard of living, expressing the will of the people of the republic to pursue an independent economic and social policy.”

However, all subsequent years were a time of consistent refusal by the authorities of Kalmykia to sovereignty and the internationally recognized right of the Oirat-Kalmyk People.

To self-determination. As a result of the collapse of the USSR, the formation of the Russian Federation, the election of an irresponsible adventurer as president in Kalmykia, who broke the sprouts of democracy and freedom, the strengthening of the authoritarian regime in Russia, which was finally established with the coming to power of V. Putin. In 1994, by a voluntaristic decision of President Ilyumzhinov and his supporters, as a result of an illegitimate procedure, the pseudo-Constitution of the Republic of Kalmykia, the so-called Steppe Code, was approved, in which the Republic of Kalmykia was recorded as a subject, and not a state, as defined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation. After this, Russia’s entire policy towards the Republic of Kalmykia was built based on this limited status.

All the authorities of the Republic of Kalmykia, without exception: previous and current presidents and heads, the composition of the People's Khural (parliament), the Government and the courts of the Republic of Kalmykia have done absolutely nothing to protect all the significant and fundamental interests and rights of the Oirat-Kalmyk people, the entire multinational population and the Republic of Kalmykia! The authorities of unfree Kalmykia turned out to be weak-willed executors of the will of Moscow and helpless in defending the Kalmyk ethnic interests and all of the people of Kalmykia.

In the current conditions of Putin's dictatorship, what is happening is: ● Insane centralization and militarization of the country;

● The Kremlin’s all-out attack on the cultures and languages of non ethnic Russian peoples conquered by Russia, powers, and statehood in the form of national republics within the Russian Federation;

● Revival of the Russian Empire;

● Recreation and use of the institutions and practices of the Nazi regime, Latin American and African military dictatorships of the 20th century;

● Regular and cynical violation of generally accepted norms of international law;

● Committing international crimes and criminal offenses of a global nature;

● A complete unilateral violation by the federal government of the terms of previously signed federal treaties and the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the obligations assumed by Russia towards the peoples and national regions of the Russian Federation, including the Oirat-Kalmyk people and the Republic of Kalmykia;

● constant disregard for the rights of repressed citizens, including survivors of genocide and War crimes by the USSR, whose legal successor is the Russian Federation, the Russian Law on the Rehabilitation of Repressed Peoples of 1991, has not been implemented.

Chauvinism, racism, xenophobia, ethnic discrimination, rampant great-power hysteria, admiration for Stalin and other monsters of the past are flourishing in the country; the territory illegally seized from the Republic of Kalmykia during the deportation of the Oirat-Kalmyk people has not been returned; policies that directly impede the economic development of Kalmykia, as a result of which there is a massive outflow from the Republic and a reduction in the number of the Oirat-Kalmyk population, during all the years following the return of the people from deportation, Kalmykia ranks last in the USSR and Russia in terms of the provision of the population with drinking water, which contains clear signs of genocide on the part of Moscow, the opinion and interests of the people of Kalmykia are completely ignored and ignored, the appointment of the leaders of the Republic by the Kremlin using undemocratic, falsified elections, the Republic is deprived of many of its own government bodies, whose powers were unilaterally appropriated by Moscow, the activities of national organizations are suppressed, and the terror of federal authorities against civil and national activists does not stop...

In these completely unbearable circumstances, it becomes extremely clear that if they continue to be part of Russia, Russification, assimilation, and degradation will continue, which threatens the very existence of the Oirat-Kalmyk people. Based on the above, aware of its historical responsibility, the Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk people, as the only legitimate representative body of the Oirat-Kalmyk people, declares the need for the complete liberation of the Oirat-Kalmyk people from under colonial dependence on Russia, declares its determination to achieve the secession of the Republic of Kalmykia from the Russian Federation, the proclamation and creation of a sovereign independent state.

The Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk people believes that the creation of an independent state of the Republic of Kalmykia is the most important and only condition for preserving the native language, culture, traditions, writing, national education, knowledge, various forms of activity, and the very existence and development of the Oirat-Kalmyk people.

The Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk people appeals to all representatives of the Oirat-Kalmyk people, wherever they live, to the entire multinational population of the Republic of Kalmykia - to fully support this Declaration and be ready for the practical implementation of the stated goal, to try to make their possible contribution to the formation, strengthening and development of the future free, independent and prosperous Republic of Kalmykia!

The Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk people appeals to all states of the world, governments, and parliaments to recognize the need to liberate the Oirat-Kalmyk people from the colonial oppression of the Russian Empire and their legitimate right to self-determination and the creation of an independent state.

May justice prevail!
“Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk People” Board Executive Representatives Chairman, Batyr Boromangnaev
First Deputy, Vladimir Dovdanov
First Deputy, Arslang Sandzhiev

Statement of the Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk people “On the recognition by the Russian authorities of the Declaration “On the State Independence of the Republic of Kalmykia” as extremist material.”

Russia's Supreme Court ruled at the request of the Attorney General Semenchenko V.V. as extremist organizations of the Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk People on August 23th, 2023 and banned any activity on all territory of Russian Federation. All who belong, support or any kind affiliated with particular entity will be persecuted at all laws Russian Federation up to prison sentence.

*The article was published in Radio Freedom, the outlet of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a media resource  funded wholly by the U.S. government. 
https://www.svoboda.org/a/sud-kalmykii-priznal-kongressa-oyrat-kalmytskogo-naroda-ekstremistskoy-organizatsiey-/32584706.html

Altan Ochirov sentenced to
3 years in prison for fakes. The Supreme Court increased the sentence to 5 years.

In October 2022, the Court in Kalmykia sentenced to 3 years of general regime colony ex-employee of the mayor's office of Elista Altan Ochirov. This was reported to Kavkaz.Realii project from the court by lawyer Igor Koldunov. Ochirov's case was considered under the article on spreading fakes about the Russian army.

The punishment under this article is a large fine or five to ten years in prison. The official himself claimed his innocence.

According to the investigation, Altan Ochirov together with other activists administered a telegram channel “Volny Ulus”, which published posts about the looting of Russian servicemen, the destruction of the ships “Orsk” and “Saratov”, as well as the deaths of 14 thousand Russian soldiers. The investigation considered them unreliable.

In December 2022, the Supreme Court of Kalmykia toughened the punishment of former official Altan Ochirov, previously convicted under the article on so-called fakes about the army.

The appeal instance satisfied the protest of the prosecutor's office and increased his sentence from three to five years of imprisonment. This is reported by the project “Network Freedoms”.

The prosecutor's office challenged the lower court's verdict because it gave Ochirov a sentence below the lower limit of the Criminal Code article on fakes (from 5 to 10 years). In theory, the court could have limited itself to a fine or suspended sentence.

According to the lawyer, the events that the courts found to be false in the Ochirov case have been confirmed over the course of the trial, in particular in United Nations reports. These arguments, however, are not accepted by Russian courts, which generally consider as fake any allegations of Russian military actions in Ukraine that the Defense Ministry has denied. The five-year prison sentence is one of the harshest sentences handed down under the article on fakes to date.

*The article was published in Radio Freedom, the outlet of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a media resource funded wholly by the U.S. government..
https://www.svoboda.org/a/eks-sotrudnik-merii-elisty-prigovoryon-k-3-godam-kolonii-za-feyki-pro-armiyu-/32089450.html
https://www.svoboda.org/a/sud-v-kalmykii-uvelichil-srok-osuzhdyonnomu-po-statje-o-feykah/32190826.html

Kalmyk activist was arrested after 4 years manhunt for participation protest in 2019

KIKEEV EVGENIY, DOB 11/13/1989, POLITICAL ACTIVIST KALMYK ETHNICITY, HIS ACCUSATION UNDER ONLY HIS ACTIVE PARTICIPATION OF RALLY IN MOSCOW, ON AUGUST 31,2019, FOR PUBLICALLY CALLED FOR MORE ACTION AND WAS HIS PASSIONATE SPEECH, WAS CAPTURED ON VIDEO. BASED ONLY VIDEO RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT START PERSECUTE KIKEEV EVGENIY AS A "EXTREMIST" AND FIND HIM AFTER 4 YEARS, HE WAS IN POLICE WANTED LIST AS A CRIMINAL. SINCE 2020. WHEN POLICE FIND VIDEO ON INTERNET.

Vladimir Dovdanov, Principal Deputy Chairman of the Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk People addressed the public:

"Today I am forced to address the democratic community with an unusual article, where I tell about the fate of my compatriot, who taking part in the war on the side of Ukraine, found himself in a detention camp and his fate is covered with darkness. It was the lack of information about him and other volunteers who fought on the side of Ukraine that forced me to turn to society in the hope of achieving justice and truth. I have no goal to humiliate anyone or damage their political image, but the fate of the representatives of the peoples enslaved by the Russians is important to us."

The way of Erdem Tikeev.

One of the symbols of this struggle was a military doctor, volunteer Erdem Tikeev, a native of the Republic of Kalmykia, call sign: “Shaman”. His story deserves special attention not only as a testimony of personal courage, but also as a reflection of the aspirations of the peoples who for centuries were under the oppression of Russian power.
Erdem Tikeeev lives in Ukraine since 2014. He participated in the Revolution of Dignity on Maidan and then in the battles against the Russian aggression that began in 2014 as a member of the Aidar battalion.
With the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, he tried to officially join the AFU, but was rejected due to lack of documents, despite his honors and services to the Ukrainian state.
He joined the Legion of Free Russia (LSR), which was just forming at the time. He hoped to continue fighting on the side of Ukraine and eventually obtain Ukrainian citizenship. However, after a while, serious contradictions arose between Tikeev and the LSR leadership. The reason for the conflict was his initiative to create a national unit “Nomad”, which included representatives of indigenous peoples invaded by Russia: Kalmyks, Buryats, Yakuts, Tatars, Chechens and others. This initiative was received with wariness and then outright resistance from the Legion leadership, which, according to witnesses, had signs of a reiteration of the imperial approach: not recognizing other peoples as subjects, hindering their organization and marginalizing their efforts.

Wrongful persecution in Ukraine.

As a result of internal conflict, five fighters associated with the Nomad unit were charged with criminal offenses with the participation of the SR Legion leadership and placed in a migration camp. None of them had access to lawyers, loved ones - including the Ukrainian wife of one of those arrested - were unable to obtain any definite information about the fate of the detainees. Their contribution to the defense of Ukraine in the fighting at the front was virtually ignored, their merits erased.
There is a strong possibility that Erdem and other yesterday's Ukrainian freedom fighters are being prepared for extradition to Russia.
We hope that Ukraine and its authorities will show political maturity and resolve the situation with the detained fighters fairly. I hope that the doors will finally be opened to build a new, fair anti-imperialist alliance, where every nation seeking freedom from imperial Russia will be heard and supported.

The "Congress of the Oirat Kalmyk People" is actively engaged in the opposition against the oppressive and violent regime of President Vladimir Putin, which has systematically undermined the rights and freedoms of the Oirat-Kalmyk people for centuries. This grassroots organization fiercely advocates for protecting and empowering an all-Oirat-Kalmyk community that has faced relentless oppression and marginalization. The recent ruling by Russia's Supreme Court on August 23, 2023, prohibiting any activities related to the Oirat Kalmyk and labeling them as extremist, is a stark reminder of the ongoing threats to their cultural and political existence. In the face of such adversity, the Congress remains steadfast, working tirelessly to raise awareness, mobilize support, and champion the cause of the Oirat-Kalmyk people striving for justice and dignity. Their resilience in the face of repression is a testament to their unyielding spirit and commitment to their heritage.

ONE OF THE MOST SADEST DAY IN HISTORY OF KALMYKS

On a cold, tough day on December 28, 1943, the Stalin regime executed a harsh edict that forcibly exiled the entire Kalmyk population to distant regions in the north and east. This tragic event led to the loss of approximately 40% of the Kalmyk population, which suffered immense hardships during the forced relocation. Families were torn apart, communities disrupted, and the rich cultural heritage of the Kalmyk people was put at significant risk. The trauma of exile left lasting scars on the community, as many faced brutal conditions and dehumanization in unfamiliar lands. This dark chapter in history remains a poignant reminder of the consequences of oppressive political actions and the resilience of the Kalmyk people in the face of adversity.
*The article was published in Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a media resource funded wholly by the U.S. government. 
https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-kalmyks-deportation-anniversary/32751072.html

New Russian-language websites offer reality check for local audiences

Two new Russian-language websites have found ready audiences in Russia’s North Caucasus and mid-Volga regions, providing accurate reporting for populations that lack access to a local, independent press.

Caucasus Realities, known locally as Kavkaz.Realii, reports news and information from all of Russia’s North Caucasus republics — Chechnya, Daghestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, and North Ossetia. The website focuses on “real issues that worry real people,” says North Caucasus Service Director Aslan Doukaev, citing political and economic disenfranchisement, corruption, and police brutality as concerns that unite all of the region’s ethnic groups.

Idel Realities (Idel.Realii) covers the middle Volga republics of Bashkortostan, Chuvashia, Mari El, Mordovia, Tatarstan, and Udmurtia, as well as Russia’s Samara oblast. The website’s reporting has brought new scrutiny to actions of local authorities that have previously gone unchecked. In one case, the site’s journalists revealed that the process for awarding a tender for a construction project was a sham. In response to the story, the region’s anti-monopoly body canceled the contract. On another occasion, authorities reversed a decision to cancel a festival celebrating the region’s Finno-Ugric minority after an Idel.Realities report caused a public outcry.

Because of their unique content about regions that are known for their colorful politicians and compelling stories, and yet which are underreported, both sites attract audiences from Moscow, amplifying their local impact. “There’s almost no other option for reliable news from the region in Russian,” says Doukaev. But, says Tatar-Bashkir Service Director Rim Gilfanov, the added visibility has brought heightened risks for their reporters. “When we were reporting only in Tatar and Bashkir, officials sort of tolerated it, but now they’re getting worried.”

Gilfanov cited the case of one free-lancer in Udmurtia who was threatened by Russian security agents in October with charges of “extremism” because of her reporting and vilified in the local media for ties to “American propagandist” RFE/RL. Independent journalists in Chechnya and other North Caucasus republics work in fear for their lives.

Both new projects are additions to RFE/RL’s “Realities” brand, a growing set of so-called “hyper-local” websites that launched in 2015 with Crimea Realities and Donbas Realities. The sites target areas particularly vulnerable to disinformation and command audiences in the millions. They have also taken the lead in introducing innovative media practices to their local markets: an Idel Realities social video documenting police brutality in Tatarstan’s capital of Kazan, for example, was the first of its kind.

The new websites are managed by RFE/RL’s North Caucasus and Tatar-Bashkir services, complementing their continuing reporting in Chechen, Tatar and Bashkir languages while extending their reach to new audiences.

*The article was published in the US Agency For Global Media website. 
https://www.usagm.gov/2016/12/19/new-russian-language-websites-offer-reality-check-local-audiences/

MAKE OUR COMMUNITY OF KALMYK ETHNICITY STRONG AND MAKE ALL POSSIBLE EDUCATIONAL, RELIGIOUS, AND CHARITABLE AGENDAS ALIVE AND SUPPORT AT ALL YOU CAN WHERE ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED TO YOUR INVOLVEMENT

AS A NONPROFIT, CHARITABLE, EDUCATIONAL, RELIGIOUS ENTITY, WE ARE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR ANY DONATIONS TO ACHIEVE OUR GOALS. IF YOU ARE A CAN GENEROUSLY LIKE TO SUPPORT, ALL DONATIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE AND CAN BE MAID BY USING A ZELLE APP OR CAN SEND A CHECK AND WRITE TO "CONGRESS OF THE OIRAT-KALMYK PEOPLE" AND SEND TO ADDRESS: 112 BOWERY, SUITE #279, NEW YORK, NY 10013, FOR MONETARY TRANSFER BY ZELLE, SEND TO USING A EMAIL ADDRESS:congressoiratkalmykpeople@gmail.com, OR YOU CAN SEND WIRE TRANSFER SWIFT, TD BANK ROUTING NUMBER 026013673 AND NONPROFIT ENTITY BUSINESS ACCOUNT 4437193115, FOR ALL DONATIONS AND MEMBERSHIP DUES YOU WILL GET ORIGINAL RECEIPT AT ALL RULES OF LAW TAXATION UNDER U.S. IRS

Get in Touch

We welcome your inquiries and support. Contact us to learn more about our mission and how you can help us, the "Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk People," continue the fight for rights and freedoms persecuted and violated by the Russian government.

Contact

112 BoWERY, SUITE # 279,NEW YORK,NY 10013 U.S.A.
(347)884-0425
info@congressoftheoiratkalmykpeople.org

2023 Copyright is owned by the “Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk People” nonprofit entity fully recognized by U.S. IRS laws as a 501(c)(3) and International Intellectual Property Laws. All rights reserved.

.