TASS, January 18. A foreign-based group is calling for the separation of the Urals region Republic of Bashkortostan from Russia, but local Bashkir authorities have vowed to unmask "the true face of these guys," Head of Bashkortostan Radiy Khabirov wrote on his Telegram channel.

"A group of people, partially from abroad, who in fact are traitors, is calling on Bashkortostan to separate from Russia," the regional chief executive wrote, noting that the task of the authorities was "to reveal the true face of these guys."

The head of the region stressed that, the day before, 37-year-old environmental activist Fail Alchinov (a member of the foreign group who has been designated as a terrorist and extremist) was sentenced to four years in prison for inciting hatred, humiliating a group of people on the basis of their race and nationality (Article 282 of the Russian Criminal Code). After the verdict, riots broke out in Baimak, Bashkortostan, leaving several citizens injured. The Bashkir Regional Department of the Russian Investigative Committee detained several people and opened a criminal case.

Khabirov also recalled Ruslan Gabbasov (listed by the Ministry of Justice as a "foreign agent," and by the Federal Financial Monitoring Service among organizations and individuals engaged in extremist or terrorist activities), who had left Russia for Lithuania. He was recognized as one of the leaders of the Bashkort organization (declared extremist by the Supreme Court of Bashkortostan in May 2020). "This is Gabbasov, who is being tried for murder; this is Fanzil Akhmetshin masquerading as a peaceful shepherd, who is being tried for drugs," Bashkortostan’s head added.