Decimation of Indigenous Peoples: Maria Vyushkova Reveals the Hidden Toll of Russias War on Ethnic Minorities

On her YouTube channel, Maria Vyushkova identifies herself as «a scientist by profession, Buryat by ethnicity,» and «an anti-war and decolonial activist engaged in social causes.»

In the three years following Russia’s extensive invasion of Ukraine, Vyushkova, who holds a Ph.D. in chemistry, has become a foremost authority on the roles of Russia’s Indigenous populations and ethnic minorities in the conflict.

While Indigenous activists have long sounded alarms about the unequal mobilization of minority groups for the war, Vyushkova became the first to substantiate these claims with concrete evidence, revealing the true extent of ethnic disparities among confirmed Russian casualties.

The Moscow Times interviewed Vyushkova about the integration of scientific knowledge into activism, the myth of «Buryats in Bucha,» and the daunting challenge of tracking Indigenous fatalities.

This interview has been condensed for brevity and clarity.

MT: When did you first use your scientific expertise in activism?

MV: Long before the invasion of Ukraine.

In 2012, when [Russian President Vladimir] Putin mandated the installation of cameras at polling stations, [pro-democracy] activists saw an opportunity. We downloaded footage to tally actual voter participation and uncover any irregularities. I volunteered for this effort and witnessed many distressing events on those videos.

MT: You became a co-founder of the Free Buryatia Foundation right after the full-scale invasion…

Yes, that’s correct.

MT: … and there you were able to combine your scientific skills with activism effectively.

It turned out that no one in the foundation had experience in data analysis. I began reviewing obituaries for soldiers, tracking the deceased, and trying to understand the significant number of casualties from Buryatia.

The narrative that Buryats were responsible for civilian deaths in the Ukrainian town of Bucha significantly shaped my investigation.

Having been educated in a prestigious scientific environment, I learned that a true scientist must remain skeptical. I set out to investigate these claims because nobody else was questioning them, and I wanted to uncover the truth behind them.

I examined casualty lists compiled by Mediazona volunteers to determine which soldiers perished in Bucha in March 2022. I found that the majority were paratroopers from Pskov, which contradicted media portrayals. This led me to think that something was amiss.

As I gathered more evidence, compared various sources, and cross-verified prisoner accounts, I confirmed that the casualties primarily consisted of paratroopers from the 76th Pskov Airborne Division — a finding also corroborated by the Conflict Intelligence Team, along with surveillance footage and other Ukrainian materials.

MT: However, the myth of ‘Buryats in Bucha’ persists, correct?

Yes, it has proliferated and gained traction—not just in Russia, but in Ukraine and the West as well. Do you recall the Pope’s controversial remark?

Whenever news outlets cover Russian war crimes, there is a disproportionate emphasis on individuals from Asian ethnic groups. This sensitive topic is often sidestepped—people worry that labeling Ukrainians as potentially racist is morally questionable. Nonetheless, it’s a necessary conversation.

Some reports from prisoners indicate that Buryat POWs in Ukraine suffer worse treatment than their Russian counterparts. This is alarming. As a result, we can no longer safely encourage Buryat soldiers to surrender, as their fates remain uncertain.

I am also concerned that Russian propaganda may exploit this situation to incite individuals in Buryatia and other Asian republics to enlist in the war, seeking retribution for their kin.

MT: Can you describe how you gather information on the ethnic makeup of Russian casualties in Ukraine?

At the Free Buryatia Foundation, our focus was on three areas with Buryat populations: the Republic of Buryatia, the Irkutsk region, and the Aginsky district of Zabaykalsky Krai.

We collected obituaries from social media, relatives’ posts, private messages, and local television reports.

MT: Due to the forced russification and Christianization policies of Moscow over centuries, many Indigenous people have adopted Russian names. How do you ascertain someone’s ethnicity?

My fellow volunteers and I don’t solely rely on names or images. We analyze the contents of the obituaries, the person’s place of origin, the language of comments, and whether they’re made by relatives, among other factors.

Determining ethnicity is complex and cannot be automated.

In a study featured in the Journal of Computational Social Science, Alexey Bessudnov from the University of Exeter employed AI to identify «ethnic» names in Mediazona’s lists. However, I respectfully disagree with his conclusions.

MT: You’ve recently shifted your focus to assessing losses among small Indigenous communities in Siberia and the North. What compelled this change?

These communities are seldom discussed, yet when comparing ethnic groups by casualty rates, Chukchis, Udeges, Eskimos, and Nenets show far higher per capita losses than both Buryats and Tyvans. Small Indigenous groups are disproportionately represented in all casualty lists, including those of soldiers recruited from prisons—likely exacerbated by systemic over-incarceration issues.

To illustrate, the per capita losses for Nenets, with a population around 50,000, are comparable to those for Tyvans, whose population stands at approximately 295,000.

For example, in the village of Elabuga within the Khabarovsk region, there are only eighty Indigenous families, yet 15 men from these families were mobilized and another 10 reportedly signed contracts as «volunteers.» These statistics are horrifying.

These communities rely on men to maintain their traditional lifestyles, and the war threatens to obliterate their cultural identity. It’s essentially the annihilation of entire groups—it’s terrifying.

MT: You also track overarching trends in Russia’s casualty figures. What do the latest statistics reveal about the situation on the battlefield?

I won’t be the first to mention this, but 2024 has marked the deadliest year of this conflict. The pace of fatalities has surged dramatically.

Another significant trend is the geographical shift of losses toward western regions of Russia. Buryatia is no longer a leading area for casualties; instead, Bashkortostan and Tatarstan, along with the Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk regions, have taken the lead.

The casualty situation in Bashkortostan and Tatarstan is dire. The numbers keep escalating without any indication of abating. Though these two republics have large populations compared to Buryatia, they now rank around 20th in deaths per capita out of the 83 regions and several occupied territories. Their casualty rates are already considerably above the national average, even surpassing those of the Sakha (Yakutia) and Kalmykia republics.

This increase in casualties began post-mobilization. When the offensive against Avdiivka commenced in October 2023, I noted a sharp rise in casualties from Bashkortostan, and my prediction that it would lead in losses turned out to be accurate.

The Moscow region currently ranks fourth in casualties, which is unprecedented. Although the region hosts many military units, they hadn’t been heavily engaged in active combat until recently. It appears that authorities deliberately attempted to minimize losses among soldiers from Moscow and surrounding areas, but now they, too, are being exposed to significant dangers.

MT: What emotions do you experience while processing these lists and statistical data?

It’s incredibly difficult to confront this information. I feel a personal connection to at least 500 deceased individuals as I meticulously process the data.

It’s horrifying.

Especially regarding small Indigenous communities, who are entirely victimized in this scenario due to their dependence on government support and lack of access to qualified legal help.

None of them have attempted to contest military mobilization summons in court—despite having valid grounds—simply because they cannot find a competent lawyer brave enough to take on such cases. That’s the first challenge.

The second issue is their alarming reliance on the government since their traditional lifestyles have been effectively criminalized. Russian environmental regulations not only fail to protect the environment; they also function to criminalize these communities.

Witnessing the loss of men from these groups is devastating because, in just a generation or two, entire cultures could vanish—and no one seems to acknowledge or care about that.