Photo by Sergey Gavrilov
We are living in strange times.
Today, what was used to be an unquestionable truth—such as the slogans “No to war” or “Peace to the world”—is now called a crime by many. What was once considered an absolute priority—respect for the individual and for human rights—is today portrayed by many as an anachronism, a relic of the past, or a liberal conspiracy.
What was once regarded as a moral duty—to stand up for those subjected to political repression—is now declared a violation of state foundations. Silence and obedience to political diktat are presented as “responsibility.” Refusal to help those unjustly persecuted is framed as a “balanced position.”
Murderers are turned into “heroes.” Scoundrels and villains become moral authorities.
A few days ago, after a month and a half of silence, Alexander Novyukhov, President of RAIPON—the Association of Indigenous Small-Numbered Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation—finally commented on the December arrests in Moscow of Indigenous human rights defenders.
Among those arrested was Daria Egereva—a person widely known in the international Indigenous community for its consistent human rights work within the United Nations system, including on climate change, biodiversity, and the rights of Indigenous women.
Today, Daria is in prison. Essentially, for the fact that for many years she openly, in good faith, and professionally did her job—defending the rights of Indigenous small-numbered peoples, one of the most vulnerable and marginalized groups in Russia.
I have known both Dasha and Sasha Novyukhov for many years. Once, we all began as young activists in the Indigenous movement: Dasha in Tomsk, Novyukhov in Khanty-Mansiysk, and I in Kamchatka. We were full of enthusiasm and hope that we—the young generation of Indigenous peoples—could change life for the better, could ensure that our peoples would be able to live fully the way of life passed down to us by our ancestors: freely fishing, hunting, herding reindeer on ancestral lands, without the oppression of state bureaucracy, without constant humiliation by officials and predatory businessmen.
Twenty-five years ago, RAIPON was a unifying political force for the Indigenous small-numbered peoples of the Russian North. It was an organization that took a principled stand in defense of Indigenous rights—both within Russia and at the international level.
We, representatives of what was then the young generation of Indigenous peoples, lived in a time when Russia still adopted federal laws that did not diminish our peoples’ rights, but rather systematically developed their legal status in line with international law.
However, Alexander Novyukhov already stood out back then from us—young activists who entered the Indigenous movement out of conviction. From the very beginning, he chose a different path: combining public activism with building a career within the state power structure.
This path is indeed rational for a careerist: participation in public movements provides visibility and access to high-ranking officials, while a state career, in turn, strengthens one’s position within Indigenous organizations themselves. Judge for yourself:
- 1999–2001: Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Indigenous Peoples of the North, Berezovsky District Administration, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug–Yugra
- 2001–2003: Head of the Department for Regulation of Relations with Subsoil Users, Committee for Indigenous Peoples of the North, KhMAO–Yugra
- 2003–2008: Assistant to the Deputy Chairman of the Government of KhMAO–Yugra on Indigenous Affairs, Governor’s Administration
- 2008–2011: Assistant to the Deputy Chairman of the Government of KhMAO–Yugra, Governor’s Office
- 2011–2016: Advisor to the First Deputy Governor of KhMAO–Yugra
- 2016–2021: Deputy of the Duma of KhMAO–Yugra from the United Russia party
- 2021–present: Member of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation from KhMAO–Yugra
And in parallel:
- President of the regional Indigenous organization Saving Yugra (2001–2016)
- Vice President of RAIPON (2016–2021)
- First Vice President of RAIPON (2021–2025)
- President of RAIPON since April 2025
A perfect bureaucratic ladder in Putin’s Russia. Novyukhov has always consistently voted at meetings—no matter which ones—in favor of all government initiatives, and has successfully blocked public initiatives that displeased the authorities.
In addition, he successfully built financial relationships with oil companies in the Khanty-Mansi region—the richest oil-producing region in Russia.
- “They work for the benefit of those at the top.” How the Association of Indigenous peoples became an enrichment and lobbying tool
- An oil sector bureaucrat. A senator from Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug (KhMAO) covering oil companies now heads RAIPON, the organization meant to protect the rights of Russia’s indigenous peoples.
But his most terrible crime is not even this.
Alexander Novyukhov bears direct responsibility for the war in Ukraine and for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, including thousands of Indigenous people on both sides. As a senator of the Federation Council, Novyukhov voted in favor of the invasion in February 2022— “Russia Votes to Use Troops Abroad After Separatist Recognition” .
Moreover, the leadership of RAIPON—where Novyukhov was First Vice President at the time—went even further and issued a separate statement supporting President Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine, titled “RAIPON supports the decision of President Putin to start the war in Ukraine ,” which was also signed by Alexander Novyukhov.
And today, this man—whose hands are stained with the blood of innocents, women, children, and his own Indigenous kin killed in this war—lectures us about the “presumption of innocence and fair decisions”? About his work “to ensure sustainable development and the protection of special constitutional rights of Indigenous peoples of Russia”?
There is hardly any point in analyzing Novyukhov’s statement regarding Daria Egereva’s arrest in detail—almost every line of it is false and propagandistic, turning into truth and truth into lies. One example is enough: the claim that “Indigenous peoples have freely developed within the Russian state for many centuries” —as if centuries of colonial domination of Siberia and the Arctic by the Russian Empire never existed.
However, I want to dwell on one particular moment—Novyukhov’s assertion that “the Association has no moral right to defend people suspected of ties with organizations officially recognized as extremist.”
In July 2024, Russian authorities designated 55 organizations working in the field of Indigenous and minority rights as extremist, falsely labeling them as “branches” of a fabricated “Anti-Russian Separatist Movement.” The same tactic was previously used with the fictitious “International LGBT Movement.”
Once again: such organizations do not exist . They were entirely invented by the Russian Ministry of Justice and the FSB to facilitate mass repression.
Our organization—the International Committee of Indigenous Peoples of Russia (ICIPR) —was included in that list. We issued a public statement and, together with dozens of Indigenous organizations worldwide, submitted an appeal to the UN stating that the mass criminalization of Indigenous organizations constitutes a blatant violation of international law and opens the door to further repression.
Later in 2024, the list was expanded: 172 organizations , including ICIPR and the Indigenous activist network Aborigen Forum , were reclassified as terrorist organizations.
Many of these organizations, operating abroad, openly speak about independence from Russia and about Russia’s continued imperial nature.
We never did.
Even today, as political exiles forced to flee Russia, ICIPR members have never advocated independence. On the contrary, Pavel Sulyandziga—one of the most well-known Indigenous leaders—has repeatedly stated that he does not support separatism or the “collapse of Russia.”
Yes, we speak of self-determination . As all Indigenous peoples of the world do. This principle is enshrined in core UN documents.
Russia abstained from voting on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples—but voted in favor of the 2014 UN General Assembly Outcome Document on the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, thereby recognizing the Declaration and committing to its principles.
This is what self-determination means: consultation, consent, respect for Indigenous ways of life. For a city dweller, a pipeline is just a line on a map. For a reindeer-herding community, it can be a death sentence.
This is what we spoke about. This is what Aboriginal Forum spoke about at the UN.
And Novyukhov knows all of this perfectly well.
He knows that the Russian authorities deliberately lumped together Indigenous activists inside Russia with political movements abroad simply to find scapegoats—unable to reach some, they struck the most vulnerable.
And making his lying, immoral statement, the scoundrel and villain Alexander Novyukhov knew exactly what he was doing.
We live in a time of scoundrels and villains. And that is our tragedy.
Dmitry Berezhkov
