Video Shows Russian Police Fleeing From Rioters as Protests Spread

A video circulating on social media appears to show Russian police fleeing from rioters during widespread protests in the Russian republic of Bashkortostan, amid reports that President Vladimir Putin deployed to the region elite units previously used after an armed rebellion last year.

The clip, shared on Telegram and X (formerly Twitter), shows protesters throwing stones and shouting at fleeing police vehicles in the south-central Russian region.

Newsweek could not independently verify the video's authenticity and has contacted Russia's Foreign Ministry for comment via email.

It comes as thousands of protesters clashed with police in the town of Baymak after a court convicted Fayil Alsynov, 37, an indigenous rights activist for the local Bashkir ethnic group, to four years in prison on Wednesday on charges of inciting ethnic hatred.

Alsynov was imprisoned last year because of remarks he made in the Bashkir language while speaking at a rally to protest illegal gold mining. Investigators claimed a phrase he said was an ethnic slur, but the words he used reportedly meant "common people."

Protesters say that Alsynov is being targeted due to his achievements in defending the culture and language of the indigenous Bashkir people.

Dozens have been arrested. Riot police used tear gas, batons and stun grenades against the protesters, according to local media reports.

According to Agentstvo, a Russian investigative site launched in 2021, Putin has deployed to the region his "Grom" special units of the Russian Federal Drug Control Service (part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs). The special forces units were reported to have been transferred to the jurisdiction of the National Guard of Russia by Putin in the aftermath of the failed armed uprising last summer by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the late head of the Wagner Group.

Ramil Gareev, the commander of the unit, was spotted in a video of the protest in the republic of Bashkortostan, Agentstvo reported on Wednesday, adding that "Grom" is considered one of the best special forces units in Russia.

The Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based think tank, said in July 2023 that the reorganization of Russian internal security organs to include the "Grom" unit suggested that the Kremlin had not yet concluded that it has effectively neutralized the threats of future armed rebellions following the Wagner Group's June 23-24 rebellion.

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