When Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to the Russian nation on February 21 and described Ukraine as “historically Russian land,” and also announced that Moscow would be recognizing the Russia-backed separatist regions in Lugansk and Donetsk in eastern Ukraine as independent countries, it has evoked concern of many in Central Asia, Radio Liberty reported on February 27.
In a lengthy televised speech on February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin formally recognized the independence of two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine — the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” and “Lugansk People’s Republic.”
He described Ukraine as “historically Russian land” that was stolen from the Russian empire and has since fallen into the hands of neo-Nazis and corrupt “puppets” controlled by the West.
Central Asia was not only part of the Soviet Union but for decades before that was part of the Russia Empire also.
And Russian officials, including President Putin, have said publicly that there never was such a thing as a Kazakh state, for example.
There is still a large Russian population in northern Kazakhstan in areas along the Russian border. During the 1990s, a small but vocal group of them called for the Russian annexation of areas in northern Kazakhstan, similar to the situation in Donetsk and Luhansk.
As for separatism in Central Asia, there is Karakalpakstan in western Uzbekistan, where some have been calling for independence for 30 years.
In Tajikistan, many in the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) would at least like greater autonomy from the central government.
And due to maps drawn in Soviet times, there are large diasporas in every Central Asian state, according to Radio Liberty.
