Merry Christmas and welcome to Regions Calling, a newsletter from The Moscow Times that explores life outside the Russian capital.

In this last edition of the year, we invited our special correspondent Leyla Latypova to reflect on her coverage of the regions in 2025 and highlight one policy, one individual, and one location that had a significant impact this year.

This year saw a myriad of crucial events across Russia’s regions and ethnic republics.

Almost every day in 2025 featured protests in at least one of the country’s 83 federal subjects, ranging from solitary pickets to large-scale demonstrations with thousands participating.

Due to the fact that only a small percentage of these protests received official sanction, participants often faced consequences, including minor fines, lengthy prison sentences, and potential inclusion in Russia’s rapidly expanding lists of foreign agents, extremists, and terrorists.

Regional leaders also made headlines, with some, like the unconventional governor of Vologda, Georgy Filimonov, implementing policies that bordered on the absurd, while others, such as deputies from Tatarstan’s State Council and Khakassia’s head, Valentin Konovalov, staged rare protests against Moscow.

Paradoxically, much of the political discontent that emerged in the regions was a direct result of the Kremlin’s own actions. Capitalizing on its ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the suppression of domestic opposition, Moscow sought to assert cultural dominance and tighten control over regional leaders and natural resources in Indigenous territories, provoking resistance as a result.

As this turbulent year dedicated to covering Russia’s regions draws to a close, here are my selections for the key policy, individual, and location that will make 2025 a notable year in history:

**Policy: The Reform of Local Government**

In 2019, President Vladimir Putin first suggested a comprehensive overhaul of municipal governments that would essentially eliminate lower-tier urban and rural governance.

After a bill was introduced in the lower house of parliament in 2021, it took another four years and over 1,000 revisions before it was finally approved in March of this year.

Experts have long warned that dismantling the two-tier system of local governance could lead to long-lasting issues for the Kremlin, such as increased public protests and the depopulation of small towns, by undermining the relationships between local authorities and their constituents.

Signs of dissent emerged even before the bill’s passage.

The head of Tatarstan, a key economic region that sought independence from Russia in the 1990s, criticized the reform as “shameful” and “disgraceful,” which led to an amendment allowing regional leaders to decide whether to implement it.

Even members of the usually Kremlin-supportive Communist Party openly condemned the bill. Communist delegates in the State Duma voted unanimously against it, while regional representatives clashed with proponents of the reform.

Following Putin’s approval of the legislation, protests erupted.

Residents of Altai, a vast and sparsely populated republic in southern Siberia, expressed the strongest opposition, labeling the reform a threat to their territorial integrity and Indigenous ways of life.

With nearly 2% of Altai’s population participating in an anti-reform rally in June, it has emerged as one of the most discontented regions in wartime Russia.

Other large, predominantly rural areas in the Far East and Siberia voiced their opposition as well, though many opted for public statements and petitions rather than street protests.

Officials appointed by the Kremlin in the republics of Altai and Buryatia, as well as in the Irkutsk and Zabaikalsky regions, pressed ahead with the reform nonetheless. The massive Sakharep remains the sole exception that will retain the dual-tier governance structure.

**Individual: Svetlana Lada-Rus**

In a socio-political landscape filled with fragmented grassroots movements, one figure has emerged as a potential leader of the anti-Kremlin opposition in the regions: the exiled occult healer Svetlana Lada-Rus.

While she may not have the international recognition of Yulia Navalnaya or the widespread admiration commanded by imprisoned Bashkir activist Fayil Alsynov, Lada-Rus cannot be overlooked by those monitoring Russia’s regional politics due to her enigmatic presence, unconventional ideas, and connections to significant protest movements this year.

Initially a music teacher, Lada-Rus gained public attention in the 1990s by founding an occult healing center in Samara. She later entered the political realm, running for the State Duma in 2003 and attempting a presidential run in 2012 with support from her own party, Volya (“The Will”), which was branded as “extremist” in 2016.

Her ideology fuses denial of the Soviet Union’s collapse with Russian nationalism, anti-vaccine sentiments, reptilian conspiracy theories, and assertions that British intelligence has infiltrated Russia’s ruling elite.

Currently, Lada-Rus resides in an undisclosed location in exile and has not made a public appearance for years.

She communicates with her followers through lengthy audio commentaries on current events, which she releases daily without failure.

Estimating the actual size of Lada-Rus’s following in Russia is challenging, but in 2025, numerous activists believed to be connected to her—mostly middle-aged, working-class women—were detained nationwide.

Among those detained were Aruna Arna, a leader of the protests in Altai, and Guzel Reyter, an environmental rights advocate from Bashkortostan who participated in a major campaign against a government-supported mining initiative in her homeland.

Another notable ally of Lada-Rus, Olga Tsukanova, who led the now-disbanded Council of Wives and Mothers, which lobbied the Kremlin for the return of mobilized troops from Ukraine, also faced repression.

In November, Lada-Rus was sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison on various charges, including fraud and negligence resulting in grievous harm.

Though she openly advocates for Russian ethnic nationalism and has not condemned the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, Lada-Rus is not a figure likely to steer Russia toward democracy.

Her rise illustrates how uncertain periods often foster the emergence of controversial leaders.

**Location: Republic of Bashkortostan**

Following the significant protests in Bashkortostan’s Baymak district in 2024, which led to the largest political trial in contemporary Russian history, many observers anticipated that this Turkic-majority republic would fade from media attention.

However, intense repressions against Baymak protest participants, affecting hundreds of families, have not entirely quelled civil society.

In May, Bashkortostan was back in the limelight as new protests erupted against a government-backed initiative to exploit copper mining resources at the scenic Kyrktytau mountain range, a favored destination for outdoor enthusiasts.

Local residents and environmental advocates warned that the proposed project would inflict irreversible ecological harm on Indigenous lands and adjacent ecosystems, including those in neighboring Kazakhstan.

A month later, police conducted raids on the homes of Kyrktytau activists, detaining many for questioning.

With defenders silenced, the Bashkir government advanced the development project.

In August, dozens of environmental activists in Bashkortostan commemorated five years since successful protests in defense of Kushtau mountain, a notable grassroots victory in modern Russian history. Many prominent advocates of Kushtau were subsequently forced into exile or imprisoned during the Baymak crackdown in 2024, leading most participants to take to social media to share their poignant memories.

Beyond its protest activities, Bashkortostan has been a frequent target of Ukrainian drone strikes and has recorded the highest confirmed war losses in the nation, while simultaneously surprising many by opening a Ukrainian cultural center. It also gave birth to the most commercially successful Indigenous music project in the country, the band Ay Yola.

In 2025, Bashkortostan emerged as one of the most frequently covered regions in The Moscow Times’ reporting. Despite the ongoing repressions enforced by its Kremlin-aligned government, it remains a region to keep an eye on in the coming years.

To learn more about the events in Russia’s regions throughout 2025, we invite you to explore our detailed coverage of the year’s key occurrences.