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"In the Russian Federation, the time has come to turn all environmental problems into the mainstream of human rights" - these words belong to To Radiy KhabirovAt least that's how it is. written in his dissertation, which he defended in 1998. As its title suggests, in those years the young lawyer was concerned with the formation and development of the right to a favorable environment.

Today he leads Republic of Bashkortostan. Right here broke out mass protests in defense of an environmental activist Failya Alsynova, who spoke out against the barbaric gold mining in the Baimaksky district and got Four years in prison based on Khabirov's denunciation. Criminal cases are being opened against those who spoke out in support of the convicted man and fought for that very right to a healthy environment, in their apartments. pass searches. Khabirov, by the way, has already call their traitors.

NeMoscow compiled the key milestones in the biography of the head of Bashkortostan and saw how a provincial scientist who dreamed of protecting the rights of "helpless citizens" turned into an ordinary Putin-era bureaucrat who brutally suppresses environmental protests.

Environmental rights defender

Radiy Khabirov was born on March 20, 1964 into a family of teachers.

He grew up in Ishimbay, 170 km south of Ufa. Approximately the same distance from this place is Baymak, who became famous throughout Russia after the January protests.

Both cities, like much of Bashkortostan, have suffered from poor environmental conditions since Soviet times: Ishimbay is home to a large chemical plant and polluted rivers, while gold mining in Baimak has long since transformed the meadows and pastures into a lifeless, lunar landscape.

The challenging environmental situation in his native republic likely influenced the choice of topic for his dissertation, which 34-year-old Khabirov defended in 1998. By then, he had already served in the army, graduated from the law faculty of Bashkir State University, and studied for two years in Turkey, mastering conversational English.

“In the Russian human rights movement, the problem of environmental human and civil rights is traditionally not considered as significant and essential, — Khabirov stated in his scientific work. — And this is happening at a time when the consequences of environmental rights violations are so significant. It's worth noting that tens of thousands of people die every year in Russia as a result of environmental pollution, and even more suffer from health problems."

The young lawyer emphasized that "in many cases, citizens find themselves helpless in the face of resistance or inaction from government agencies that are obligated to assist them in realizing their rights." And that current legislation "is very vague about where a citizen can turn regarding their violated environmental rights."

Radiy Khabirov proposed rethinking all environmental legislation, taking into account the experience of foreign countries, and requiring authorities at all levels to "provide the public with objective environmental information" about pollution in cities and towns.

"Information about pollution is the key to awakening human consciousness.", the scientist claimed.

Four years after defending his dissertation, he became head of the Institute of Law at the Bashkir State University, and a year later his political career began.

"There is no need to scare yourself with dictatorship."

Radiy Khabirov entered politics in September 2003, when he was offered the position of head of the presidential administration of Bashkortostan. Murtaza Rakhimov.

Summing up the first six months of his work, he noted that the flow of letters from the public had increased by one and a half times.

"Do you share the opinion that the same people, dissatisfied with everything and everyone, who are accustomed to critically assessing the government rather than themselves, usually write to all authorities?" the journalist asked him.

«The appeals contain many valuable suggestions and comments, answered Radiy Khabirov. — It's perfectly natural that there's a lot of criticism, too. Such citizen activism isn't a burden to the government, but a crucial aspect of civil society and a democratic, rule-of-law state. I'm convinced of this. I don't want to sound too dramatic, but we will steadfastly ensure that not a single voice of our fellow citizens goes unheard."

He also stated that "pounding fists and stamping feet" in public administration is useless: "E“Efficiency can only be achieved by taking into account all aspects of the problem, including knowing the opponent’s point of view.”

In response to a journalist's cautious question about the possible return of dictatorship in Russia and a revision of the Constitution, the official responded:

«Our country needs firm government and order, so there's no need to frighten ourselves with the idea of ​​dictatorship. The guarantee here is the very development of civil society, and that's what we need to focus on.».

By that time, Radiy Khabirov had already been involved in his first major scandal: in December 2003, in a printing house controlled by his department found More than 100 counterfeit ballots were found. This happened three days before the election day to elect the republic's head: a Bashkir opposition activist spotted stacks of ballots through a window.

After disgruntled crowds began gathering outside the printing house, the lights were turned off and the doors were locked. According to Murtaza Rakhimov's competitors, an attempt was made to smuggle out the counterfeit ballots in a police UAZ, but the crowd prevented them. Thick smoke then billowed from the building, and arriving firefighters encountered a cordon of security forces, who prevented them from extinguishing the fire for a long time. Later, opposition candidates discovered a pile of charred ballots and campaign materials in favor of the incumbent president inside the building.

How to said journalists Sergey Veremeenko, one of Murtaza Rakhimov's competitors, confirmed during questioning that the printing house employees had printed the ballots on Khabirov's orders.

The same was reported by the first deputy of the republican prosecutor Vladimir Korostylev, but a little later his boss Florid Baikov called this statement "premature."

Murtaza Rakhimov's campaign team claimed they had nothing to do with the printing of counterfeit ballots and dismissed the scandal as a "provocation by competitors."

In response to the scandal, Moscow sent a large contingent of FSB and Interior Ministry officers to the republic: they arrived under the pretext of threatening terrorist attacks that were allegedly planned for election day.

Resignation and criminal case

The idea that those protesting in the streets were extremists and separatists appeared in Khabibrov's rhetoric as early as April 2005. At that time, residents of the republic once again demanded the resignation of Murtaza Rakhimov, took to the streets with thousands of rallies, and threatened to stage a demonstration in Moscow.

While remaining head of the presidential administration, Khabirov compared these protests to the "Orange Revolution" that had just taken place in Ukraine. He called "baboon dances."

Three years later, Radiy Khabirov resigned amid a high-profile corruption scandal. According to one theory, this was done on orders from President Rakhimov, who saw his subordinate as a competitor and decided to get rid of him.

The former head of the presidential administration was accused of abuse of office, real estate fraud, and concealing media income. claimedthat he "took control of the sale of non-residential premises in Ufa's luxury buildings," "set the price per square meter himself," gave his friend a monument of national significance, was behind the bankruptcy of large enterprises, lobbied for the interests of commercial structures, and exerted pressure on the head of the republic's Central Election Commission and the head of the regional office of the Federal Registration Service.

An investigation revealed that Khabirov owned at least three apartments, two plots of land with cottages, saunas, and garages. The value of this property alone was three times his official income over five years. Furthermore, rumors swirled around the republic about five more apartments in Ufa, two apartments in Moscow, and property in Austria.

Against the backdrop of these accusations, a resident of the republic contacted law enforcement agencies, who claimed that in 2003 paid Khabirov received five thousand dollars for receiving a law degree.

Four days after his resignation, Radiy Khabirov was expelled from the Bashkir branch of United Russia. However, the party's federal leadership disagreed with this decision. The dismissed official was invited to Moscow and given a position in the Presidential Administration of Russia: he headed the department responsible for interaction with the State Duma and political parties.

The criminal case was soon closed “due to the absence of evidence of a crime.”

Moscow period

Radiy Khabirov worked in Moscow for eight years. He worked in the Domestic Policy Department, but his work wasn't limited to political parties.

During the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Khabibrov personally answered For the delivery of 14 Russian flags to the peninsula, which were distributed to residents of apartments whose windows overlooked "target streets," as well as to participants in mass events. He also organized and conducted so-called "spontaneous rallies" in support of Russia.

In addition, Khabirov was involved in preparations for the referendum and oversaw negotiations with the leaders of the Crimean Tatars, whose lands he promised to legitimize in exchange for support (a promise he ultimately failed to keep).

While working in Moscow, Khabirov met his new wife and divorced his old one.

Khabirov had two daughters in his first marriage. Both were educated abroad and still live there: the eldest settled in Austria, the youngest one is in UKMoreover, the latter studied at the London College while her father was working in the Russian Presidential Administration. A year of tuition cost just over two million rubles, which was comparable to Khabirov's annual income, according to his official declaration.

His new wife bore him two sons. She began appearing frequently in public after 2017, when Khabibrov left the Kremlin and headed administration of the Moscow region KrasnogorskHe served in this position for just over a year, focusing on the construction of comfortable housing, the development of parks and sports grounds.

Khabirov told journalists that he “came to Krasnogorsk for a long time,” but in October 2018 Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin offered him to temporarily head the Republic of Bashkortostan, since the previous head Rustem Khamitov resigned (Khamitov himself came just as suddenly in 2010, replacing Rakhimov, and led the republic for nine years).

«I didn’t come here to sit out the rest of my life; I connected my future life with this city, Khabirov admitted to Krasnogorsk journalists on the last day of his mayoralty. But I've been part of our country's vertical power structure for quite some time now. The President has made a decision, and for me, it's a huge honor and an incredible responsibility."

When leaving for a high position in his native Bashkortostan, Khabirov clarified that the main thing for him is “justify "The President's trust." He didn't say a word about the republic's residents.

A press service employee of the mayor's office left Krasnogorsk with him. Elena Prochakovskaya, who will become Khabibrov’s main PR person as president of the republic.

Her detained January 17, 2024—the very day the court sentenced Fail Alsynov to four years in prison, and thousands of people on the streets of Baimak shouted “Shame!”

According to investigators, while working at the Krasnogorsk mayor's office, Prochakovskaya fictitiously employed an acquaintance at a local multifunctional center and deposited her salary onto her bank card.

Khabirov himself commented on the detention of his subordinate only seven days later: he called her “a decent person.”

«I know her financial situation well: her mother is sick, and she's raising her adult daughter and grandchildren. I have mixed feelings about what happened.», - cited the head of the republic, the Bashinform news agency.

Promises and results

In September 2019, Radiy Khabirov typed in the elections he received 82% of the votes and took the post of head of the republic without the prefix "acting".

When he took office, he promised Bashkortostan needed an economic boost, a revival of rural healthcare, and the construction of swimming pools and schools. His main goal was to make the republic one of the top five regions in the country within five years.

However, according to the Ufa political strategist Andrey Potylitsyn, all this time Khabirov was engaged in Mainly due to political intrigue, while the entire socio-economic sphere remained in the background. As a result, economic indicators declined, revenues to the republican budget fell sharply, transport reform failed, and urban development became increasingly chaotic.

Potylitsyn believes that Khabirov perceived the start of the war with Ukraine as a "lifeline" amidst the failures. As early as March 2022, he personally I visited DPR, having promised the local head Denis Pushilin increase the number of humanitarian convoys and bring even more building materials for housing restoration.

«Khabirov has obviously decided that if he will support this “SVO” with all his might and with all the resources of the republic at his disposal, then the federal center will undoubtedly appreciate it. — says the political strategist. "At first it was something completely rabidly hawkish; then, apparently, some corrective instructions from Moscow reached him. He stopped traveling to Donbass frequently."

Now Khabirov advocates for returning war veterans to work as school principals in educational work and, in general, to occupy a worthy place in the republic's leadership.

Meanwhile, monitoring by NeMoskva shows that over the past year and a half, residents of Bashkortostan have been outraged by high prices for bread, emergency condition rural schools, spot development, wear and tear engineering networks, absence normal roads, non-payments to doctors.

Against this backdrop, people's attention was drawn to the costs of maintaining Khabibrov and his family. Including work country residence with an area of ​​40 hectares and purchase an SUV for 11 million rubles (in the documents it was listed as a donation to a fund to help fire victims and the blind).

Some residents outragedAt one event, Khabirov's wife appeared wearing a coat from the premium Italian brand Loro Piana, costing 330 rubles—the average annual salary in the republic. The comments on the post with this photo read like a parade of problems: from children sick due to a lack of heating to a shortage of medication for those on social security benefits.

And, of course, one of the main reasons for public discontent has been environmental problems in Bashkortostan. And this applies not only to the gold miners from Baimak.

Over the last year alone, NeMoskva has reported on protests because of the dirty air in Ufa and raider capture land for copper mining in the Khaibullinsky district.

stay alive

The main environmental scandal that was associated with Khabirov’s name before the protests in Baimak was the protests against the destruction Kushtau shihan, which occurred in the summer of 2020.

Kushtau is located 40 kilometers from where Khabirov grew up. After becoming head of the republic, he handed over the mountain to the Bashkir Soda Company for development. However, local residents disagreed and came out in defense of the mountain.

Khabirov warnedThat it was useless to "break" him, "twist his arms," ​​or "bribe journalists and nationalists." He promised to give people jobs and claimed that the protests were being paid for by competitors of the Bashkir Soda Company.

As a result, confrontation between local residents outgrown into a fight with the company's security guards, and the resonance reached the Kremlin. After this, Radiy Khabirov had to go to negotiate with the protesters and surrender.

«We've had our fill of fighting. Well done everyone. Let's calm down. говорил He stood in the pouring rain to the defenders of Kushtau on August 16, 2020. My decision: today, everyone leaves the mountain. BSK leaves, you leave. And I give you my word here, in front of everyone, that no one will climb this mountain."

A year later, he signed a decree on the creation of zones of natural monuments of republican significance, the list of which included Kushtau.

The story of the protests in Baimak developed according to a different scenario, where Khabirov initially seemed to be with the people.

Back in the spring of 2023, in several villages completed Mass protests against gold miners who are destroying local wildlife and leaving no room for grazing. At one of them acted environmental activist Fail Alsynov.

The head of the republic tried to quell the protest peacefully, sided with the civilians and claimed"Industrialists must thoroughly explain to everyone the nature of their work." He also asked local parliament members to introduce a bill to the State Duma proposing to transfer the authority to issue licenses for placer gold mining to Russian regions.

“For quite a long time we have been concerned about the situation with gold mining in a number of areas of the Trans-Urals using the placer method, — the head of Bashkortostan emphasized. — Residents of the republic and municipal heads learn that a gold mining license has been issued when the first equipment appears. "We're fed up with this."

However, according to the criminal case file, around the same time, Khabirov appealed to the republic's prosecutor to prosecute environmental activist Alsynov. After reviewing the activist's video recording, the prosecutor's office declined to open a criminal case. However, the Investigative Committee agreed.

Fail Alsynov is far from the only activist from Bashkortostan to be sentenced or subjected to pressure. In January 2023, the court sentenced Three people who were members of the national organization "Bashkort," to which Alsynov is affiliated and which was recognized as extremist, were given suspended sentences. In April 2021, unknown individuals beaten Baimak activist Ildar YumagulovIn June 2023, seven and a half years in prison received Liliya Chanysheva, who headed the Ufa headquarters Alexey Navalny and also covered environmental protests.

It's also worth noting that Alsynov spoke in Bashkir. A linguistic analysis of his speech was conducted using a translation provided by the administration of the head of Bashkortostan.

According to the defense, this translation contained serious inaccuracies, leading the environmental activist to be accused of uttering the phrase, "Armenians will go to their own country, Russians will go to Ryazan, Tatars will go to Tatarstan, black people will go back home, but we can't leave, our home is here."

In fact, Alsynov said that after the gold mining ended, the shift workers would return to their homelands, but the Bashkirs would remain here because this was their home and they had nowhere else to go.

According to one version, the riots during the announcement of the verdict against Alsynov could have been provoked by the authorities themselves. Including calls for Khabibrov's resignation. After all, in Russia's recent history, it's been a long time since such personnel changes at the demand of protesters have occurred. And this fall, Bashkortostan is holding another presidential election. And, unlike Putin, he sometimes changes.