The idea came about in the mid-19th century and took shape with the military activities of
Aleksandr Kolchak and
Viktor Pepelyayev during the
Russian Civil War. In 1918 two provisional governments were formed, one in
Vladivostok and another in
Omsk. Both governments merged by the end of the year into the
Provisional All-Russian Government. In 1922 Siberia became part of the
Soviet Union. The idea of an independent Siberia was considered in 1989, during the election of the
Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union, but they reached a compromise with the Siberian Agreement, which gave more regional power to the local leaders. In 1992, after the
dissolution of the Soviet Union, Siberian autonomy was considered again, but the Siberian territories were consolidated under the Siberian Agreement, which stated in its resolution that if the demands of Siberians were ignored, they would "accelerate the creation of the Siberian republic." After the
annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in 2014,
performance artist Artyom Loskutov attempted to organize a mock demonstration called
Monstration to promote the idea of a Siberian Republic within the Russian Federation, on 17 August in
Novosibirsk, to promote Siberian
federalisation.
Alexei Navalny announced the event in his blog, but the
Kremlin launched a
media blackout of the event. Russian media watchdog
Roskomnadzor issued warnings to 14 media outlets that ran the story and threatened to close
BBC Russian Service. ==See also==