Across Sakha and Beyond: Indigenous Voices Against Empire with Viliuia Choinova

In this episode of Yurt Jurt, host Diana Kudaibergen speaks with environmental engineer and Indigenous rights activist Viliuia Choinova about decolonisation, extractivism, and the realities of living within and resisting the Russian state. Viliuia speaks about land not as an abstract concept, but as a material and political space—one shaped by resource extraction, environmental destruction, and unequal power relations. The conversation confronts difficult questions: What does it mean to call Russia a federation when many of its regions lack real autonomy? How are Indigenous communities disproportionately affected by extractivism and militarisation? Viliuia also reflects on the increasing pressures faced by activists, the targeting of Indigenous populations in mobilization efforts, and the challenges of bringing these issues to international platforms, including UN spaces. At the same time, she offers a powerful vision of decolonisation as both resistance and possibility, a chance to reclaim language, culture, and political futures beyond imperial structures. This episode is a bold and urgent conversation about empire, identity, and the struggle for self-determination in the 21st century.