The Interaction of Kalmykia and the Astrakhan Region on the Issue of the Territorial Rehabilitation of the Kalmyk People (1991)

Based on the documents of the National archives of the Republic of Kalmykia, the article examines the territorial issues between the Republic and the Astrakhan region, which could have been resolved according to the RSFSR’s law “on the rehabilitation of repressed peoples” (territorial rehabilitation), adopted in April 1991. Apart from the issue of territorial rehabilitation, Kalmykia had a dispute with the Astrakhan region in relation to the land situated within the Republic’s administrative boundaries, but used by enterprises of the Astrakhan region. The adoption of the RSFSR law “on the rehabilitation of repressed peoples” served as a catalyst not only for further political rehabilitation of these peoples, but also triggered territorial claims of certain subjects to one another. In Kalmykia, this situation was also aggravated due to the unresolved land dispute with the Astrakhan region over the pastures in the Black land zone existing since 1957. Both sides appealed to the Federal government (both of the USSR and the RSFSR). With the beginning of perestroika and democratization of Kalmykia’s social system, it justified its arguments referring to all-Union and Russian Federation acts on the rehabilitation of repressed peoples, as well as constitutional provisions on the Republic’ territorial integrity. The Astrakhan region, in its turn, cautiously and negatively reacted toward the provisions on the territorial rehabilitation of repressed peoples, citing the changed ethnic composition of the population in the disputed areas and some other historical circumstances. The author concludes that the Kalmyk authorities hoped for a gradual resolution of the disputed issues by the central authorities in a constitutional way. However, with the collapse of the USSR and the political struggle going on between the all-Union and Russian Federation authorities, territorial issues between the regions were not a priority for them and were not on the immediate agenda.