I was taking a look at this article about recent demonstrations around Russia — you know, Kyrgyzstan and a little bit about Belarus. One part in particular caught my eye, though.

Two Russian ethnic republics, Ingushetia and Bashkortostan, have seen mass street demonstrations this week directed against Kremlin-installed leaders. Even in remote Mongolia, the former USSR’s Asian satellite, hundreds of protesters gathered last week to “congratulate our Kyrgyz brothers” and demand a rerun of last June’s disputed parliamentary polls.

Amazing how these things almost fly under the radar (just like how Bahrain totally missed the MSM’s map). Partner in revolutionary activities Gateway Pundit picked up on it though (read that post to see what happened). Today he posts an article in Gateway to Russia relating that a revolution might be in store for this ethnic region.

Yesterday’s events showed that a revolution awaits Ingushetia.
Ingush President Murat Zyazikov was saved by the very people who could have easily turned the events into a revolution. The very same Äopposition MPÅ Musa Ozdoyev who calmed down the protesters. The very same Youth Movement of Ingushetia, whose leaders tackled the most radical young people who had been planning to stage protest actions in Äthe capitalÅ Magas.
Those were the people who prevented a “velvet” revolution from taking place in Ingushetia. They did not let the genie out of the bottle. They made a wise decision because they were well aware that the crowd could become unmanageable.

But Zyazikov and his entourage were baffled even by what happened on 28 March and showed that they were helpless and frightened. At the Ingush Interior Ministry they are joking about hysterical calls which they have been receiving from Magas over the past two days ordering “prevent”, “encircle”, “don’t allow”, “seal off”, etc.

What happened on 28 March is a signal to the Russian leadership. The opposition has decided to hold off Ästaging ralliesÅ and is expecting Russian President Vladimir Putin to react.
Will he be able to understand that if President Murat Zyazikov, who is hated by the people, continues to stay in power, this can blow up the situation in Ingushetia? Ingushetia is on the brink of revolution.

That certainly shows some remarkable restrain on part of the opposition. Very impressive. The article also notes the protests in Bashkortostan, in which more than 10,000 people gathered.

MOSCOW, March 28 (RIA Novosti) – Protesters have rallied in Bashkortostan, an autonomous republic in the Volga region, against President Murtaza Rakhimov and the authorities’ social policy, the Russian news site Gazeta.ru reported.

More than ten thousand people poured into the streets of the Bashkir capital of Ufa demanding Rakhimov’s resignation and the repeal of the monetization of benefits. The authorities did not address the marchers who have already begun “choosing the color” of the revolution.

According to Chairman of the For Human Rights organization Lev Ponomaryov, human rights advocates have long been closely watching Bashkortostan since the number of rights-violation appeals from there is much greater than those from other regions.

According to Ponomaryov, both the Bashkir and Kyrgyz structures resemble clan and nepotism societies, meaning Bashkortostan could go the way of Kyrgyzstan. In addition to demanding Rakhimov’s resignation, marchers want compensation for emotional damage and physical damage residents of Blagoveshchensk suffered when police and special forces beat people during a December operation.

Marat Hairullin, member of the public committee for the Blagoveshchensk affair, said that if the authorities did not respond to the outcries of the population, then the Bashkir opposition would conduct another protest in April demanding Rahimov’ s resignation.

If still no response is evoked, then several thousand people will march on Ufa’s Central Square on May 1.

Opposition activists say they are seeking to draw the attention of Russian authorities to the people’s discontent with the republic’s president and the federal government. The May 1 protest would be the third protest opposing the Republic’ s leadership.

Ramil Bignov, Chairman of the regional national cultural Tatar Autonomy, said that the appeal for Rakhimov’s resignation has collected about 10,000 signatures and that Bashkir residents have already begun muttering words like “to build” and “colored”, referencing a revolution.

It isn’t just the big countries undergoing this effect anymore.