Russian police clash with illegal jade miners in the Russian Republic of Buryatia. This helmet cam video begins with the conflict in progress, and the police fie at the miners disengage, and retreat. Throughout the first part of the video, it looks as though the camera operator is about to put a bullet in the back of some of his fellow officers. The police fall back, regroup, and then approach the miners again. The miners confront the police, calling them very rude names, and when one of them gets too close to the camera operator, the officer puts a burst into him with his AK.

Buryatia is a semi-autonomous republic within the Russian federation, located in the far southeast of Russia and sharing a border with Mongolia. The Russian czars began to assert authority over the region in the seventeenth century, and though the indigenous inhabitants attempted to proclaim independence in 1917, they were soon absorbed into the Soviet Union. After the Soviet collapse, Buryatia gain attempted to proclaim independence but was not allowed to secede from the Russian federation, remaining an autonomous republic within the larger Russian federal system, retaining its own president and legislature. In 2004 that autonomy was further curtailed when Vladimir Putin imposed a law that permitted him to appoint the presidents and governors of Russian republics, rather than have them elected by their constituents.

The incident in the video occurred between Russian police and miners who were accused of mining jade illegally. When police attempted to detain the miners, the latter began throwing jade at the officers and firing shots. According to a pro-Russian source, twenty-seven miners were detained and two injured, although I would be surprised if there were not a few fatalities in this incident.

About the Author

Cam

Cam served as an infantry officer in the Marine Corps, deploying to the Horn of Africa and participating in combat operations in Iraq. He currently works in the maritime industry and in the defense sector as an instructor of combined arms planning and operations. An avid sailor, Cam founded and directs a nonprofit that supports veterans and first responders through sailing.