Police Raids, Arrests Reported in Bashkortostan as Tensions Rise Over State-Backed Mining Project

Police Raids, Arrests Reported in Bashkortostan as Tensions Rise Over State-Backed Mining Project

Authorities in Russia’s republic of Bashkortostan and the neighboring Magnitogorsk region raided homes and detained activists who oppose a government-backed plan to develop copper mining deposits near their communities, local media reported Thursday.  Security forces searched the house of prominent Bashkir activist Ural Baybulatov in the early hours of Thursday, RFE/RL’s Volga-Ural service Idel.Realii reported, citing an anonymous source familia…