Collective statement to the head and deputies of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic against the prosecutor's office's demand to remove from the Constitution of the Republic the provisions guaranteeing the integrity and territorial inviolability of the Republic, as well as the powers of the head of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic to ensure the security and territorial integrity of the Republic.
To the Head of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, K.V. Kokov
To the Chairman of the Parliament of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, T.B. Yegorova
To the Deputies of the Parliament of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic of the 7th Convocation
COLLECTIVE STATEMENT
by representatives of the public of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic
We, the undersigned, express our concern regarding the intention to remove from the Constitution of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic the provisions enshrining the principles of territorial integrity and inviolability, as well as the status of the head of the republic as guarantor of statehood.
On June 3, 2026, the Kabardino-Balkarian Parliament accepted for consideration a protest filed by the republic's prosecutor's office in late March of this year. The protest sought to exclude Parts 2 and 3 of Article 5, as well as Parts 1 and 2 of Article 78 and Part 1 of Article 80 of the Kabardino-Balkarian Constitution.
We believe that the decision adopted by Parliament is deeply flawed and dangerous for the future of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic as a constituent entity of the Russian Federation. We insist on preserving the constitutional guarantees of statehood and territorial integrity of the republic.
The protest by the Kabardino-Balkarian Prosecutor's Office ignores explicit provisions of the Russian Constitution. Specifically, Part 2 of Article 5 of the Russian Constitution states: "The republic (state) shall have its own constitution and legislation." This means that the Russian Constitution itself recognizes the republic as a state, and therefore, enshrining the concepts of "statehood," "head of state," and "territorial integrity" in the Kabardino-Balkarian Constitution is not only permissible but also necessary for the development of federal relations.
The supervisory body's assertion that protecting the security and integrity of the state falls exclusively within the powers of the President of the Russian Federation is a misrepresentation. The President of the Russian Federation ensures the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation as a single federal state, but this does not preclude the right of the constituent entities of the Federation to enshrine in their constitutions guarantees of territorial integrity as an integral part of the unified state.
The exclusion of provisions enshrining the principle of territorial integrity from the Constitution of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic is the most destructive aspect of the proposed amendments. If the provision on the inviolability of its territory is removed from the republic's Basic Law, the federal center will gain the legal authority to unilaterally change the borders of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic—without taking into account the opinion of its multinational people.
Such a development could lead to the following consequences:
the transfer of territories inhabited for centuries by Kabardians, Balkars, and other peoples to neighboring constituent entities of the Russian Federation;
the abolition or redivision of historically established national regions under the guise of "federal interests";
The republic's loss of its last constitutional shield against arbitrary changes to its territorial structure at the discretion of the federal center.
We cannot allow the Basic Law of Kabardino-Balkaria to remain silent on the issue of the inviolability of the republic's territory. This is not a matter of legal technique, but a question of the republic's existence as a national-territorial entity.
The intention to exclude these provisions from the Constitution of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic is not an isolated event, but part of the federal center's systematic efforts to dismantle the special status of the republics within the Russian Federation—a strategy we have observed over the past 25 years. Specifically:
2001 – The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation invalidated the provisions of the Federal Treaty that enshrined the sovereignty of the republics. As a result, the Declarations of State Sovereignty adopted in the 1990s effectively lost their legal force.
Since 2005, the leaders of the republics have ceased to be directly elected by citizens. The people have ceased to be the real source of power, although this is still declared in the constitutions of the Russian Federation and the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic. Thus, the republics are deprived of the right to political expression within their own constituent entities of the Federation.
2018 – The abolition of mandatory study of national languages in schools dealt a blow to the cultural foundations of statehood, despite the Constitution of the Russian Federation equating the official languages of the republics with Russian within these republics.
2020 – Constitutional reform aimed at creating a "unified public authority," which effectively subordinated regional bodies to federal structures. 2021–2022 – the use of the title "president" by heads of republics was banned, thus destroying the political symbol of statehood;
2023 – constitutional courts were finally abolished in all republics as one of the main institutions of statehood;
And now – the republic's parliament has accepted the protest of the Kabardino-Balkarian Prosecutor's Office to exclude key provisions concerning statehood and territorial integrity from the republic's Constitution.
Thus, the 1992 contractual model of federal structure, which underlies the Kabardino-Balkarian Constitution, is being systematically dismantled. And we call for this process to be stopped while there is still time.
The country is undergoing a consistent unitarization, which effectively contradicts the principles of federalism and threatens the security and integrity of the Federation itself. Such ill-considered steps, which infringe on the national interests of peoples, will inevitably lead to an increase in separatist sentiments, which is certainly not in the interests of the Russian state.
Kabardino-Balkaria is a republic with two titular peoples. For decades, the constitutional formula of "statehood, integrity, and the head of the republic as guarantor" served as the foundation of interethnic harmony. The removal of these symbols is perceived as nothing less than a renunciation by the federal center of the guarantees given to the peoples of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic when signing the Federal Treaty and a signal that the republic's opinion on its territory no longer matters.
We are not calling for confrontation with the federal center, but rather demanding the preservation of the minimum constitutional guarantees that allow us to be not just a republic on paper, but a full-fledged subject of the Federation, as enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation. We categorically oppose the exclusion of key provisions concerning statehood and territorial integrity from the Constitution of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic.
It would be appropriate to remind the esteemed addressees of this statement that their primary responsibility is to adopt laws and decisions that do not infringe on the interests of their republic. We hope that you will adhere to this principle in this matter. You bear a historic responsibility for preserving Kabardino-Balkaria as a national republic, enjoying the full constitutional rights of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation, and not simply a "subject" with an empty title. Removing guarantees of territorial integrity from the Constitution of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic is a step whose consequences could be irreversible.
Preserving the constitutional provisions challenged by the prosecutor's office is a necessary condition for implementing the principles of federalism, and we sincerely hope that you will demonstrate statesmanship and prevent the weakening of the legal foundations of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic as an equal constituent entity of the Russian Federation.
In light of the above, we strongly urge you not to accept the protest filed by the Kabardino-Balkarian Prosecutor's Office, which excludes from the Constitution of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic provisions guaranteeing the integrity and inviolability of its territory, preserving statehood as the most important function of the state, and the status of the head of the republic as "head of state" and his authority to ensure the security and territorial integrity of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic.
Sincerely,
Marks SHAKHMURZOV — Chairman of the Kabardino-Balkarian Branch of the Russian Association of Victims of Political Repression
Khakim KUCHMEZOV, Chairman of the Kabardino-Balkarian Branch of the Yabloko Party
Valery KHATAZHUKOV — Chairman of the Kabardino-Balkarian Regional Human Rights Center
Muzarib BZHAKHOV — Honored Architect of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic
Ismel MESHEV — Public Figure
Zaurbek KOZHEV — PhD in History
Zaudin TOKOV — Artist
Mukhamed BERKHAMOV — Public Figure
Azamat SHORMANOV — Public Figure
Alim PSHIBIEV — Journalist, Editor-in-Chief of the Made in Kabardino-Balkarian Republic channel
June 10, 2026
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