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Feedback The ADC Memorial continues to address the issues facing indigenous peoples in its anti-discrimination podcast.
In the second episode of the “Connected” series, Valentina Sovkina, a representative of the Indigenous Sámi people, Chair of the Sámi Parliament of the Kola Peninsula, and a member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, talks about her participation in the 25th session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (New York, late April 2026). The session focused on the health of Indigenous Peoples in conflict situations.
Valentina Sovkina discusses the health of Indigenous Peoples in Russia and the need to consider the determinants of health when assessing their health and well-being—that is, the full range of factors that affect health. For Indigenous Peoples, these determinants include access to healthcare services in geographically remote areas; environmental conditions in their traditional territories, including land and water pollution and air quality; as well as individual genetic factors and lifestyles in the context of ongoing social change.
Sound design: Ostap Kukhar
You can listen in Russian:
Text version of the podcast
We are publishing a transcript of the “Сonnected”. The text has been slightly edited for ease of reading.
Today, we are joined by Valentina Sovkina – Chair of the Kola Peninsula Sámi Parliament and a member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
— The latest session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues is currently taking place. You are a regular participant at the forum. What is the main theme of this, the twenty-fifth session?
— The main theme of the twenty-fifth session is the health of Indigenous peoples, particularly in conflict-affected territories.
— What message did you bring to the forum? What did you want to convey to the participants?
— First and foremost, I came as a member of the Permanent Forum. I have been elected for a second term, so this is effectively my main job – defending the rights of Indigenous peoples and ensuring that the voices of representatives from different peoples who attend the forum are heard.
Speaking specifically about health, we discussed the need to take into account what are known as health determinants. These are the key factors that influence people’s health: where they live, access to medical care, and the ability to receive high-quality treatment in modern conditions. The world is changing; social changes are taking place; access to land and water resources is changing; and all of this must be taken into account when discussing health issues.
— And what is happening in the Russia’s regions?
— As far as our region is concerned, it encompasses the Russian Federation, the countries of Central Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus. Three people have been elected to the Permanent Forum from our socio-cultural region: myself, representing the Russian Federation, a representative from Latvia and a representative from Ukraine.
When I spoke, I focused primarily on the health of Russia’s Indigenous peoples and on what is happening on the ground. Today, one of the main problems is access to medical care. We realise that the healthcare system is in a very difficult situation, particularly in remote settlements. And it is precisely there that members of Indigenous peoples usually live. Small paramedic and midwifery centres and small hospitals are being closed down.
For example, I live in Lovozero. We are seeing a steady reduction in the number of doctors and the merging of medical facilities with neighbouring settlements. In fact, the Lovozero hospital has been merged with a hospital in a larger settlement with a population of around eight thousand, whereas Lovozero has approximately two and a half thousand residents. Now, specialists either visit us from time to time, or we have to travel to the neighbouring settlement ourselves. And if more serious examinations are required – for example, for cancer or other serious illnesses – then we have to travel to the city. That’s about two and a half hours’ journey, and a single visit to the doctor takes practically a whole day.
I recently listened to presentations by representatives of other Indigenous peoples from different regions of Russia – the Tomsk Region, the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and the Sverdlovsk Region. There, people are generally forced to travel to the cities and stay there for two or three days whilst having tests and waiting for the results. This is particularly difficult for members of Indigenous peoples who practise traditional livelihoods – reindeer herding, fishing and other subsistence activities. Such journeys take time and involve significant expense. People miss out on the chance to work and provide for their families.
— And where you live, where is the nearest maternity hospital? I think that’s also a very telling indicator of access to healthcare.
— Our maternity hospital was closed back when I was young. That was in the late 1980s. So I gave birth to my son elsewhere. First, the maternity ward was moved from our village to a neighbouring one, then to Olenegorsk, and now women in labour are only admitted in Murmansk. This really does show just how much access to medical care is being cut back for people living in small villages.
— How long does the journey take?
— It’s about 80 kilometres to Olenegorsk. It’s roughly 180 kilometres to Murmansk. But giving birth is a situation where you can’t always afford to wait. You might even give birth whilst you’re still in the car.
— How does mineral extraction on Indigenous peoples’ lands affect people’s health?
— When representatives not only from Russia but also from the Amazon, Latin America, Africa and other regions spoke at this session, virtually all of them raised the same issue.
Industrial development of Indigenous territories continues. Land is being taken without the free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous peoples. At the same time, the Indigenous peoples themselves derive virtually no benefit from the arrival of industrial companies. On the contrary, they are losing their territories. Rivers are being polluted, the environment is being damaged, and traditional places of habitation are being destroyed. People may simply be relocated to another place without proper consultation.
Taking the Lovozersky District as an example, the industrial company Norilsk Nickel has been operating there for around 2 years, involved in the development of the Kolmozer lithium deposit. In addition to lithium, other minerals are also mined there, which are required, in particular, by the aviation industry. Public hearings on the project were held. However, in my view, they appeared to be largely a box-ticking exercise. We were told that socio-cultural and environmental studies had been carried out, commissioned by the company itself and conducted by various institutes and experts. All we could do was fill in questionnaires, explain that our lands are here, that we depend on them, and that reindeer herding takes place here, with reindeer herders’ bases located in the area.
In my case, there is a family burial ground on the Kolmozer site: my great-grandfather and his father are buried there. When we said that this needed to be taken into account, we were told:‘It’s not exactly right next to the deposit, so the mining operations won’t affect it.’ But we understand perfectly well that the Murmansk Region is a single water system. Underground water systems are interconnected. If pollution enters one river, over time it ends up in another, and then in lakes and marshes. All of this is linked to the vegetation, the animals and our traditional habitat.
The consequences are already visible. If we look at enterprises that have been operating for a long time, such as the Lovozersky Mining and Processing Plant or the Olenegorsk Mining and Processing Plant, the rock dumps have, over many years, grown into enormous mountains, higher than a five-storey building. When the wind picks up, all this dust blows into the town and the surrounding areas. Under the Kolmozer project, we’re told that special spoil heaps and water treatment systems will be built, and that the water will be returned in virtually the same condition after use.
So far, it all sounds good in theory. Only time will tell what happens in practice.
— Are any studies being carried out into the impact of this on public health?
— That’s a very good question.
When I was a child, there was a record-keeping system in place during medical check-ups. Special marks were made in our medical records: a red triangle indicated the Sámi, whilst a blue triangle stood for the Komi. In this way, statistics were compiled on morbidity, preventive check-ups and mortality. Today, such publicly available statistics no longer exist.
I myself have tried to obtain data on morbidity among members of the Sámi people, but only general figures are available, without any breakdown by Indigenous peoples. I have always been interested in statistics. There are not many of us – around one and a half thousand people – and many families know each other well. That is why I analysed the data for Lovozero myself, where around seven hundred Sami people live today. At one time, Sami people living in small coastal settlements and more remote villages were resettled to Lovozero. Following the construction of the Voroninsky Hydroelectric Power Station, when areas were flooded; following the closure of coastal settlements; and following the construction of a maintenance base for nuclear submarines – we were all resettled, and this is how a compact settlement of the Sámi came into being. I analysed data from around the 1990s to the early 2000s. It turned out that the average life expectancy for women was around 63 years, and for men, around 43 years. At that time, it was possible to identify the causes of mortality: gastrointestinal diseases, cardiovascular diseases, cancer and suicides. Unfortunately, the suicide rate amongst Indigenous peoples does indeed rise during periods of severe social upheaval – such as unemployment, economic crises and sovereign defaults. At the same time, mortality from cancer and gastrointestinal diseases was on the rise.
This is largely due to the loss of the traditional diet. It has gradually been replaced by food imported from outside the region.
For example, many many members of Indigenous peoples are intolerant to milk. I myself cannot drink it. But when I was at boarding school – I lived there for 11 years – we were forced to drink milk because there was often no other food available. After that, many of us started having stomach problems.
— I was just about to ask: how does the loss of the traditional way of life affect health?
— Of course, it has a very significant impact.
When a person is deprived of their roots, their familiar environment, and the way of life that has sustained their family for centuries, it becomes a huge trauma. Take the boarding schools, for example. Children were taken away from their families. They found themselves in a completely different environment. They were taught to live by new rules, to march in formation, to live by a strict timetable. For children who had grown up in the tundra, where there was space and freedom, this became an enormous psychological ordeal. Not everyone coped. I believe that our peoples suffer from a collective historical trauma that is passed down from generation to generation. Virtually no one has researched it. How does a person feel when they are deprived of their familiar life, their land, their family and their way of life? It is an immense psychological strain. And, sadly, many cannot cope.
— Let’s move away from the topic of healthcare for a moment. Was the issue of repression against Indigenous peoples in Russia raised at the forum?
— I spoke and described what is happening, including the December 17 raids.
I myself was among those who were visited by the security forces. They carried out what they described as an “inspection of the premises” and seized all my equipment. Today, our whole lives revolve around computers, phones, banking services and software. After the equipment was seized, I had to restore a lot of it, though there are still some things I haven’t been able to recover to this day.
At the forum, I spoke about how, in the Russian Federation today, people are being persecuted precisely for speaking out on international platforms and for attempting to highlight problems that the Russian authorities prefer to conceal. At the same time, the official Russian delegation brings along representatives of Indigenous peoples who say that problems do exist, but that the state is successfully resolving them. However, if activists are forced to leave the country, it is difficult to speak of such support. Emigration in itself becomes a severe psychological ordeal. An Indigenous activist is an exile abroad and no longer accepted at home.
— Indigenous peoples in exile is a whole other topic. Moving is difficult for anyone, but it must be particularly so for people who are so closely connected to their land.
— Yes, it really is very painful.
I myself had to make the decision to leave. In a way, it’s easier for me because my husband is a Sámi from Norway. So I’m effectively at home. Sápmi is a single territory; the nature here is very similar to where I grew up. But even in these circumstances, you realise you can no longer visit home freely. It’s a very heavy feeling that’s hard to put into words.
I can’t even begin to imagine how Daria Yegereva and Natalia Leongardt must be feeling right now, whilst in detention. I wouldn’t wish such a situation on anyone. People who defend the rights of their people and their land are suddenly labelled as terrorists or extremists. From a common-sense perspective, this is impossible to explain.
— Did you feel support from other participants at the forum? How important is this international platform?
— Yes, absolutely.
After my speech, representatives of other Indigenous peoples came up to me, thanked me and offered words of support. This is very important, because I don’t hear anything like this from government representatives. What is so seditious about saying that your land is simply being taken away, that our forests are being cut down, our rivers polluted, that gold-mining companies, for example in Yakutia, are damaging rivers there?
In Siberia, when forests are cut down, wildfires follow. In other words, this is a systematic drive to generate profit without a thought for those who remain, those who live in these territories. When a person loses their land, their way of life, their animals or the opportunity to practise traditional livelihoods, no amount of financial compensation can make up for it.
For Indigenous peoples, this is always a personal tragedy.
— Thank you very much, Valentina.
This was a podcast from the Anti-Discrimination Centre “Memorial” and the “Connected” programme. Subscribe, like our posts and stay tuned. Until next time!
The ‘Сonnected’ podcast series highlights the project ‘Indigenous Peoples’ Rights for a Democratic Future’, which is being implemented by INFOE (Institut für Ökologie und Aktions-Ethnologie e.V.), ICIPR (International Committee of Indigenous Peoples of Russia), the Never Again Association and the ADC Memorial, with the support of the German Federal Foreign Office.
