Regina Khisamova is a correspondent for RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service.
Bashkortostan appears to have suffered more casualties than any other region of Russia since Moscow launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, according to the patchy data available.
Announcements have appeared online in the Bashkortstan capital proclaiming a "homophobic game" named after the popular horror movie Saw, and LGBT activists cite "dozens" of cases of violence, intimidation, extortion, and other harassment.
A rock band has sparked a wave of civic pride in a village in Russia's countryside.
