The Oirats have had several sovereign states in history. The last independent state of the Oirats was liquidated by decree of Catherine II on October 19, 1771. The territory of the Oirat-Kalmyks was annexed and added to the Russian Empire.

On July 2–9, 1920, the First All-Kalmyk Congress of Soviets of the Working Kalmyk People took place in the village of Chilgir, proclaiming the formation of statehood in the form of an autonomous region within the RSFSR. It was attended by delegates representing all the Kalmyk uluses of the Astrakhan and Stavropol provinces, Kalmyks living in the Don and Terek regions, in Kyrgyzstan, in the Ural region and the Orenburg province.

The Kalmyk Autonomous Region was transformed on October 20, 1935 into the Kalmyk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, which was abolished on December 27, 1943, and the Oirat-Kalmyk people were subjected to deportation and genocide.

On January 9, 1957, the Kalmyk Autonomous Region was re-formed as part of the Stavropol Territory, which on July 29, 1958 was transformed into the Kalmyk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.

On October 18, 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the Kalmyk ASSR adopted the Declaration “On the State Sovereignty of the Kalmyk Soviet Socialist Republic”. The Declaration solemnly proclaimed the state sovereignty of the Kalmyk SSR throughout its territory and declared its determination to create a democratic constitutional state, “based on the right of the Kalmyk people to free self-determination and taking into account the desire of the people of Kalmykia for socio-economic progress, cultural revival and a radical increase in living standards, expressing the will of the people of the republic to pursue an independent economic and social policy”.

However, all of the subsequent years were a time of step-by-step renunciation by the Kalmyk authorities of sovereignty and the internationally recognized right of the Oirat-Kalmyk people to self-determination — resulting from the collapse of the USSR, the formation of the Russian Federation, the election of an irresponsible adventurer as president in Kalmykia, who broke the sprouts of democracy and freedom, and the strengthening of the authoritarian regime in Russia, which finally became established with the coming to power of V. Putin. In 1994, by a voluntaristic decision of President Ilyumzhinov and his supporters, as a result of an illegitimate procedure, the pseudo-Constitution of the Republic of Kalmykia, the so-called Steppe Code, was approved, in which the Republic of Kalmykia was recorded as a subject, not a state, as defined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation. After that, the entire policy of Russia towards the Republic of Kalmykia was built on the basis of this limited status.

All authorities of the Republic of Kalmykia, without exception: previous and current presidents and heads, members of the People's Khural (parliament), Governments and courts of the Republic of Kalmykia did absolutely nothing to protect all the significant and fundamental interests and rights of the Oirat-Kalmyk people, the entire multinational population and the Republic of Kalmykia! The authorities of not-free Kalmykia turned out to be weak-willed executors of the will of Moscow and helpless in defending the national interests of the people and the Republic.

In the current conditions of Putin’s dictatorship, the following is happening:

• insane centralization and militarization of the country;
• the Kremlin’s total attack on the cultures and languages of the non-Russian peoples conquered by Russia, and on their authorities and statehood in the form of national republics within the Russian Federation;
• the revival of the Russian Empire;
• recreating and using the institutions and practices of the Nazi regime, Latin American and African military dictatorships of the 20th century;
• regular and cynical violation of generally recognized norms of international law;
• commission of international crimes and criminal offenses of an international character;
• a complete unilateral violation by the federal government of the terms of previously signed federal treaties and the Constitution of the Russian Federation, obligations assumed by Russia in relation to the peoples and national regions of the Russian Federation, including the Oirat Kalmyk people and the Republic of Kalmykia;
• the constant disregard for the rights of repressed citizens, including survivors of genocide and war crimes by the USSR, whose successor is the Russian Federation, so that the Russian Law on the Rehabilitation of Repressed Peoples of 1991 is not enforced.

Chauvinism, racism, xenophobia, ethnic discrimination, rampant great-power hysteria, admiration for Stalin and other monsters of the past are flourishing in the country; the territory not being restored that was illegally torn from Republic of Kalmyia during the period of deportation of the Oirat-Kalmyk people, the tearing away and annexation of territories of the Republic of Kalmykia continues in favor of neighboring regions of Russia; the Russian Federation is pursuing a colonial financial and economic policy that directly impedes the economic development of Kalmykia, as a result of which there is a massive outflow from the Republic and a decrease in the number of the Oirat-Kalmyk population, during all the years following the return of the people from deportation, Kalmykia occupies the last place in USSR and Russia in terms of the provision of the population with drinking water, which contains clear signs of genocide by Moscow, the opinion and interests of the people of Kalmykia are completely discounted and ignored, the appointment of the leaders of the Republic by the Kremlin uses undemocratic, falsified elections, the Republic is deprived of many of its own governmental authorities, whose powers were unilaterally assigned by Moscow, the activities of national organizations are suppressed, the terror of the federal authorities against civil and national activists does not stop...

In these absolutely unbearable circumstances, it becomes extremely clear that with further stay in Russia, Russification, assimilation, and degradation will continue, which threatens the very existence of the Oirat-Kalmyk people.

Based on the foregoing, realizing its historical responsibility, the Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk people, as the only legitimate representative body of the Oirat-Kalmyk people, declares the need for the complete liberation of the Oirat-Kalmyk people from colonial dependence on Russia, declares its determination to seek the secession of the Republic of Kalmykia from the Russian Federation, the proclamation and creation of a sovereign independent state.

The Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk People believes that the creation of an independent state of the Republic of Kalmykia is the most important and the only condition for preserving the native language, culture, traditions, writing, national education, knowledge, various forms of activity, as well as the very existence and development of the Oirat-Kalmyk people.

The Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk People appeals to all representatives of the Oirat-Kalmyk people, wherever they live, to the entire multinational population of the Republic of Kalmykia — to support this Declaration in every possible way and be ready for the practical implementation of the stated goal, to try to make their own contribution to the formation, strengthening and development of the future free, independent and prosperous Republic of Kalmykia!

The Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk People appeals to all states of the world, governments and parliaments with a call to recognize the need to liberate the Oirat-Kalmyk people from the colonial oppression of the Russian Empire and their legitimate right to self-determination and the creation of an independent state.

Let justice prevail!

Members of the Oirat-Kalmyk People’s Congress:

Arslang Sandzhiev,

Batyr Boromangnaev,

Vladimir Dovdanov,

Erentsen Dolyaev,

Albert Sharapov

and others.