Head of Nenets Autonomous Okrug boasts to Putin that one in ten residents has gone to war
The Nenets Autonomous Okrug is one of Russia’s least populated regions. Its indigenous peoples include the Nenets and Komi.
Governor Irina Gekht briefed Vladimir Putin on the socio-economic development of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug and thanked him for a decree marking the region’s centenary. She said the decree had sparked “a wave of enthusiasm among residents – from reindeer herders to oil workers.”
Gekht then turned to support for participants in what the Kremlin calls the “special military operation”, describing it as a priority for the regional authorities. She told Putin about the mobilisation of the local population for the war.
“Every tenth man here has left and signed a contract for the special military operation. You know, this is also part of the northern character and northern spirit, when entire families go to the front to defend the Motherland,” Gekht said.
She noted that the Nenets Autonomous Okrug is one of Russia’s least populated regions, with a population of 41,900.
Gekht said the regional authorities provide servicemen and their families with 14 mandatory support measures, as well as 38 additional forms of financial assistance.
“You have a healthy budget position, so you have these opportunities,” Putin remarked.
According to a joint tally by Mediazona and the BBC’s Russian Service, as of mid-2026, 133 people from the Nenets Autonomous Okrug had been killed in the war. The actual figure may be higher, as the journalists’ count is based on publicly available sources, including obituaries, statements from relatives and reports by regional media.
Gekht was appointed governor of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug in March 2025. Before that, she served as chair of the occupation government in the part of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region seized by Russia. She had also served as deputy presidential envoy to Russia’s Northwestern Federal District.
