Valery Sablin
Valery Sablin (born January 1st, 1939) is the leader of Buryatia, and was a commissar under Genrikh Yagoda's regime in Irkutsk. Initially, in this role, Sablin faithfully served Yagoda's regime and genuinely believed Yagoda himself to be the true carrier of Lenin's legacy. However, becoming disillusioned with Yagoda's tyrannical practices (most notably, his use of the NKVD to crush dissent and rein terror), Sablin and a small cadre of like-minded supporters and Buryats seized control of various radio towers in the Buryat ASSR, declaring a new Leninist revolution. At the beginning of 1962, Sablin's rebels are engaged in a civil war with Yagoda's loyalists in Irkutsk.
Biography
Early-life
Sablin was born in Leningrad on January 1, 1939, in the years of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. He and his family were evacuated to the Far East, along with the remnants of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, following the advance of German troops further east toward Moscow, and the presumed death of Soviet leader Nikolai Bukharin. Sablin was presumably raised in Irkutsk or the Buryat ASSR under Yagoda's self-declared emergency government, which controlled the entirety of the Far East until the Siberian War of 1950. Other than that, not much else was known about Sablin's early life.
Career
Sablin had a fascination with the navy, and considered it a possible career path. However, Yagoda's Far East remnant state had no standing navy, so instead, he enlisted as a commissar. The totalitarian rule of Yagoda prompted Sablin to doubt if the Soviet remnant was truly the vision of the Soviet Union that Vladimir Lenin had believed in or intended. Sablin was left unsatisfied by his efforts to determine this, as the few books on the subject he did find were heavily censored. Sablin served in the Soviet remnant army during the Central Siberian War between Yagoda's Far East Soviet remnant, and the Central Siberian Republic. Sablin was noted as having a commendable record and being an inspiration for those under his command. Despite this, the war was a mutual disaster for both the Far East Soviet remnant and the Central Siberian Republic. In the Far East, Yagoda's authority was diminished to Irkutsk and the Buryat ASSR, with the rest of his territory falling to ethnic partisan rebels in Aldan and later Yakutia, as well as an invasion by the Anti-Bolshevik Front from their base in Japanese-controlled Manchuria. The Front expanded into Magadan, Amur, and Chita, before collapsing into factionalism.
Having gained a following during the war, Sablin grew increasingly concerned that he was fighting on the wrong side of history.
Revolution
Sablin's dissatisfaction with his service tormented him, and eventually decided he could no longer serve under Yagoda's regime. In late 1961, leading a group of loyal soldiers, he took control of a radio tower in the Buryat ASSR, and broadcasted a call to arms in rebellion against Yagoda's tyrannical rule in Irkutsk. In his radio address, Sablin described a possible future of a Soviet Union where all could truly be equal and free. Despite thinking that there would be no great reaction, Sablin was shocked to learn that his message was especially resosnant in the Buryat ASSR. Sablin particularly gained the support of ethnic Buryats, who were being subjected to Russification policies under the guise of 'rooting out reactionary thinking,' as well as women, who felt that their power in the Soviet remnant was not equal to men, falling far short of communist egalitarian rhetoric. Along with other supporters, they fight together to form a new, more hopeful vision for Russia.
In-game
Possible fates
If Sablin's revolution fails, he is arrested by the NKVD. While in their custody he is tortured, before being executed on Yagoda's orders.
Should Konstantin Rodzaevsky's National Socialist All-Russian Government conquer the Far East, Sablin is discretely executed along with his cabinet, specifically out of concern that a public execution would make them martyrs.
If Mikhail Matkovsky takes power, Sablin is exiled to the Siberian wilderness, given only a coat, a loaf of bread, and a revolver with two bullets.
If Mitchell WerBell III's mercenary army toppled Matkovsky before going on to plunder their way across the rest of the Far East, Sablin is captured, and offered a lavish dinner with WerBell (which he declines) before his execution.
Should Alexander Men's crusade succeed in uniting the Far East, Sablin is brought to Men at the Odigitrievsky Cathedral. Men offers Sablin absolution in exchange for a position in his 'court' as a missionary. While Sablin remains an atheist, he accepts the position.
Quote upon unification
"Be strong in the belief that life is wonderful. Be positive and believe that the Revolution will always win."
—Valery Sablin (Sablinist path)
Trivia
- The Sablinist path unification quote is a fragment of the last letter Sablin sent to his son, before his execution in 1976 in real life.