The Empire of Ethnic Russians Retrenches; Return to Soviet Heartland Reverses Six Centuries of Expansion From: The Washington Post | Date: October 7, 1990| Author: Michael Dobbs | Copyright (null) The Washington Post. This material is published under license from the Washington Post.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post.Copyright information

Every week, hundreds of ethnic Russian families in this remote region along the Mongolian border pack their belongings and join an exodus north, across the Sayan mountain range that separates the autonomous republic of Tuva from Russia proper.

Russian settlers first reached the once feudal state of Tuva in the late 19th century. Tens of thousands more came this century, colonizing the barren plains and inhospitable mountains and bringing Slavic civilization to the indigenous nomadic,...