Uzbekistan Joins List Of Countries Unsafe For Anti-War Russians – OpEd
Georgy Pirogov, 34, left Russia shortly after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine and moved to Tbilisi, Georgia, where he worked as a rope access technician at a renewable energy company.
On July 5th, Pirogov went missing while on a work trip to Uzbekistan. The last time he messaged his family was when he checked out of a hotel in Qońirat, a small desert town in Uzbekistan’s autonomous republic of Karakalpakstan. He wrote he was planning to drive to Bukhara and fly to Georgia from there.
Next morning, Pirogov’s car was found abandoned near the Nukus Airport just 55 miles south-east of where he stayed. Three days later, Pirogov resurfaced in a Moscow jail, where he is being held to this day for an alleged act of treason. His family only learned about this from a governmental website where Russian courts publish summaries of their rulings.
After the news made it to the media, mentions of Pirogov’s case were removed from the official website. The details of his case are kept secret but many suspect that the treason accusation means he has shown support for Ukraine with social media posts, rallies or donations.
It is not known how exactly Pirogov was transported from Uzbekistan to Russia but it is clear he would not fly there voluntarily. This was most definitely a kidnapping – and it is not the first time Russia kidnaps “inconvenient” émigrés from Central Asia. Last year, I wrote about the abduction of the Russian left-wing activist Lev Skoryakin from Kyrgyzstan. Russian anti-war activists have also faced persecution in Kazakhstan, but Uzbekistan seemed like a safer destination until a few days ago.
One can only speculate on the degree of involvement of Uzbekistan’s security forces in Pirogov’s case. However, the mere fact of him ending up in a Moscow jail after visiting this country makes it clear that Uzbekistan as of now should be avoided by those wanted by Russia – despite its markedly neutral stance on the Russia-Ukraine war and unwillingness to join Russian-led alliances such as the CSTO and the EEU.
That being said, there remains a slim possibility that Uzbekistan will criticize the officials who let this happen and take measures against future abductions by Russian agents. This is exactly what Armenia’s authorities did after Dmitry Setrakov, a Russian army deserter hiding in Gyumri, was kidnapped by the Russian military stationed in the Armenian city and flown to Russia.
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