Moscow is using ties with neighbouring countries to deport and arrest anti-war Russians who fled after invasion of Ukraine
Lev Skoriakin, 23, fled Russia in January 2023 after he was accused of organising a protest outside the FSB security service’s headquarters in Moscow. As his passport was confiscated by the Russian authorities, he was left with a limited number of escape destinations.
“I could choose Armenia, Kazakhstan or Kyrgyzstan. I do not know why I chose Kyrgyzstan,” Skoriakin says. “At the time we [Russians who sought to leave the country] thought that if we do not stick our heads out, we will be safe. But we were wrong.”
