Stories of Russian Citizens Detained in Kazakhstan at Moscow’s Request

Over the past week, Kazakhstan has handed two men over to Russian security services: Alexander Kachkurkin, accused of treason, and deserter Semyon Bazhukov. On 30 January, the Kazakh Prosecutor’s Office approved the extradition of Chechen activist Mansur Movlayev, though his lawyers are seeking to halt the process.

Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Kazakhstan has extradited at least four politically persecuted Russians. Twenty-two Russians detained in the country have turned to the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights for help, yet not a single one has been granted refugee status. Today, at least five Russian refugees remain in Kazakh pre-trial detention.

Alexander Kachkurkin

On 1 February, 25-year-old IT specialist Alexander Kachkurkin was deported to Russia and detained immediately upon landing. He faces charges of high treason for transferring money to Ukraine.

Alexander holds dual Russian and Ukrainian citizenship. Born and raised in Crimea, he, like many residents of the peninsula, was compelled to obtain a Russian passport following the 2014 annexation. He worked as a DevOps engineer, collaborating with OpenAI and other projects.

Kazakh authorities detained him on two minor administrative offences: crossing the road at an unauthorised location, and smoking a hookah indoors. On these grounds, he was expelled from the country, accused of ‘disrespect for the laws and sovereignty of the Republic of Kazakhstan.’

Semyon Bazhukov

Semyon Bazhukov, a soldier who fought in Ukraine and twice attempted to desert from a military base in Priozersk, was also handed over to Russia.

According to his mother, Semyon, a native of Kyrgyzstan, moved to Russia in 2022, obtained citizenship, and enlisted in the army. Sent to war, he later left his unit and fled to Kazakhstan after realising the full reality of the conflict. He was subsequently declared wanted in Russia.

In October 2025, Semyon applied for asylum in Kazakhstan. On 13 December 2025, Kazakh police detained him in Karabulak. Officers from Yekaterinburg allegedly attempted to ‘question’ him there: he was reportedly beaten and suffocated with a plastic bag. On 17 December, he was handed over to a Russian patrol but remained in Priozersk. On 1 February 2026, he attempted to flee again but was detained by Kazakh police, and on 2 February he was handed over once more to Russian military personnel.

Mikhail Zhilin

Mikhail Zhilin, a 36-year-old major in Russia’s Federal Protective Service (FSO), sought political asylum in Kazakhstan but was deported to Russia. He had lived in Novosibirsk and worked as head of a shift at the FSO’s Special Communications and Information Directorate for the Siberian Federal District, responsible for government communications and with formal access to state secrets, preventing him from leaving Russia.

In September 2022, Mikhail crossed into Kazakhstan secretly with his family but was detained the same night. He applied for political asylum, stating that he was being compelled to enter a combat zone and kill Ukrainian citizens. Kazakh authorities denied his request on 30 November 2022, and on 29 December he was deported to Russia. In March 2023, a court in Barnaul sentenced him to six and a half years in prison for illegal border crossing and desertion during mobilisation.

Kamil Kasimov

After attempting to evade participation in the war, Kamil Kasimov was detained in Kazakhstan and extradited to Russia, where he was sentenced to six years in a penal colony.

Kamil had studied graphic design but could not find work. In 2021, he signed a two-year contract with Russia’s Ministry of Defence and was assigned to a missile brigade in Ulan-Ude. A month before the full-scale invasion, his brigade redeployed toward the Ukrainian border. Kamil did not want to fight, but commanders forced him to extend his contract through threats.

In May 2023, he was granted leave and did not return. He went to Kazakhstan, found work, and applied for political asylum. On 23 April 2024, Russian investigators and Kazakh security forces detained him at the factory in Astana where he was working. He was transferred to a Russian military base in Priozersk and later extradited. On 13 August 2024, a military court in Omsk sentenced him to six years in a maximum-security penal colony for desertion.

Mansur Movlayev

Kazakhstan’s Prosecutor General’s Office ordered the extradition of the Chechen activist Mansur Movlayev, though the court has yet to consider the appeal against the refusal of refugee status.

Mansur, 29, had openly criticised Ramzan Kadyrov. In 2020, he was sentenced to three years in prison on drug charges he says were fabricated. Released on parole in 2022, he was abducted by Chechen security forces and placed in a secret prison.

He later escaped to Kyrgyzstan using a forged passport, but was detained for illegal border crossing, sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, and deported. He then went to Kazakhstan, reporting the abduction of his brothers, Zelimkhan and Khamzat. In May 2025, police in Almaty detained him on a Russian wanted notice accusing him of extortion and extremism. In December, he applied for asylum in Kazakhstan but was refused. He remains in pre-trial detention.

Yulia Emelyanova

In early September last year, Yulia Emelyanova, a Russian activist formerly with Navalny’s campaign headquarters, was detained during a transfer at Almaty Airport. She is currently being held in pre-trial detention.

In 2022, she faced criminal charges for the alleged theft of a mobile phone from a taxi driver in St Petersburg, charges she describes as fabricated in retaliation for her civic activism. By that time, she had already left Russia. In exile, she volunteered with Emigration for Action and Just Help, assisting Russian political prisoners.

Last summer, Yulia Emelyanova was travelling from Georgia to Vietnam via Kazakhstan when she was detained at passport control, having been listed as wanted in CSTO member states. According to her lawyer, she did not expect to collect her luggage or re-check in at Almaty, as airline staff had assured her this would not be necessary. Following her detention at the airport, Yulia was first placed in a temporary holding facility and later transferred to a detention centre. A court ordered a 40-day extradition detention, which remains in force, and she faces deportation to Russia.

Igor Sandzhiev

A native of Kalmykia who refused to fight in Ukraine, Igor Sandzhiev is seeking political asylum in Kazakhstan but faces the risk of deportation.

Igor Sandzhiev, a resident of Elista, was mobilised in the autumn of 2022. After two months at the front, he fled home and later travelled to Moscow, attempting to secure a visa to any safe country. After repeated refusals, he went to Belarus, where he was arrested by the local KGB on administrative charges. After 15 days in detention at Okrestina, he was issued papers banning him from entering Belarus for ten years and forced to purchase a plane ticket at his own expense.

Back in Kalmykia, he was compelled to sign a travel restriction and sent to Volgograd, expected to return to the front. He managed to escape again and illegally crossed into Kazakhstan. Local authorities have refused to consider his asylum application. He is currently suing Kazakhstan’s migration service and remains safe for the time being.

Zelimkhan Murtazov

A Russian deserter, denied entry to Kazakhstan, has been forced to live in the transit zone of Astana Airport for over a month.

He fled the war in Ukraine and attempted to reach Turkey via Kazakhstan but was deported back to Astana. Kazakh border guards state that he may only travel onward to Kyrgyzstan — a prospect his family considers mortally dangerous, as Kyrgyzstan routinely extradites deserters to Russia. Human rights defenders from the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights are appealing the refusal of entry.

Those who managed to leave

In some cases, detainees succeed in avoiding extradition to Russia and leaving Kazakhstan.

This was the case for Yakut activist and punk musician Aykhal Ammosov, activist and vocal teacher Natalia Narskaya, and anarchist Denis Kozak.

Pavel Vladimirov, an anarchist accused of organising a terrorist community, was persuaded by his parents to return to Russia. His father explained: ‘At least he’ll be close by, even if they imprison him.’ Pavel Vladimirov’s current fate is unknown.