BISHKEK -- Just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Kyrgyzstan, an opposition activist who had fled Russia was taken from his home by unidentified men and is still missing.
Lev Skoryakin, who the Russian Interior Ministry wanted for participating in a sarcastic "Happy [Chekist] Day" rally in front of a Federal Security Service (FSB) building in Moscow in 2021, was allegedly kidnapped in Bishkek on October 17. His current whereabouts are unknown, and rights defenders are worried about him.
According to a report by the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, the alleged abduction occurred on October 17 when several men came to Skoryakin's home in Bishkek and took the activist by car to an unknown location, Russian human rights activists said.
For security reasons, the activists who reported Skoryakin’s disappearance have requested anonymity.
Russian opposition politician Lyubov Sobol commented on the incident on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"Last month, Skoryakin applied for a German ersatz passport, received humanitarian protection from Germany, and was ready to leave [Kyrgyzstan],” Sobol tweeted. “On the night of October 16-17, 10 men arrived at his home in two cars. They identified themselves as members of the criminal investigation police of Kyrgyzstan and took Skoryakin [away]. His lawyers have been unable to find him within the police or the temporary detention center of the Criminal Investigation Department [in Bishkek]. The whereabouts of Lev Skoryakin are currently unknown."
Why Was Skoryakin Wanted By Russia?
Skoryakin, 23, and his colleague Ruslan Abazov, members of Left Resistance -- a civil movement formed in 2015 that unites leftist activists and organizations -- were wanted by the Russian Internal Affairs Ministry for their actions in December 2021 when they are alleged to have started a bonfire near some FSB offices in Moscow and chanted "Happy [Chekists’] Day!" while displaying an opposition banner.
The men left Russia in the summer of 2022, with Skoryakin settling in Kyrgyzstan and being arrested in Bishkek in June of this year. He was held in a temporary detention center in the capital before being released in September.
The Kyrgyz Prosecutor-General's Office did not extradite Skoryakin to Russia, as Moscow had requested, because he had asked for political asylum. Abazov, meanwhile, sought asylum in Croatia.
Skoryakin's lawyer in Moscow, Yevgenia Grigoryeva, told RFE/RL that he would likely receive a seven-year prison sentence if he was tried in Russia.
"We last met in court in December 2022 [in Bishkek] and have not spoken since then,” she said. “I heard that he was kidnapped in Bishkek but I am unsure if he was brought to Russia. He is accused of engaging in ‘arbitrary behavior after colluding with certain individuals’ in Moscow. It is a serious charge and, if he is found guilty, he will receive a seven-year sentence."
The Human Rights group Memorial has called Skoryakin a “political detainee.”
The Kyrgyz Internal Affairs Ministry told RFE/RL it will provide “further information” regarding Skoryakin’s reported abduction.
There have been other cases where activists and opposition politicians who voiced criticism of the Russian government were arrested in Kyrgyzstan and extradited to Moscow.
Aleksei Rozhkov, another Left Resistance member, was deported by Kyrgyzstan to Russia in early June. He was among the first to publicly oppose Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and is accused of setting a military recruitment office on fire.
Alyona Krylova, a Russian activist who was also arrested in Kyrgyzstan, has been detained in Bishkek since June of this year. Krylova was a spokeswoman for the For Human Rights NGO in Russia and a co-founder of Left Resistance, which Moscow has declared an extremist group.
'Kyrgyzstan Is No Longer Safe'
Since the start of Russia's war in Ukraine in February 2022, more than 60,000 Russians have officially arrived in Kyrgyzstan. The influx of Russian expats increased in September of last year after President Vladimir Putin declared a partial military mobilization.
Kyrgyz officials say many of the Russian migrants who fled to Kyrgyzstan are skilled IT workers and there are only a few opposition activists and rights defenders seeking asylum.
Civil activist Kanat Nogoibaev says Kyrgyzstan is no longer safe for Russians who hold views opposed to the official Moscow line.
"I want to emphasize that this [incident involving Skoryakin] is not the first time [this has happened],” he said. “Civil activists and regular Russian citizens have gone missing and been found in Russian military units. The National Security Committee [of Kyrgyzstan] collaborates with the FSB. The [two organizations] have also recently agreed to exchange information. Politically, Kyrgyzstan cannot refuse Russia's requests. As a result, official handovers and detentions have become common."
In August, Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Jeenbek Kulubaev told Deutsche Welle that based on agreements with Moscow, Bishkek does not extradite political emigres or anti-war activists to Russia, only criminals.
Putin said while visiting Bishkek on October 12-13 that those who violate Russian laws will be held accountable regardless of their location.
In June, Putin signed an agreement on the free exchange of the personal data of civilians in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Russia. The deal is designed to alleviate migration issues, though civil society groups have expressed concerns that it could lead to increased surveillance of protesters.
'Kyrgyz-Style' Abductions
There has also been a high-profile abduction in Kyrgyzstan of someone who was sent to Turkey to face trial for alleged crimes.
In 2021, Turkish-Kyrgyz educator Orhan Inandi was kidnapped in Bishkek in mysterious circumstances.
Human Rights Watch and many activists in Kyrgyzstan demanded that officials investigate the disappearance of Inandi -- the founder of a vast school network who was wanted by Turkey for alleged membership in a movement that Ankara had declared extremist and behind a coup attempt.
In November 2021, the UN Committee Against Torture said the Kyrgyz government was responsible for Inandi's kidnapping. Weeks later he was seen on video in a detention center in Turkey and sentenced to 21 years in prison on the charge of "establishing an armed terrorist group."
Inandi, 55, the head of the highly reputable Turkish-language Sapat school system, said he was abducted by Turkish agents and allowed to be flown to Turkey, despite having lived in Kyrgyzstan since 1995 and also holding Kyrgyz citizenship. He also claimed to have been tortured while in Turkey.
