Yestarday the independent journalist Lukpan Akhmedjarov was temporarily detained by Uralsk police officers on the basis of correspondences that had severe consequences. He was handed over to the Kazakhstani police at the request of the Russian Ministry of the Interior possibly in connection with materials relating to the war in Ukraine.
On June 22, 2026 when when Akhmedyarov was driving with his wife in his native city of Western Kazakhstan, he was stopped by police officers who checked his papers and car documents. After he was taken to the police headquarter, where he spent hours and was later released after no grounds for further action were found. Akhmedyarov was simply fined for having let his car insurance lapse
But being in police departmernt it was revealed that the man was internationally wanted by Russian police officers. In fact, the detention happened right after Lukpan Akhmedjarov published a video on his Youtube channel, Просто Журналистка/Just Journalism, denouncing how the Russian Minister of Defense was enrolling Kazakh people coming or living in Russia into the war in Ukraine.
Many Kazakhs were enrolled in the Russian army, without their consent, after coming to Russia thinking they were about to earn money by working in a company of charcuterie.
An inquiry was then opened on him, according to article 207.3, (part 2, paragraph 3) of Russia’s Penal Code (the public dissemination of information known to be false’ regarding the deployment of the Russian Armed Forces and the activities of Russian state bodies). Therefore, the same article also plans to sanction the accused man of fine, restriction of liberty or up to seven years in prison. However, in Kazakhstan, such behaviour is not regarded as a criminal offence.
According to Lukpan Akhmedjarov, all those accusations are certainly coming from the fact that he is a journalist, furthermore, an independent one. He has never been to Russia since 2016. It is not the first time that Lukpan Akhmedjanov has come under scrutiny by law enforcement authorities.
Last year, a criminal case was brought against him following a complaint by a resident of Uralsk. He had been interrogated on the basis of false information relayed about the Russian system. She had allegedly sought his assistance regarding her brother, who was in Ukraine. The woman who filed the complaint affirmed that she was going to write a letter to withdraw the complaint. She told the media that she had been forced to do it.
“Apparently, they checked the databases and found that I wasn’t listed on the insurance policy for this car. Consequently, that gave them a reason,” he suggested in an interview with Fergana media.
