Kyrgyzstan Detains Rossotrudnichestvo Employee in Ukraine Recruitment Case

Law enforcement officials in Kyrgyzstan have detained an employee of Rossotrudnichestvo, Russia’s state-sponsored cultural diplomacy organization, along with three other individuals, on allegations of recruiting locals for the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, media outlets reported on Tuesday.

On Saturday, a court in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, ordered Natalia Sekerina to be held in pre-trial custody until June 17 for her involvement in mercenary activities, according to Radio Azattyk, the Kyrgyz service of the U.S.-government funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).

Sekerina is identified as a staff member of Rossotrudnichestvo in Osh, Kyrgyzstan’s second-largest city. The court also remanded Sergei Lapushkin, the press secretary for the Osh Mayor’s Office, along with two unnamed individuals, on similar charges.

Rossotrudnichestvo’s office in Kyrgyzstan expressed its «concern» regarding Sekerina’s arrest but stated that it did not possess complete information related to her case, as reported by the Russian news agency Interfax on Wednesday.

“The branch employs Sekerina, who is a Kyrgyz national and has been with the Russian House since July 2024,” Rossotrudnichestvo stated in their comments.

Interfax further reported that an attorney for one of the accused mentioned that they are suspected of enlisting Kyrgyz citizens to participate in Russia’s military operations against Ukraine.

Sekerina and the other three individuals could face prison sentences of up to 15 years if convicted of mercenary activities under Kyrgyzstan’s criminal legislation.

Kyrgyzstan is considered one of Russia’s closest allies in Central Asia and has been accused of acting as a conduit for Moscow to procure goods that are subject to Western sanctions.

Since the onset of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, several Kyrgyz nationals have received prison sentences for mercenary-related offenses in the Central Asian nation.