Russian anti-war activist detained in Almaty

A Russian anti-war activist, Aikhal Ammosov, has been detained in Almaty at the request of the Russian authorities, according to the police and activists.  

The Almaty police said on Tuesday that “the issue of [Ammosov’s] extradition [to Russia] will be resolved on the basis of international agreements”, according to Orda.kz website.

Ammosov, whose real name is Igor Ivanov, is from Russia’s Far Eastern Yakutia region, officially the Republic of Sakha. The leader of the punk group Crispy Newspaper, Ammosov has staged several anti-war actions in Yakutsk, the Sakha capital, writing graffiti, distributing leaflets and picketing. He has also hung a banner in the centre of Yakutsk saying “Yakutian punk against war”.

He left for Kazakhstan after the Russian authorities opened criminal investigations against him for “discrediting” the Russian military.

Earlier this year, the Russian authorities added Ammosov to “the list of extremists and terrorists”, which means, if extradited and convicted in Russia, he is likely to get a lengthy jail term.

Kazakhstan does not have a law criminalising “discreditation of the army”, under which Ammosov is wanted by Russian authorities, which technically could prevent his extradition.

However, Kazakh activists alleged in social media posts that a group of Russian police officers have already arrived in Kazakhstan to take him back to Russia.

In a February interview, Ammosov said that in Sakha “there are many people who hate Putin’s government”.

He said that people in Yakutia were trying not to notice the war but it was “getting harder by the day”.

“The number of police and national guard soldiers is growing on the streets, as if war is taking place right here in our republic,” he said.

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