Kyrgyz Authorities Arrest Local Officials and Journalist for Alleged Mercenary Recruitment Linked to Russia

Law enforcement in Kyrgyzstan has arrested municipal officials and a journalist suspected of recruiting mercenaries to fight in Ukraine on behalf of Russia, reported Radio Svoboda on April 23.

The detainees were transferred to Bishkek, where a court has ordered them held in pre-trial detention for two months.

Among those arrested is Serhiy Lapushkin, a senior specialist at the Osh city administration. He faces charges under and article which criminalizes mercenary activities and carries a sentence of 7 to 10 years. He is also accused of participating in a premeditated group crime.

Also implicated is Nataliya Sekerina, a local journalist and employee of the Osh branch of the “Russian House,” part of the Russian government’s Rossotrudnichestvo agency. Sekerina faces up to 15 years in prison for alleged recruitment, financing, and coordination of mercenary activity.

Both suspects have known ties to Rossotrudnichestvo, a Kremlin agency involved in supporting Russian expatriates and advancing Russian influence abroad.

Earlier, the Security Service of Ukraine detained nine individuals linked to Russia’s FSB for plotting terrorist attacks and acts of sabotage in Ukraine’s central and eastern regions.

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