25-year-old IT developer Alexander Kachkurkin was deported from Kazakhstan to Russia, where he was detained on the plane and arrested on charges of treason. This case was reported by the human rights project "First Department".
Kachkurkin, originally from Crimea, received a Russian passport at the age of 14, in 2014. He moved to Kazakhstan for political reasons and had been living in Almaty for the last few years, working as a DevOps engineer and developer, with OpenAI among his clients.
On January 28, Kachkurkin faced administrative charges for two offenses: crossing the road in an unauthorized place and smoking a hookah in a closed space. Human rights activists claim these charges were fabricated. After the protocols were drawn up, the police petitioned the court for his deportation "due to disrespect for the laws and sovereignty of the Republic of Kazakhstan."
The entire process, including the drawing up of protocols and deportation, took only a few hours, although such procedures usually take significantly longer. Kachkurkin was urgently sent to Russia, and immediately after landing, he was detained on the plane and taken to court, where he was placed in custody.
In Russia, he was charged with treason due to money transfers to Ukraine. According to Article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Kachkurkin could face 12 to 20 years in prison or even life imprisonment.
Additionally, on January 30, it became known that Kazakhstan plans to deport Chechen activist Mansur Movlaev to Russia, who is currently in a pre-trial detention center in Almaty. In December, the authorities of the republic denied him refugee status.
Movlaev is known for his sharp criticism of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and his active stance against human rights violations in the republic. He has already spent several years in a Russian prison on drug charges. After his release, he left Russia, stayed in Kyrgyzstan, and then in Kazakhstan, where he was detained in May 2025 at the request of Russia. He was placed on a federal wanted list in his homeland for financing extremism.
