After the war began and mobilization was announced in Russia, many citizens left the country hoping to avoid persecution. However, Meduza writes that relocation does not always protect people from Russian security services: beyond extraditions and deportations, there are cases in which, according to rights advocates and relatives, people were abducted and taken to Russia by force.
Armenia and Georgia
In Armenia, Dmitry Setrakov was detained in December 2023 after fleeing there following his escape from a military unit. He was taken to the Russian base in Gyumri and removed to Russia; Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called it an illegal act. In April 2024, Anatoly Shchetinin was detained in Gyumri, and in July 2025 Armenian police refused to hand over Semyon Subbotin to Russian servicemen.
In Georgia, activist Rafail Shepelev disappeared in October 2023. According to Pervy Otdel, he was lured out of Tbilisi to the Tskhinvali region and then taken to Vladikavkaz. He was later charged, and in April 2024 was sent for compulsory psychiatric treatment.
Central Asia
In Kazakhstan, reports said officers from Buryatia abducted Kamil Kasimov in April 2024 over desertion charges. In August 2025, a court in Omsk sentenced him to six years in a maximum-security penal colony. In Kyrgyzstan, activist Lev Skoryakin and Alexey Rozhkov were taken to Russia in 2023; Rozhkov said he had been tortured, and in May 2025 he was sentenced to 16 years.
Meduza also highlights the case of Georgy Pirogov: after traveling to Uzbekistan on a business trip in July 2024, he disappeared and was later found in Moscow’s Matrosskaya Tishina detention center. On July 12, 2026, it became known that he had been sentenced to 23 years in a maximum-security penal colony on treason charges. His relatives believe he was forcibly taken to Russia.