Alexander Kachkurkin, a 25-year-old DevOps engineer and IT developer who had been living in Almaty for the past few years, has been deported from Kazakhstan to Russia, where he was detained right upon the plane’s arrival on treason charges, the rights project Первый отдел (Department One) reported.
Kachkurkin was born and raised in Crimea. After the annexation of Crimea in 2014, he was forced to obtain Russian citizenship. For political reasons, he later decided to move to Kazakhstan.
Late in January 2026, Kachkurkin was charged in Almaty with jaywalking and smoking a hookah indoors. Both offenses were fabricated, according to Department One.
Based on these offenses, the police filed a lawsuit demanding Kachkurkin’s deportation for “disrespect for the laws and sovereignty of the Republic of Kazakhstan.”
Kachkurkin was deported to Russia within hours, although such a procedure normally takes weeks, and even months.
Immediately after landing, Kachkurkin was detained right on the plane and taken to court, which remanded him in custody. In Russia, he has been charged with treason for transferring money to Ukraine. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
“This is a case where we see Russian security forces using Kazakhstan’s law enforcement agencies and laws to persecute people. Kazakhstan is no longer a safe state, even for Ukrainian citizens,” stated lawyer Yevgeny Smirnov.
