The Prosecutor General’s Office of Kazakhstan has approved Russia’s request to extradite activist Yuliya Emelyanova, reports the “Russian Anti-War Committee.”
The prosecutor’s office issued the decision regarding Emelyanova, who is currently held in a detention centre, on 29 January. However, her lawyers and human rights defenders were not notified by the authorities.
The “Anti-War Committee” notes that the document was issued in violation of procedure and with irregularities, since Kazakhstani authorities are still considering the activist’s asylum application:
“Back in October 2025, the Prosecutor General’s Office guaranteed that the question of extradition would not be considered until all administrative procedures related to obtaining asylum were completed.”
At the end of January, Kazakhstan also approved the extradition of two other Russians: Chechnya activist Mansur Movlayev and IT specialist Aleksandr Kachkurkin. The latter has already been extradited to Russia and taken into custody on charges of treason (Article 275 of the Criminal Code). In addition, on 2 February local police handed over deserter Semyon Bazhukov to the Russian military, even though he too was awaiting a decision on his asylum request.
- Emelyanova was detained in Almaty—a major city in Kazakhstan—on 31 August 2025. The activist was travelling to Vietnam and had a layover in Kazakhstan. She believed she would not need to leave the airport’s transit zone, since both her flights were operated by the same company. On arrival, it turned out that Emelyanova would need to retrieve her luggage and check it in again, as well as go through the registration process once more. As a result, she was detained.
- Her detention was based on a theft case (part 2, article 158 of the Criminal Code), for which Emelyanova is wanted in Russia. She is accused of stealing a taxi driver’s phone in 2021. “In reality, she is being persecuted because she was a member of Navalny’s headquarters. In other words, her prosecution is politically motivated,” her lawyer said. The Ark Project called the case fabricated.
- Emelyanova left Russia in 2022 and in recent years had been living in Georgia. The “Ark” project reported that she was helping Russian political prisoners and was involved in the Emigration for Action and Just Help projects, which provided Ukrainian refugees in Georgia with medical and social assistance.