Author: Hamasa

Despite the economic hardship that Russia is enduring as a result of its invasion of Ukraine, a growing number of Tajiks are nevertheless seeking to adopt Russian citizenship. According to fresh figures from Russia’s Interior Ministry, around 174,000 people with origins in Tajikistan received Russian citizenship in 2022. That is a sharp increase from almost 104,000 in 2021. The year before that, around 63,400 Tajiks chose to become Russian nationals. Russia is historically a strong destination for people seeking to leave Tajikistan, where well-paid employment is sparse. While Tajik expatriates have some scant freedom of movement and residency privileges in Russia as compared to…

Russia said on Friday that it had summoned the Dutch ambassador over what it called “obsessive attempts” by the Dutch authorities to hold it responsible for the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 in Ukraine in 2014. In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry accused the joint investigation team set up to establish who was responsible of being “politicised”. Prosecutors said last week at The Hague they had found “strong indications” that Russian President Vladimir Putin had approved the use in Ukraine of a Russian BUK missile system used to shoot down the plane over eastern Ukraine in 2014. The summoning of…