Vladimir Rozanskij

Lawmakers in Tashkent have approved a bill replacing the current letters o', g', ch and sh to standardise the spelling of Uzbek words in international digital systems, thereby preventing problems with electronic payment systems, machine translation and online dictionaries.

The mother of two Chechen dissidents who fled abroad was abducted in 2022 by the security forces whilst at her home in central Russia and taken to Grozny, where she remains in prison. Now her daughter Aliya has appealed to Ajšat Kadyrova, former Minister of Culture and Social Affairs, in a last-ditch effort to secure her release.

From Tajikistan to Kazakhstan, thousands of young people are currently studying at colleges and universities opened in recent years by Moscow, where teaching is conducted in Russian. The aim is to make a long-term investment in the new generation, who have no memory of the Soviet era and are increasingly exposed to Western and Chinese influences.

Serebrennikov and Bogomolov were the most acclaimed figures in Russian theatre, celebrated far beyond the country’s borders. But since the start of the war, the former has left Russia and is now working in Europe, whilst the latter has remained in Moscow, urging the intelligentsia to “set aside their contempt for their own people” and to “work, live and believe”.

​​Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil facilities are also having repercussions in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, with rising prices, a shortage of aviation fuel and growing uncertainty over energy security. Meanwhile, Moscow is seeking supplies from Kazakhstan, which has restricted exports to protect its domestic market.

In Tajikistan, heatwaves with temperatures consistently above 40 degrees in summer are taking their toll on 2.5 million children, who are particularly vulnerable to water shortages. Almost a third of the country’s population is under 15 years of age; according to scientists’ data, they will have to cope with increasingly extreme temperatures throughout their lives.

EU Special Representative Stiprais is calling for an update to cooperation policies that takes account of the increasingly close ties between the countries in the region, which have been highlighted by Kyrgyzstan’s election to the UN Security Council. The “shared” Kambarata hydroelectric power station and the local satellite internet connection system are the flagship projects.

Kiev’s increasingly intense attacks, even on Moscow and St Petersburg, are leading the propagandists of the Russian invasion to accuse their own leadership ever more openly of failing to understand the situation on the front line. And former General Popov, who was removed from his post in 2023 after criticising Gerasimov, is now being portrayed as a ‘victim of the truth’.

Even during the Soviet era, the region had a unified energy system linking Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Today, the idea of an electricity grid that optimises infrastructure is gaining traction again, given that energy demand in the region could rise by around 40 per cent by 2030.

Russian authorities are banning motorbikes from the roads between 10 pm and 6 am because they claim the noise interferes with Russian military operations to shoot down Kiev’s aircraft. The first vehicles have already been impounded for those who disobey. But everyone is now aware that the electronic defence systems no longer work.

The lack of recognised legal status exposes thousands of Central Asian women to serious dangers in Turkey. The case of two Uzbek women whose bodies were found in rubbish bins caused a stir in Istanbul this year. Without documents, working in private homes is often their only option for survival, but at the same time it is a trap.

In an extensive interview with TASS, Metropolitan Sergij of Singapore described the mission of his exarchate – which today stretches from Korea to Indonesia, across countries with Buddhist or Muslim majorities – as “difficult and stimulating”. “Dialogue on faith? Here it does not begin with dogma, but with the beauty and silence of an Orthodox church”