Police Visit Uralskaya Nedelya Newsroom as Journalist Lukpan Akhmedyarov’s Instagram Account Is Blocked

Police officers visited the newsroom of Uralskaya Nedelya, a newspaper based in western Kazakhstan. On the same day, journalist Lukpan Akhmedyarov’s Instagram account was blocked.

Police officers arrived at the offices of Uralskaya Nedelya on the morning of the incident, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Tamara Yeslyamova, reported. According to Yeslyamova, police had received a complaint alleging that one of the newspaper’s publications contained false information. It remains unclear who filed the complaint or which article is being challenged.

Earlier that day, journalist Lukpan Akhmedyarov reported that his Instagram account had been blocked and was at risk of permanent deletion. The incident occurred shortly after he had managed to restore access to his Facebook page.

Over the past year, Akhmedyarov’s personal social media accounts, as well as those associated with his Prosto Zhurnalistika (Just Journalism) project, have faced repeated restrictions and suspensions across social media platforms and YouTube. Meanwhile, the journalist remains under pre-trial investigation under Article 274 of Kazakhstan’s Criminal Code, which concerns the dissemination of knowingly false information.

In early August, Akhmedyarov was prevented from leaving Kazakhstan at Astana airport. He subsequently learned that the capital’s police department had imposed a travel ban on him. The restriction stemmed from a police complaint concerning his publication of a list of Kazakhstani nationals allegedly recruited as mercenaries, originally released by the Ukrainian initiative Khochu Zhit (I Want to Live).

A man identifying himself as Andrey Kotov had appealed to Kazakhstan’s prosecutor general and minister of internal affairs. Kotov claimed that in April 2025, the Ukrainian initiative had included his name on a list of Kazakhstanis who had fought on Russia’s side. He maintained, however, that he had been working in Russia on a rotational basis and had not participated in hostilities.

Kotov argued that the publication had damaged his reputation and demanded that Akhmedyarov be held accountable for sharing the list. According to Radio Azattyq, another Kazakhstani resident, Ruslan Mukhametov, raised similar objections.

Akhmedyarov explained that he had republished the list compiled by Khochu Zhit solely to draw the attention of Kazakhstan’s authorities to the recruitment of Kazakhstani citizens for participation in the war.

The Astana Prosecutor’s Office subsequently ruled that the travel ban imposed on Akhmedyarov was unlawful.