Kyrgyz security services have detained four people, including an employee of a Russian government agency, on suspicion of recruiting Kyrgyz citizens for the Russian army, officials quoted by Reuters said on Monday.
Kyrgyzstan's Internal Security Agency told Reuters that among those detained were an employee of the press service of the mayor's office of the second largest city of Osh, as well as an employee of "Rossotrudnichestvo" - a Russian cultural exchange agency, also in Osh.
The "Russian House" cultural center of "Rossotrudnichestvo" in Osh said on "Telegram" that all the agency's activities were legal. The center added that it was "alarmed" about the fate of the detained employee Natalia Serekina, who, according to the organization, is a citizen of Kyrgyzstan.
The suspects are being held on charges related to recruiting and assisting mercenaries to participate in armed conflicts abroad.
A court in the capital Bishkek charged the four suspects with mercenary activities and remanded them in custody until June 17.
Hundreds of Central Asian citizens, mainly from Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, are believed to have joined the Russian forces fighting in Ukraine.
Moscow is offering high salaries and Russian citizenship to foreigners who join the army – a proposal that has attracted candidates from as far away as Cuba, Nepal and India, Reuters reported.
Several of these countries have asked Moscow to stop recruiting their citizens and send serving soldiers home.
During the more than three-year-old war in Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan has maintained its traditional alliance with Russia, although Kyrgyz authorities have taken punitive measures against its citizens for joining the Russian army.
The mountainous Muslim country of 7 million people is heavily dependent economically on Russia, where many of its citizens emigrate for work, and has several Russian military bases on its territory.