Sher Khashimov

Really enjoyed this episode of Turan Tales by @aga-pik.bsky.social with @skhashimov.bsky.social about Dushanbe.

Dushanbe these days is sadly filled with smog. But the rare clear days still reveal the stunning views that I grew up seeing literally out of my bedroom windows. Just 10 years ago, before the current senseless urban redevelopment, this is what one saw from anywhere in my hometown.

The Beet’s top five stories of 2025 From hardened borders to fading factories, these dispatches trace how history, identity, and power shape everyday life across Eastern Europe and Central Asia — Medu... For the past three years, The Beet newsletter has supplemented Meduza’s regular coverage with original reporting from Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. When we launched this ...

Working with local journalists & foreign correspondents to tell underreported stories was undoubtedly the best part about editing The Beet. With the newsletter pausing publication, writing this best of 2025 list was bittersweet. meduza.io/en/feature/2... @meduza.io

Sadly, with The Calvert Journal gone and @meduza.io’s The Beet pausing its work in 2026, the space to cover underreported and unusual stories about Central Asia has shrunk to essentially nothing. It’s been an honor and a pleasure to work with @eilishhart.bsky.social. Support independent journalism!

Kyrgyzstan is losing its status as Central Asia’s only democracy The president is muffling the opposition and consolidating power

Out on the shelves and online today: my report for The Economist on how #Kyrgyzstan is backsliding into authoritarianism under Sadyr Japarov, who came to power in a popular revolution but now quashes dissent
www.economist.com/asia/2025/12...

There she is, in all her beauty, the Siyoma Valley.
meduza.io/en/feature/2...

The watchman in the valley What the sole resident of Tajikistan’s breathtaking Siyoma gorge can tell us about climate change — Meduza “The first time I went on a long group hike was in the early 1980s when I was a university student,” says Bakhtiyor Sharipov. “The Tajik mountains have been a part of me ever since.”

In Tajikistan’s Siyoma Valley, watchman Ivan Bragin bears witness to the local consequences of the global climate crisis. For The Beet, @skhashimov.bsky.social tells his fascinating story. meduza.io/en/feature/2...

The watchman in the valley What the sole resident of Tajikistan’s breathtaking Siyoma gorge can tell us about climate change — Meduza “The first time I went on a long group hike was in the early 1980s when I was a university student,” says Bakhtiyor Sharipov. “The Tajik mountains have been a part of me ever since.”

When @skhashimov.bsky.social pitched this story, I jumped at the chance to commission it for The Beet. Ivan Bragin’s fascinating life as the lone resident of Tajikistan’s Siyoma Valley offers us a window into the local consequences of a global issue. Read it now! meduza.io/en/feature/2...

The watchman in the valley What the sole resident of Tajikistan’s breathtaking Siyoma gorge can tell us about climate change — Meduza “The first time I went on a long group hike was in the early 1980s when I was a university student,” says Bakhtiyor Sharipov. “The Tajik mountains have been a part of me ever since.”

I'm proud of how this very personal piece turned out, thanks to my wonderful editor @eilishhart.bsky.social and her team at @meduza.io. GIve it a read and reach out if you want to see more photos of the stunning Siyoma Valley, one of my favorite places in the world.

meduza.io/en/feature/2...

The watchman in the valley What the sole resident of Tajikistan’s breathtaking Siyoma gorge can tell us about climate change — Meduza “The first time I went on a long group hike was in the early 1980s when I was a university student,” says Bakhtiyor Sharipov. “The Tajik mountains have been a part of me ever since.”

Tajikistan's Siyoma Valley is slowly withering away. Climate change, overgrazing, pollution are threatening the valley's fragile ecosystem. I've toured the valley many times and spoke to its sole resident about what these changes mean for the rest of Central Asia.

meduza.io/en/feature/2...

Interpol Rejects Kyrgyzstan’s Request for a Warrant against Independent Media Co-Founder Kyrgyzstan requested a Red Notice for Rinat Tuhvatshin, co-founder of Kloop, in an apparent attempt to silence him abroad. The government has been cracking down on all independent media critical of its...

Kyrgyzstan requested a Red Notice for Rinat Tuhvatshin, co-founder of Kloop, in an apparent attempt to silence him abroad. The government has been cracking down on all independent media critical of its actions.

www.occrp.org/en/news/inte...

AI browsers like OpenAI's Atlas and Perplexity's Comet have ways of getting around paywalls and crawler restrictions to access publisher content. And sometimes, if they can't access an article, they'll just recreate it using 'digital breadcrumbs'

Kyrgyzstan declares investigative outlets Kloop and Temirov Live ‘extremist’ - Committee to Protect Journalists New York, October 28, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for the reversal of an October 27 court decision in Kyrgyzstan declaring the publications of investigative outlets Temirov Live an...

A court in Kyrgyzstan declared investigative media outlets "extremist," banned them from publishing, and made distribution of their work illegal.

Excited for my first byline in @newlinesmag.bsky.social, reported with support from the Overseas Press Club Foundation!

Kyrgyzstan Court Brands Independent Media ‘Extremist’ in Latest Press Freedom Crackdown Three independent news outlets in Kyrgyzstan — including OCCRP member center Kloop — have been branded “extremist organizations,” with a court banning all their online and social media activity.

Three independent news outlets in Kyrgyzstan — including OCCRP member center Kloop — have been branded “extremist organizations,” with a court banning all their online and social media activity.

www.occrp.org/en/news/kyrg...

Tajikistan has arguably the weakest army in the CIS while Russia is a nuclear power with a large foreign base in Dushanbe. An equivalent of ~50% of Tajikistan’s GDP is remittances from Russia and the country owes a lot of money to China, Russia’s ally. Unrealistic 🤷‍♂️
www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/202...

Why Is Central Asia Buying Trump’s Attention? The current U.S. administration is the easiest one so far for Central Asia to work with. Business interests can be used to attract Washington’s attention, and there is no longer any need for demonstra...

The current US administration is the easiest one so far for Central Asia to work with. Business interests can be used to attract attention & there's no need for demonstrative distancing from Russia or commitment to democratic reforms. @ceip-politika.bsky.social carnegieendowment.org/russia-euras...

State-Connected Oligarchs and Looted Public Funds: Tracking Illicit Money Across Asia In this installment of GIJN's Asia Focus project, we look at how investigative journalists across the continent are exposing kleptocracy and documenting official corruption.

Investigative journalism in Asia continues to do important work despite a challenging press freedom environment. For @gijn.org, I spoke to journalists in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Bangladesh about their experiences, challenges, and the value of cross-border collaboration.

gijn.org/stories/asia...

‘An unusual hobby’ How Central Asian Wikipedians are closing the local-language knowledge gap in the age of AI — Meduza In April 2025, the volunteer editors and administrators behind the Central Asian editions of Wikipedia held their first ever gathering IRL (in real life). Founded along linguistic rather than nation-s...

In a dispatch from Tashkent, The Beet explores the debates about language, trust, and technology shaping Wikipedia’s development in Central Asia (and beyond) in the age of AI. meduza.io/en/feature/2... @meduza.io

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

New pub: Central Asian migrants at the US-Mexico border: An exploration of causes

Great piece analyzing spike in Central Asian migrants in 2021-2022. journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Lithuania’s Migration Dept wants visa centre in Tajikistan shut down due to overstays Lithuania’s Migration Department has proposed shutting down an external visa service centre in Tajikistan that processes...

Lithuania's migration authorities are looking to close their visa center in Dushanbe due to the high number of visa overstays by Tajik citizens www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-e...

‘A Turning Point That Never Happened’: Eyewitnesses Recall the Wagner Mercenary Mutiny 2 Years Later - The Moscow Times A former employee of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s “troll factory,” a graduate student who found himself near the fighting and a soldier from Rostov-on-Don, the city occupied by the rebels.  Two years after Wag...

An ex-employee of Prigozhin’s “troll factory,” a graduate student who was near the fighting and a soldier from Rostov-on-Don shared their memories of living through the mutiny with MT.

The Most Significant Long-Term Consequence of the U.S. Strikes on Iran It’s not the damage to Fordow or Natanz.

My piece for @carnegieendowment.org on the impact of US and Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear program, including the damage, long-term pathways to reconstitution, internal debates in Iran, and the future of the IAEA carnegieendowment.org/emissary/202...

Kyrgyz parliament backs new state controls on media outlets Kyrgyzstan's parliament has approved a bill that tightens state controls over media outlets, in what critics say is a blow to press freedom in a country once seen as more open than other Central Asian nations.

This is devastating.
How much my colleagues and so many others have been fighting to prevent this.

#KyrgyzParliament passed the media law in two readings at once, making changes at the very last minute. Last hope has failed

www.reuters.com/business/med...

I can’t help but assume this includes programs for studying Central Asian languages

К чему может привести закон об обмене информацией между школами и МВД о детях иностранцев Госдума России в первом чтении приняли законопроект, который обязывает школы передавать МВД всю информацию о детях мигрантов. По словам авторов, этот документ поможет бороться с мигрантами, у которых ...

New legislation in Russia will require public schools to share the personal data of all immigrant children with the police

This is combined with other legislation that limits access of immigrant children to public education

www.currenttime.tv/a/33448907.h...

15 Years On, Ethnic Uzbeks Sill Face Bias in Kyrgyzstan Several ethnic Uzbeks from Osh said that the 2010 trauma continues to inform their daily lives and that the government’s efforts have largely been ineffective.

#Kyrgyzstan: Although 15 years have passed since the deadly ethnic clashes in the south of Kyrgyzstan, wounds still have not healed and new ones added with ongoing demolitions in Osh. I write about it in my oped here: thediplomat.com/2025/06/15-y...

«Экстремист» по госбазе: почему блокируют Qaznews24 и как живёт Темирлан Енсебек после приговора Основатель и экс-автор сатирического инстаграм-паблика, оказался в списке лиц, финансирующих экстремизм.

Temirlan Yensebek, who used to run a satirical news channel called Qaznews24 (think of it as Kazakhstan's The Onion), has been designated an extremist in Kazakhstan. He's banned from using banking, owning real estate, or being officially employed

orda.kz/jekstremist-...

South Asian men lined up in front of a Kyrgyz security services officer

South Asian men lined up against a wall with their backs facing a Kyrgyz security services officer

Kyrgyz authorities are conducting anti-migrant raids across Bishkek today, targeting South Asian workers from
India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, many of whom work in the textile industry

The criminalization of migration is truly global

Investigation Uncovers Telegram's Potential Links to Russia's FSB - The Moscow Times The Telegram messaging app may be less secure than previously thought, as its infrastructure is controlled by a man whose companies have collaborated with Russian intelligence services, according to a...

The Telegram messaging app's infrastructure is controlled by a man whose companies have collaborated with Russian intelligence services, according to a new investigation by the exiled outlet IStories.