Russia continues to lose ground in Central Asia - Center for Countering Disinformation

As of the end of 2025, there was a sharp decline in the issuance of passports of the aggressor country russia to citizens of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan. For the citizens of the Republic of Tajikistan, this process has actually stopped, as only a few cases occurred during the year, while in 2022 the russian federation issued more than 173,000 passports to Tajiks. It was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD) at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.

The CCD notes that moscow has traditionally used labor migration and simplified citizenship acquisition as an instrument of "soft power" and political influence on the Central Asian states, which has led to massive recruitment of citizens of these countries into the russian army. Restrictions on access to the russian labor market and citizenship for people from the region have led to the loss of this leverage and significantly undermined loyalty to the kremlin.

According to the Center, against this background, Central Asian countries are increasingly reorienting themselves to other global and regional players. The Center emphasizes that these processes are taking place not only in the economic sphere, but also at the mental and psychological levels, which indicates a systemic distancing of the region from russia.

"Thus, Russia's tough migration policy and xenophobic practices have the opposite effect: instead of strengthening its influence, the Kremlin is accelerating the loss of its positions in Central Asia, despite propaganda statements about "historical unity" and "strategic partnership," the Center for Countering Disinformation concludes.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, by the end of 2025, the aggressor country russia ranked first in the world in terms of Internet outages.