A court in Russia's Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk said on December 21 that two individuals have been sentenced to prison terms of eight and seven years on charges of financing Ukraine's armed forces.
The Uzbek Foreign Ministry summoned Russian Ambassador Oleg Malginov on December 22 and told him that statements by ultranationalist pro-Kremlin writer Zakhar Prilepin a day earlier are "provocative and may have a negative impact" on Uzbek-Russian relations.
The Chui regional court in Kyrgyzstan's north has upheld a lower court decision to change the parole-like sentence of activist and blogger Adilet Ali Myktybek, known on social media as Adilet Baltabai, to actual imprisonment.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a December 22 statement urged Kyrgyz authorities to drop all charges against activist Aftandil Jorobekov and release him after he was arrested for openly protesting changes to Kyrgyzstan's national flag and charged with calls for mass disorder and civil disobedience.
More than 500 oil workers in Kazakhstan’s western region of Manghystau are continuing a strike launched almost two weeks ago despite two of their colleagues falling ill on December 21 with blood pressure problems.