Evgenia Baltatarova, a Russian journalist from Buryatia, who was detained in Astana, Kazakhstan in connection with the “fakes” of the Russian army, is facing deportation to her homeland, she herself claims .
“The authorities of Kazakhstan refused to extend my temporary stay for a far-fetched reason: allegedly, I did not cross the border of Kazakhstan on my international passport. But I somehow issued the first year of residence, and I have marks in my passport about crossing the border on March 8, 2022. The situation threatens with expulsion from the country. And since they don’t let me go to any third country, this threatens me with deportation to Russia. I will sue the border service and try to apply for asylum,” the girl said.
In Russia, a criminal case has been initiated against Evgenia under Art. 207.3 "about fakes". The reason for the criminal case was Baltatarova's anti-war publications in social networks. In particular, a link to a tweet by Maxim Katz, beginning with the words: “What a horror. They dropped an aerial bomb on the drama theater in Mariupol, and children were hiding there.” The second episode of the case is the publications about the murders in Bucha.
Last November, the journalist was detained in Almaty while trying to fly to Bishkek. She managed to write that she was "arrested, taken to a temporary detention facility." According to Baltatarova, her passport was confiscated at the customs checkpoint, then removed from the flight and detained.