Activist Airapetyan leaves Russia after kidnapping

Ronald Airapetyan, an activist, has explained his flight from the Krasnodar Territory to the Netherlands by the earlier committed kidnapping and the threats he had received because of his oppositional activities.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in November 2021, Ronald Airapetyan, a member of the "Yabloko" Party, said that he had left his native Kislovodsk for the Krasnodar Territory after the attack committed on him in September 2020. According to Airapetyan, a masked man attacked him, stabbed him twice in the stomach and put a knife to his throat. The attacker said that if Airapetyan "once again went to a picket against Putin," he would be killed.

On December 10, Ronald Airapetyan told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that he left Russia on December 2 after being kidnapped. According to his story, on November 24, he was returning home from the store. Three "huge men in camouflage and balaclavas" ran up to him and pushed him into a minivan parked nearby. After half an hour of driving, the vehicle stopped in the forest, and the activist was taken out of it.

"I saw a man with a pistol in his hand ... He ordered me to delete my Telegram channel, right here in the forest, which reported about the activities of the 'Yabloko' and the opposition in general. But I left my phone at home. Then the man got very angry and kicked me in the stomach and said that I would stay here in the forest forever," said Mr Airapetyan.

According to his story, after reaching home, the next day, on December 2, he bought tickets to the Mexican city of Cancun via Amsterdam. This route was chosen because these tickets were cheaper than others. Having arrived in Amsterdam without a Schengen visa, in the transit zone, Airapetyan told local law enforcers that he asked for political asylum in the Netherlands.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 11, 2021 at 07:35 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.