A new “local” television channel is launching in Kyrgyzstan — one with direct links to the Kremlin’s propaganda outlet RT. Media experts say Nomad TV is a thinly veiled effort to push pro-Russian narratives under the guise of local reporting. Nevertheless, the channel has already drawn journalists away from other Kyrgyz newsrooms with promises of higher salaries, according to RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz service, Radio Azattyk. Meduza shares a summary of their reporting.
A few months ago, news broke of a new TV station in Kyrgyzstan called “Nomad.” According to RFE/RL’s Radio Azattyk, hiring for the project was handled by former editors from the local office of Russia’s state media agency Sputnik, who began recruiting journalists from Kyrgyz newsrooms.
Sputnik Kyrgyzstan’s editor-in-chief, Erkin Alymbekov, took a senior position at the new channel. And his wife, Svetlana Akmatalieva — a journalist at Kyrgyzstan’s state-run National Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (KTRK) — has been training new hires. Several employees of KTRK’s main television channel also left to join the project, as did reporters from Channel 7.
According to Channel 7’s director, Ilyazbek Baltashev — who also heads the Union of Journalists of Kyrgyzstan — people are switching jobs because Nomad pays significantly higher salaries, and local outlets “simply can’t compete with large media coming in from outside.” How the new channel will be financed remains unclear, though Baltashev said he had “heard that the funding will come from Russia.”
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Nomad TV’s producer is Anna Abakumova, a Russian journalist who previously worked for the state propaganda network RT. After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Abakumova produced reports from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine’s Luhansk and Donetsk regions, including the decimated city of Mariupol. Radio Azattyk describes her as a protégé of Margarita Simonyan, the long-time editor-in-chief of RT, and as one of the channel’s top producers.
“Simonyan is one of the key ideologists of Russian propaganda. […] If they’re bringing in her assistant, it seems they’re taking advantage of our free information environment, and perhaps hoping to extend that reach to neighboring countries as well,” political scientist and media expert Ruslan Akmatbek told Radio Azattyk. “They know we’re not open to information that comes directly from Russia. So they’re trying to present themselves as a local outlet.”
Sources told Radio Azattyk that journalists hired by Nomad are being trained at the Evrazia Center, an autonomous nonprofit founded in Russia in 2024. The organization runs projects in culture, education, healthcare, youth programming, and media, and provides grants to journalists and bloggers.
According to Simonyan, who sits on the nonprofit’s board of trustees, Evrazia was founded by fugitive Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor. Russian State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin is a board member, as well. In Kyrgyzstan, Shor’s organization has launched wide-ranging initiatives: running journalism courses, donating school buses, building a recreational park in Bishkek, and opening discount shops for low-income residents.
“As far as I know, the Evrazia organization conducts media training for journalists and students. Its ties to Russia are obvious,” media expert Asel Sooronbayeva told Radio Azattyk. “It’s also clear that they bring journalists to Russia for training. At these workshops, lectures, and press tours, we also see media professionals from outlets that have direct or indirect links to our government.”
Today, dozens of foreign media organizations operate in Kyrgyzstan or maintain bureaus there: the U.S. Congress–funded Radio Azattyk, the BBC, and outlets from Germany, China, Turkey, and elsewhere all have correspondents in Bishkek. But Russian media continues to dominate the country’s information space.
Ruslan Akmatbek argues that Nomad TV is part of a broader effort by Russia to preserve its influence, especially as Moscow’s relationships with Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Moldova deteriorate. “What we’re seeing is part of an information war,” he said. “They believe that by spreading Kremlin propaganda through their own channels — and then through local media — they can secure full influence in Kyrgyzstan.”
The way Akmatbek sees it, Russia is working to preserve its “sphere of influence” in the region, as Central Asian leaders continue to build relationships with China, Turkey, and Western countries. “We know Russia spends enormous sums on propaganda, and launching a local TV channel is part of that strategy,” he explained. “It’s a way to ensure they keep their hold on us for a long time.”
