Yan Matusevich
@ymatusik.bsky.social
Journalist writing about politics, culture, migration and society in Central Asia and Eurasia more broadly | PhD candidate in Anthropology at CUNY GC | en-ru-fr-de | кыргызча сүйлөйм
Words in @economist.com, @foreignpolicy.com, @eurasianet.bsky.social
Words in @economist.com, @foreignpolicy.com, @eurasianet.bsky.social
Reposted by Yan Matusevich
When @skhashimov.bsky.social pitched this story, I jumped at the chance to commission it for The Beet. Ivan Bragin’s fascinating life as the lone resident of Tajikistan’s Siyoma Valley offers us a window into the local consequences of a global issue. Read it now! meduza.io/en/feature/2...
The watchman in the valley What the sole resident of Tajikistan’s breathtaking Siyoma gorge can tell us about climate change — Meduza
“The first time I went on a long group hike was in the early 1980s when I was a university student,” says Bakhtiyor Sharipov. “The Tajik mountains have been a part of me ever since.”
meduza.io
November 7, 2025 at 3:34 PM
When @skhashimov.bsky.social pitched this story, I jumped at the chance to commission it for The Beet. Ivan Bragin’s fascinating life as the lone resident of Tajikistan’s Siyoma Valley offers us a window into the local consequences of a global issue. Read it now! meduza.io/en/feature/2...
Reposted by Yan Matusevich
Nuremburg trials is the moderate position
He said that the agents would throw food at them to eat. The agents threatened to withhold food for a week and to beat him up if he didn't sign deportation papers. He said he saw others refuse and get beaten/receive no food. He signed because he was afraid.
November 7, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Nuremburg trials is the moderate position
Reposted by Yan Matusevich
The elimination of USAID was an unforgivable moral atrocity that should haunt Trump, Elon Musk and Marco Rubio for the rest of their days and beyond
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
November 7, 2025 at 2:36 AM
The elimination of USAID was an unforgivable moral atrocity that should haunt Trump, Elon Musk and Marco Rubio for the rest of their days and beyond
Reposted by Yan Matusevich
This is indeed harrowing: brave testimony. (Content warning: traumatic violence.)
Elizabeth Tsurkov, a citizen of Israel and Russia, recounts a harrowing story of cruelty, survival, U.S. diplomatic pressure and, finally, release from the grip of a group backed by Iran.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/05/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/05/w...
A Woman Tells of Torture and 2½ Years of Captivity by an Iraqi Militia
www.nytimes.com
November 5, 2025 at 10:56 PM
This is indeed harrowing: brave testimony. (Content warning: traumatic violence.)
Reposted by Yan Matusevich
Almost a minor footnote in the grand scheme of things, but Kyrgyzstan is set to pass new legislation to grant security services access to telecom operators & block communication in cases of “emergency”
The “revolution-proofing” of Kyrgyzstan continues
kg.akipress.org/news:2357741...
The “revolution-proofing” of Kyrgyzstan continues
kg.akipress.org/news:2357741...
Операторы связи будут обязаны передавать данные, а в ЧП смогут отключать отдельные устройства — законопроект ГКНБ
Госкомитет национальной безопасности разработал законопроект, направленный на гармонизацию законодательства об оперативно-розыскной и контрразведывательной деятельности с положениями нового Цифрового ...
kg.akipress.org
November 4, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Almost a minor footnote in the grand scheme of things, but Kyrgyzstan is set to pass new legislation to grant security services access to telecom operators & block communication in cases of “emergency”
The “revolution-proofing” of Kyrgyzstan continues
kg.akipress.org/news:2357741...
The “revolution-proofing” of Kyrgyzstan continues
kg.akipress.org/news:2357741...
Reposted by Yan Matusevich
I have no idea how I am meant to take this book (Varoufakis, _Technofeudalism_) seriously. This isn’t even the most egregious of its inanities but it makes for a sufficiently emblematic example.
October 18, 2025 at 12:07 PM
I have no idea how I am meant to take this book (Varoufakis, _Technofeudalism_) seriously. This isn’t even the most egregious of its inanities but it makes for a sufficiently emblematic example.
Kudos to the Erfurter Bahn for having information in the most commonly spoken languages in the area, including Arabic, Kurdish, Turkish, Dari and Ukrainian
November 2, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Kudos to the Erfurter Bahn for having information in the most commonly spoken languages in the area, including Arabic, Kurdish, Turkish, Dari and Ukrainian
We’ve all become numb to the violence of Russia’s war on Ukraine, but just watched Artem Ryzhykov’s A Simple Soldier—and it’s an absolutely devastating, first-hand account of a filmmaker turned soldier and the toll the war takes on his body, mind and soul
www.dok-leipzig.de/en/film/simp...
www.dok-leipzig.de/en/film/simp...
A Simple Soldier · DOK Leipzig
In the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion Artem Ryzhykov joins the Ukrainian army. Equipped with a machine gun and a camera, the filmmaker documents his life as a soldier.
www.dok-leipzig.de
November 1, 2025 at 10:14 PM
We’ve all become numb to the violence of Russia’s war on Ukraine, but just watched Artem Ryzhykov’s A Simple Soldier—and it’s an absolutely devastating, first-hand account of a filmmaker turned soldier and the toll the war takes on his body, mind and soul
www.dok-leipzig.de/en/film/simp...
www.dok-leipzig.de/en/film/simp...
Just received the book––and it's a fascinating read although I think it's definitely the censored version of the text.
A re-print from a Viennese publishing house is now available, but I'm not sure of it's the original or the redacted version mediashop.at/buecher/von-...
Von weißen Nächten und roten Tagen | Promedia Verlag
Koestler, Arthur: Von weißen Nächten und roten Tagen.Zwölf Reportagen aus der SowjetunionPromedia 2013. 176 S. 20 x 12. engl. Br.
mediashop.at
November 1, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Just received the book––and it's a fascinating read although I think it's definitely the censored version of the text.
Kyrgyzstan tried getting Interpol to issue a red notice for the arrest of independent journalist Rinat Tuvatshin who is exiled abroad. Tajikistan used the same strategy about a decade ago, but Interpol's internal controls are thankfully more robust these days.
www.occrp.org/en/news/inte...
www.occrp.org/en/news/inte...
Interpol Rejects Kyrgyzstan’s Request For Arrest of Journalist
Amid a crackdown on the free press, Kyrgyzstan requested that Interpol issue a Red Notice against Rinat Tuhvatshin, co-founder of Kloop, in an apparent attempt to silence him abroad.
www.occrp.org
November 1, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Kyrgyzstan tried getting Interpol to issue a red notice for the arrest of independent journalist Rinat Tuvatshin who is exiled abroad. Tajikistan used the same strategy about a decade ago, but Interpol's internal controls are thankfully more robust these days.
www.occrp.org/en/news/inte...
www.occrp.org/en/news/inte...
Kazakhstan is one step closer to adopting a Russia-style anti-LGBT propaganda law. Kyrgyzstan already passed a similar law in 2023, homosexuality is still a criminal offense in Uzbekistan.
www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...
www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...
Kazakhstan lawmakers give preliminary approval to ban on LGBT 'propaganda'
Kazakhstan moved a step closer on Wednesday to banning the spreading of what it calls LGBT "propaganda" online or in the media, with repeat offenders facing up to 10 days in prison.
www.reuters.com
November 1, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Kazakhstan is one step closer to adopting a Russia-style anti-LGBT propaganda law. Kyrgyzstan already passed a similar law in 2023, homosexuality is still a criminal offense in Uzbekistan.
www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...
www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...
Reposted by Yan Matusevich
As another weekend of Barclay’s Premier League football gets underway, and a massacre is still unfolding in El Fasher, we cannot lose sight of the fact that the same people who are funding the slaughter in Sudan also own Manchester City Football Club.
It is a national disgrace.
It is a national disgrace.
November 1, 2025 at 12:51 PM
As another weekend of Barclay’s Premier League football gets underway, and a massacre is still unfolding in El Fasher, we cannot lose sight of the fact that the same people who are funding the slaughter in Sudan also own Manchester City Football Club.
It is a national disgrace.
It is a national disgrace.
Reposted by Yan Matusevich
When we look at this massacre and many more perpetrated by the RSF, let's be clear who funds, equips & sustains them. It's the UAE. Yes, the same UAE that might own your football club, fly you on your holidays, invests in our national infrastructure. If boycotts work, we should be boycotting now.
“Individuals on the ground sent a message that reached us Monday morning that 1,200 were dead,” Nathaniel Raymond, the lab’s executive director, said. “By that evening, they said 10,000. By Tuesday, we couldn’t reach them anymore. We assume our ground contacts are dead.”
Yale lab reports mass killings in Sudan, calls for student activism
The Humanitarian Research Lab was told this week that over 10,000 people in Sudan were killed within three days.
yaledailynews.com
November 1, 2025 at 12:59 PM
When we look at this massacre and many more perpetrated by the RSF, let's be clear who funds, equips & sustains them. It's the UAE. Yes, the same UAE that might own your football club, fly you on your holidays, invests in our national infrastructure. If boycotts work, we should be boycotting now.
Reposted by Yan Matusevich
A court in Kyrgyzstan declared investigative media outlets "extremist," banned them from publishing, and made distribution of their work illegal.
Kyrgyzstan declares investigative outlets Kloop and Temirov Live ‘extremist’ - Committee to Protect Journalists
New York, October 28, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for the reversal of an October 27 court decision in Kyrgyzstan declaring the publications of investigative outlets Temirov Live an...
cpj.org
October 29, 2025 at 8:52 PM
A court in Kyrgyzstan declared investigative media outlets "extremist," banned them from publishing, and made distribution of their work illegal.
Reposted by Yan Matusevich
Three independent news outlets in Kyrgyzstan — including OCCRP member center Kloop — have been branded “extremist organizations,” with a court banning all their online and social media activity.
www.occrp.org/en/news/kyrg...
www.occrp.org/en/news/kyrg...
Kyrgyzstan Court Brands Independent Media ‘Extremist’ in Latest Press Freedom Crackdown
Three independent news outlets in Kyrgyzstan — including OCCRP member center Kloop — have been branded “extremist organizations,” with a court banning all their online and social media activity.
www.occrp.org
October 28, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Three independent news outlets in Kyrgyzstan — including OCCRP member center Kloop — have been branded “extremist organizations,” with a court banning all their online and social media activity.
www.occrp.org/en/news/kyrg...
www.occrp.org/en/news/kyrg...
Reposted by Yan Matusevich
I cannot tell you how many tech journalists at prominent media organizations do not understand this
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
October 27, 2025 at 3:32 PM
I cannot tell you how many tech journalists at prominent media organizations do not understand this
A Bishkek court has just ruled that two of the countries most influential independent news sites Kloop and Temirov Live (both in exile abroad) are extremist organizations. This means that liking or reposting their content may be deemed a criminal act in Kyrgyzstan
kloop.kg/blog/2025/10...
kloop.kg/blog/2025/10...
Суд признал материалы «Клооп» и «Темиров лайв» экстремистскими
Суд признал материалы «Клооп» и «Темиров лайв» экстремистскими – в изданиях не знали об этом деле и намерены обжаловать приговор
kloop.kg
October 28, 2025 at 12:30 PM
A Bishkek court has just ruled that two of the countries most influential independent news sites Kloop and Temirov Live (both in exile abroad) are extremist organizations. This means that liking or reposting their content may be deemed a criminal act in Kyrgyzstan
kloop.kg/blog/2025/10...
kloop.kg/blog/2025/10...
It's a talking point that is being recycled ad nauseam in a very particular tankie corner of the terminally online. Also, the kind of thing I've been lectured on at 1AM by a drunk Kazakh guy on a train to Almaty "Man, you know who really profits from this war? THE GRUBBY ELITES ON BOTH SIDES"
"Zelenskyy's no friend of the working class because he wants Ukraine to keep fighting"
is the argument here that it's only landed gentry living in the bits of Ukraine currently being violently occupied by Russia, or
is the argument here that it's only landed gentry living in the bits of Ukraine currently being violently occupied by Russia, or
October 27, 2025 at 7:41 PM
It's a talking point that is being recycled ad nauseam in a very particular tankie corner of the terminally online. Also, the kind of thing I've been lectured on at 1AM by a drunk Kazakh guy on a train to Almaty "Man, you know who really profits from this war? THE GRUBBY ELITES ON BOTH SIDES"
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure the Bolsheviks came up with the concept of разьяснительная беседа (explanatory conversations) to promote state policies, including unveiling of women.
The term is now used in Chechnya to enforce veiling of women
www.fontanka.ru/2025/10/24/7...
The term is now used in Chechnya to enforce veiling of women
www.fontanka.ru/2025/10/24/7...
«Мы действуем с благими намерениями». В Чечне будут проводить разъяснительные беседы с девушками, которые не носят платки
Власти Чечни будут проводить разъяснительные беседы с девушками, которые не носят платки, сообщает РИА Новости.
www.fontanka.ru
October 27, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure the Bolsheviks came up with the concept of разьяснительная беседа (explanatory conversations) to promote state policies, including unveiling of women.
The term is now used in Chechnya to enforce veiling of women
www.fontanka.ru/2025/10/24/7...
The term is now used in Chechnya to enforce veiling of women
www.fontanka.ru/2025/10/24/7...
I’m back in Germany alright
October 27, 2025 at 4:09 PM
I’m back in Germany alright
Reposted by Yan Matusevich
Honestly the Russian government mustn’t believe its luck of how easy this has been.
"ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, and Grok are serving users propaganda from Russian-backed media when asked about the invasion of Ukraine, new research finds." www.wired.com/story/chatbo...
Chatbots Are Pushing Sanctioned Russian Propaganda
ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, and Grok are serving users propaganda from Russian-backed media when asked about the invasion of Ukraine, new research finds.
www.wired.com
October 27, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Honestly the Russian government mustn’t believe its luck of how easy this has been.
Call me old fashioned, but I don’t think sticking a phone with a translation app in the face of an old German lady struggling to formulate a question in English, should be socially acceptable behavior.
October 27, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Call me old fashioned, but I don’t think sticking a phone with a translation app in the face of an old German lady struggling to formulate a question in English, should be socially acceptable behavior.
Not to mention that Bishkek is one major earthquake away from an absolutely horrendous catastrophe
Instead of building on Bishkek’s advantages (it was such a lush and green city, trolleybuses, new bike lanes). The authorities are going tabula rasa with the promise of a bombastic leap into the future, an attempt to imitate Almaty, Tashkent and the Gulf states all at once
October 27, 2025 at 8:54 AM
Not to mention that Bishkek is one major earthquake away from an absolutely horrendous catastrophe
Bishkek has been, quite literally, on the chopping board this past year: parks bulldozed, trees chopped down, historical buildings demolished, and the city’s old but functioning trolleybus network—dismantled. All of this is being done in the name of progress, the promise of a Dubai-like future
October 27, 2025 at 8:44 AM
Bishkek has been, quite literally, on the chopping board this past year: parks bulldozed, trees chopped down, historical buildings demolished, and the city’s old but functioning trolleybus network—dismantled. All of this is being done in the name of progress, the promise of a Dubai-like future