Putin Ally Calls To Annex Countries Along Russia's Border

Russian politician and writer Zakhar Prilepin has called for the annexation of countries along Russia's border "where migrant workers come to us from," sparking condemnation from Uzbekistan.

Prilepin, a prominent Russian ultranationalist voice and a staunch supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine, made the remarks while discussing the issue of migrant workers in Russia.

He injured in May after the car he was in blew up in the western Nizhny Novgorod region. Kyiv's security services neither confirmed nor denied having a role in the incident. Prilepin is wanted for war crimes in Ukraine.

"I actually still sincerely advocate that these territories, where migrant workers come to us from, should just be annexed and to teach them the Russian language there. Not to teach them here, but there, in Uzbekistan," Prilepin said at a press conference on Wednesday according to Meduza, an independent Russian-language news outlet based in Latvia.

In response, the Uzbek Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Russian Ambassador to Uzbekistan Oleg Malginov and said that "such rash statements" do not correspond with Uzbekistan and Russia's strategic partnership.

Such remarks "carry a knowingly provocative character and can negatively impact historically friendly relations" between the two nations, the ministry said.

Russia's ambassador said that "Prilepin's statements have nothing even remotely in common with the official position of the Russian leadership."

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that Prilepin's comments do not "even remotely" reflect the Kremlin's position on its relations with Uzbekistan. She said that Russia's use of foreign labor migrants benefits Russia as well as migrants' countries of origin.

Newsweek has contacted Russia's Foreign Ministry via email for additional comment.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S.-based think tank, said in its latest analysis of the conflict in Ukraine on Thursday that Prilepin's statements likely reflect increasing public discontent in the Russian ultranationalist community about the role of migrants in Russian society.

"The Uzbek MFA's response likely indicates that the Uzbek government views Prilepin's statements as sufficiently threatening to warrant a demand for an official Russian response," the think tank said.

"Central Asian governments have notably previously responded to statements from Russian officials questioning Central Asian states' territorial integrity and sovereignty by summoning their respective Russian ambassador," the ISW added.

Uzbekistan, like Ukraine, was once part of the Soviet Union. Moscow has also been luring foreign fighters to fight in its war in Ukraine, with citizens of Kazakhstan, also a former Soviet republic bordering Russia, among those targeted.

The British Defense Ministry said in an intelligence report in September that Russian authorities have recently been ramping up their appeals to citizens of neighboring countries to fight in Ukraine, with online ads spotted in Armenia and Kazakhstan offering 495,000 rubles ($5,140) in initial payments and salaries from 190,000 rubles ($1,973).

The ministry's intelligence update noted that since at least May, Russia has approached Central Asian migrants to fight in Ukraine with promises of fast-track citizenship and salaries of up to $4,160.

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