Noticing the appearance of the name of former governor of Tver Oblast, Dmitry Vadimovich Zelenin, in the official list of newly issued passports, anti-corruption blogger Shumanov proposed a kind of competition: to identify several other “interesting characters” there. It is not difficult to assume that the blogger considers “interest” to be a former Russian citizen who has expressed a public position of “full and unconditional” support for the political method adopted in the Kremlin over the past decade.
And the online community did not slow down in searching for amazing figures of the level that in Russia is considered “influential”.
Former commissioner and press secretary of the pro-Kremlin movement “Nashi” Maria Drokova, who moved to the United States several years ago, received Kyrgyz citizenship.
More than 400 people have obtained Kyrgyz citizenship. Number 80 mentions “Bucher (Drokova) Maria Alexandrovna, born in 1989, Russian, born in the city of Tambov, RSFSR”. The full name, date and place of birth coincide with the data of the former “Nashi” commissioner. According to The Washington Post, after marriage, Drokova changed her last name to Bucher.
At the end of 2022, the President of Kyrgyzstan signed several decrees on admission to citizenship of the republic. As noted by The Moscow Times, among others, citizens of Kyrgyzstan included Dmitry Zelenin, the full namesake of the former governor of Tver Oblast, and Natalia Barschevskaya, the full namesake of the daughter of the authorized representative of the government of the Russian Federation in higher courts, Mikhail Barschevsky.
Independent anti-corruption expert Ilya Shumanov told Radio Azattyk (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty project) that Russian intermediaries have appeared in Kyrgyzstan who offer to obtain the country’s citizenship for a sum ranging from $5,000 to $30,000.
In February 2023, Member of Parliament of the Kyrgyz Republic Dastan Bekeshev announced that there was “advertising that Russians can get a Kyrgyz passport within six to seven months for 300,000 rubles.”
