Photo from the human rights project "First Department". Kazakhstan deported Alexander Kachkurkin to Russia on charges of treason
It is reported that Kachkurkin had been living in Almaty for the past few years. Following his expulsion from Kazakhstan, the man was arrested as part of a criminal case on treason.
Kachkurkin is originally from Crimea and obtained Russian citizenship in 2014. However, for political reasons, he left Russia and moved to Kazakhstan.
He worked in the IT sector, holding positions as a DevOps engineer and software developer. Before his arrest, he participated in several projects, including collaboration with OpenAI, a well-known developer of GPT language models.
According to Didar Akhanov, the head of the police department of the Bostandyk district of Almaty, who made a statement on January 28, 2026, Kachkurkin was held administratively liable for two violations: crossing the road in an unauthorized place and smoking a hookah in an enclosed space.
Based on these violations, the police filed a petition with the court for Kachkurkin's expulsion, citing his "disrespect for the laws and sovereignty of the Republic of Kazakhstan" and the need to "prevent offenses".
Upon arrival in Russia, Kachkurkin was detained and brought to court. On January 31, the Meshchansky Court of Moscow chose a preventive measure of detention for him under Article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Treason".
