Russian stand-up artist Tatyana Shchukina claims that the Yerevan police "on the orders of Russia" detained her friend and boyfriend. She wrote about this on her Twitter. Shchukina left Russia because of her anti-war stance. “They are kept in the department and asked to give out my contacts and location. They were detained completely illegally, ”Schukina wrote. She herself is now "hiding outside the city."

“If they return me to Russia, I will face jail or death for jokes about Putin, anti-war stance, rallies and cooperation with Alexei Navalny. I ask for political asylum, ”the artist wrote.

“Sveta said that she was being summoned to the police, and she wrote to me that they could leave her in a pre-trial detention center, demanding that I be extradited. I packed my things and ran. Misha was at home - he managed to write that the police had come home. And didn't get in touch anymore. I was already on a ride out of town,” she added.

Later, Shchukina said that her lawyers contacted her "and left for Erebuni <Yerevan district - The Insider> ". According to them, the police claim that the girl was a “witness to a fight,” although “I was not a witness to any fights,” and they require her to testify. “No names, nothing is called. But they came *** home and arrested all the roommates. ******* Witnesses are being invited here,” she wrote.

The head of the International Community for Human Rights in Armenia, Daavr Dorzhin, told The Insider that only Shchukina's friend and boyfriend, with whom she lives together, were detained. They have no status - "the previous information about the witnesses was not confirmed." Shchukina's friends are indeed at the Erebuni district police station because of a criminal case that is "connected to an alleged crime in Armenia." “It <criminal case — The Insider> is associated with violence,” the lawyer added. According to him, "so far, the connection with Russia is not visible." “One of her friends was invited, the other was brought to the department,” Dorzhin said. They have lawyers and translators.

The Insider sent a request to Shchukina, but by the time this material was published, she had not responded to the questions of the publication.

Armenia, like Georgia, after the start of the war became one of the most popular destinations among political emigrants from Russia. Armenia has an extradition treaty with Russia, but so far there have been no cases of someone being extradited from the country on a political verdict. Shchukina herself is not a defendant in criminal cases in Russia.