Just like in other Central Asian countries, the Russo-Ukrainian conflict not only affected Uzbekistan’s economy but also led to a split in society – into those who support the Russian invasion and those who oppose this aggression.
The war has been going on for three months now. The disputes among Uzbekistan residents continue unabated. They often lead to conflicts and disagreements between relatives, acquaintances, and friends. Those who support Russia cannot understand those who support Ukraine and vice versa.
People are actively discussing everything that happens both on social media and in real life. Moreover, the arguments are often aggressive; people use hate speech, accusations, and insults against each other when the opponents take different sides.
One of the Uzbek journalists anonymously said that as soon as it comes to Russia and Ukraine, the conflicts immediately begin resulting in boycotts and insults.
“It does not matter who you have a conversation with; they begin to raise their voice. Many people fight and stop talking to each other because of this. Well, people are different. I try not to argue with anyone but sometimes, it is difficult to understand a different side,” the journalist said.
The War Affected Everyone
Personal relationships were also broken. During CABAR.asia expert meeting on the topic “How to Improve the Media Literacy of the Population of the Central Asian Countries?”, a director of the Modern Journalism Development Centre of the Republic of Uzbekistan NGO Saida Sulaymonova noted that the society in Uzbekistan was polarised because of the war between Russia and Ukraine.
“It all starts with the most basic social unit – the family – and ends at the state level,” she said.
Sulaymonova highlighted that the population of Uzbekistan was influenced by Russian propaganda.
“Research on the level of media literacy conducted by Internews Uzbekistan shows that the population of the country, especially in rural areas, is still influenced by Russian television,” she said.
Andijan resident Durdona Kuldasheva, who visited both Russia and Ukraine in peacetime, said that she had a conflict with her younger brother because of the war.
“My older brother’s son and wife live and work in Ukraine since his wife is Ukrainian. My younger brother works in Russia – he has been there for a year now. After the war began, my younger brother wrote me, “I will voluntarily join the army, I support Russia, I want to go and fight against Ukraine”. I replied, “Are you out of your mind? Why do you need it? Why are you getting yourself into this? If Russia wants war, let it! You are not a Russian – you are a citizen of Uzbekistan!” He answered, “You understand nothing. You are staying at home and you do not know what is going on here. We live in Russia, we see everything”. He was very rude to me,” says Kuldasheva.
She says that after this conversation, she has not spoken to her younger brother for a few months now.
“I scolded him and said, “If you go there, you are no longer my brother! Stop talking to me, I do not want to speak with you, and I do not want anything.” Since then, I have not talked to him for a few months already. I felt hurt and offended. After all, peaceful people are suffering from this war, while the leaders are staying at homes,” she said.
The war has affected the mental state of many people in Uzbekistan. Art expert Gulsanam Khalmuradova says she suffers emotionally from the fact that society has split into two parts.
“At the very beginning of the war, I read the news every day and cried. I felt suffering in my soul and body; I reacted with pain to comments that somehow justified this crime. The attitudes of people I have known for years had a particularly strong effect. That feeling of disappointment hurt me. Then, I decided to filter my Facebook friends list, to limit access, and in the end, I deleted this application,” she said.
Labour Migrants’ Families Are Affected
Many Uzbekistan citizens go to Russia and Ukraine to work. Now, due to the war, they cannot travel to any of these countries. Sanctions against Russia imposed by Western powers have affected the economy; the migrant workers and their families are the first to suffer.
According to various sources, from one to three million citizens of Uzbekistan work as labour migrants in the Russian Federation.
A student Malika Suyarova spoke about the difficulties she faced because of this war. Her mother works in Russia; she could not provide for Malika because of the ruble depreciation. For some time, Malika lived without financial assistance.
“It was very difficult during the first month. I had no money at all. I had to borrow money from relatives and tighten my belt. In addition, I was thinking about finding a job and taking an academic leave if this situation continued. However, thank God, the situation is gradually improving and everything is getting better. I hope the war will soon end forever and peace will return,” Suyarova said.
A much smaller number of Uzbekistan citizens went to Ukraine. Since the beginning of the war, Uzbekistan evacuated more than 5,000 of its citizens from combat zones in this country.
Official Position and Collection of Humanitarian Aid for Ukraine
Given the strong economic and diplomatic ties between official Tashkent and Moscow, it is noteworthy that Uzbekistan was the only Central Asian country that recognised the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
The civic activists in Uzbekistan organised a collection of humanitarian aid for Ukraine. One of them, Aziza Umarova, reported on the collected funds on her Facebook page and said that the cargo had been sent to Ukraine.
“2.3 tons of aid we collected together with 34 tons of state humanitarian aid were delivered to Katowice. From there, it will go to Ukraine. All the media have already reported on this; I can finally and officially thank everyone,” she wrote.
However, many Uzbekistan residents support Russia’s position in this war.
“Our Family Supports Russia”
However, simultaneously with condemning the war, many Uzbekistan residents support Russia’s actions.
A lecturer at the University of World Languages Damira Khushnazarova is one of those who support the position of Russia. She shared her thoughts.
“I wish this war never happened. Our family supports Russia. I feel sorry for ordinary people, both in Ukraine and Russian soldiers, who, God knows why, are dying. All my friends, with whom I spoke about this, support Russia’s position. Russia projects a powerful image on our people. It seems that Russians are closer to us than Americans or Ukrainians,” she said.
A senior lecturer at the Media and Communications Faculty Mukhayo Saidova believes that neither Russia nor Ukraine will benefit from the war.
“There is a war between Ukraine and Russia, no matter what the politicians of these countries say. This is not terrorism, this is not the military operation – this is a war where there are no winners and no losers. The people are suffering and the economies are affected not only in Ukraine and in Russia. This war brings disaster to many other countries too,” said Mukhayo Saidova.
«Do What I Say but Do Not Do What I Do” – an Uzbek Proverb
Russia actively wielded soft power in Uzbekistan. The journalists say that last year, they participated in training conducted by Russian reporters, who taught them to present truthful information.
One of the journalists, who participated in a media program to improve the skills of young and beginner journalists last May, anonymously told CABAR.asia about her impressions.
“I studied in the Russian group; our speaker was Boris Maksudov from “Russia 24” [Russian TV channel – Tr.]. I remember his first words, “A journalist must always remain neutral, cold-blooded, treat everything with an open mind. A journalist must sort everything out so that the readers themselves, not propaganda, decide what to do and how,” she said.
According to her, she still admires him; however, she noticed that his words did not match his deeds.
“You know, the Uzbeks have a proverb, “Do what I say, but do not do what I do”. The same, apparently, applies to Boris, because his actions now are different from what he taught us,” she said.
Expats and Tourists. The Situation Is Not That Bad
Another CABAR.asia source, a project manager of one of the projects in Tashkent, believes the Russo-Ukrainian war did not have a critical impact on Uzbekistan. Apart from some difficulties in the economy, this is not a big problem, especially since the tourism sphere has improved, according to him.
“I do not want to take any side because I do not know what or who is killing civilians. TV does not tell the truth. On the contrary, everything is developing here, except for some products’ supply. Many specialists and tourists are coming from Russia and Belarus,” he said.
Some citizens of Russia and Belarus change their place of residence due to Western sanctions against Russia. Uzbekistan became one of the countries where the expats went.
“Recently, I visited a hotel in Tashkent to meet a friend from abroad. The hotel was crowded. Just a month ago, this hotel’s staff was sitting around killing time. It turned out that the Russians came for three or four months,” said Mukhayo Saidova.
“I think this situation affected the composition of the population of our country. There are rumors that visitors from Russia bought the most expensive apartments in Tashkent. They, as I heard, live in almost all the houses in Sergeli [one of Tashkent districts],” said Damira Khushnazarova.