Sher Khashimov
@skhashimov.bsky.social
Freelance journalist and researcher covering press freedom, regional conflicts, migration, and digital politics in Eurasia.
sherkhashimov.com
sherkhashimov.com
Dushanbe these days is sadly filled with smog. But the rare clear days still reveal the stunning views that I grew up seeing literally out of my bedroom windows. Just 10 years ago, before the current senseless urban redevelopment, this is what one saw from anywhere in my hometown.
December 29, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Dushanbe these days is sadly filled with smog. But the rare clear days still reveal the stunning views that I grew up seeing literally out of my bedroom windows. Just 10 years ago, before the current senseless urban redevelopment, this is what one saw from anywhere in my hometown.
Reposted by Sher Khashimov
Working with local journalists & foreign correspondents to tell underreported stories was undoubtedly the best part about editing The Beet. With the newsletter pausing publication, writing this best of 2025 list was bittersweet. meduza.io/en/feature/2... @meduza.io
The Beet’s top five stories of 2025 From hardened borders to fading factories, these dispatches trace how history, identity, and power shape everyday life across Eastern Europe and Central Asia — Medu...
For the past three years, The Beet newsletter has supplemented Meduza’s regular coverage with original reporting from Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. When we launched this ...
meduza.io
December 29, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Working with local journalists & foreign correspondents to tell underreported stories was undoubtedly the best part about editing The Beet. With the newsletter pausing publication, writing this best of 2025 list was bittersweet. meduza.io/en/feature/2... @meduza.io
Sadly, with The Calvert Journal gone and @meduza.io’s The Beet pausing its work in 2026, the space to cover underreported and unusual stories about Central Asia has shrunk to essentially nothing. It’s been an honor and a pleasure to work with @eilishhart.bsky.social. Support independent journalism!
December 19, 2025 at 2:24 AM
Sadly, with The Calvert Journal gone and @meduza.io’s The Beet pausing its work in 2026, the space to cover underreported and unusual stories about Central Asia has shrunk to essentially nothing. It’s been an honor and a pleasure to work with @eilishhart.bsky.social. Support independent journalism!
Reposted by Sher Khashimov
Out on the shelves and online today: my report for The Economist on how #Kyrgyzstan is backsliding into authoritarianism under Sadyr Japarov, who came to power in a popular revolution but now quashes dissent
www.economist.com/asia/2025/12...
www.economist.com/asia/2025/12...
Kyrgyzstan is losing its status as Central Asia’s only democracy
The president is muffling the opposition and consolidating power
www.economist.com
December 5, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Out on the shelves and online today: my report for The Economist on how #Kyrgyzstan is backsliding into authoritarianism under Sadyr Japarov, who came to power in a popular revolution but now quashes dissent
www.economist.com/asia/2025/12...
www.economist.com/asia/2025/12...
Reposted by Sher Khashimov
In Tajikistan’s Siyoma Valley, watchman Ivan Bragin bears witness to the local consequences of the global climate crisis. For The Beet, @skhashimov.bsky.social tells his fascinating story. meduza.io/en/feature/2...
The watchman in the valley What the sole resident of Tajikistan’s breathtaking Siyoma gorge can tell us about climate change — Meduza
“The first time I went on a long group hike was in the early 1980s when I was a university student,” says Bakhtiyor Sharipov. “The Tajik mountains have been a part of me ever since.”
meduza.io
November 7, 2025 at 4:39 PM
In Tajikistan’s Siyoma Valley, watchman Ivan Bragin bears witness to the local consequences of the global climate crisis. For The Beet, @skhashimov.bsky.social tells his fascinating story. meduza.io/en/feature/2...
Reposted by Sher Khashimov
When @skhashimov.bsky.social pitched this story, I jumped at the chance to commission it for The Beet. Ivan Bragin’s fascinating life as the lone resident of Tajikistan’s Siyoma Valley offers us a window into the local consequences of a global issue. Read it now! meduza.io/en/feature/2...
The watchman in the valley What the sole resident of Tajikistan’s breathtaking Siyoma gorge can tell us about climate change — Meduza
“The first time I went on a long group hike was in the early 1980s when I was a university student,” says Bakhtiyor Sharipov. “The Tajik mountains have been a part of me ever since.”
meduza.io
November 7, 2025 at 3:34 PM
When @skhashimov.bsky.social pitched this story, I jumped at the chance to commission it for The Beet. Ivan Bragin’s fascinating life as the lone resident of Tajikistan’s Siyoma Valley offers us a window into the local consequences of a global issue. Read it now! meduza.io/en/feature/2...
Tajikistan's Siyoma Valley is slowly withering away. Climate change, overgrazing, pollution are threatening the valley's fragile ecosystem. I've toured the valley many times and spoke to its sole resident about what these changes mean for the rest of Central Asia.
meduza.io/en/feature/2...
meduza.io/en/feature/2...
The watchman in the valley What the sole resident of Tajikistan’s breathtaking Siyoma gorge can tell us about climate change — Meduza
“The first time I went on a long group hike was in the early 1980s when I was a university student,” says Bakhtiyor Sharipov. “The Tajik mountains have been a part of me ever since.”
meduza.io
November 7, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Tajikistan's Siyoma Valley is slowly withering away. Climate change, overgrazing, pollution are threatening the valley's fragile ecosystem. I've toured the valley many times and spoke to its sole resident about what these changes mean for the rest of Central Asia.
meduza.io/en/feature/2...
meduza.io/en/feature/2...
Reposted by Sher Khashimov
Kyrgyzstan requested a Red Notice for Rinat Tuhvatshin, co-founder of Kloop, in an apparent attempt to silence him abroad. The government has been cracking down on all independent media critical of its actions.
www.occrp.org/en/news/inte...
www.occrp.org/en/news/inte...
Interpol Rejects Kyrgyzstan’s Request for a Warrant against Independent Media Co-Founder
Kyrgyzstan requested a Red Notice for Rinat Tuhvatshin, co-founder of Kloop, in an apparent attempt to silence him abroad. The government has been cracking down on all independent media critical of its...
www.occrp.org
October 31, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Kyrgyzstan requested a Red Notice for Rinat Tuhvatshin, co-founder of Kloop, in an apparent attempt to silence him abroad. The government has been cracking down on all independent media critical of its actions.
www.occrp.org/en/news/inte...
www.occrp.org/en/news/inte...
Reposted by Sher Khashimov
AI browsers like OpenAI's Atlas and Perplexity's Comet have ways of getting around paywalls and crawler restrictions to access publisher content. And sometimes, if they can't access an article, they'll just recreate it using 'digital breadcrumbs'
How AI Browsers Sneak Past Blockers and Paywalls, by Aisvarya Chandrasekar and Klaudia Jaźwińska of the @towcenter.bsky.social. www.cjr.org/analysis/how...
How AI browsers sneak past blockers and paywalls.
OpenAI’s Atlas and Perplexity’s Comet present a new challenge for media companies that want to limit AI access.
www.cjr.org
October 30, 2025 at 2:07 PM
AI browsers like OpenAI's Atlas and Perplexity's Comet have ways of getting around paywalls and crawler restrictions to access publisher content. And sometimes, if they can't access an article, they'll just recreate it using 'digital breadcrumbs'
Reposted by Sher Khashimov
A court in Kyrgyzstan declared investigative media outlets "extremist," banned them from publishing, and made distribution of their work illegal.
Kyrgyzstan declares investigative outlets Kloop and Temirov Live ‘extremist’ - Committee to Protect Journalists
New York, October 28, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for the reversal of an October 27 court decision in Kyrgyzstan declaring the publications of investigative outlets Temirov Live an...
cpj.org
October 29, 2025 at 8:52 PM
A court in Kyrgyzstan declared investigative media outlets "extremist," banned them from publishing, and made distribution of their work illegal.
Reposted by Sher Khashimov
Excited for my first byline in @newlinesmag.bsky.social, reported with support from the Overseas Press Club Foundation!
“Far from belonging to the distant past, the Aral Sea is the site of countless choices in our present: what kinds of economies we prioritize, what forms of nature we value and what we want our future to look like.”
@dkruzman.bsky.social reports
@dkruzman.bsky.social reports
Environmental Disaster and Hopeful Revival in Central Asia
From the United States to Jordan, lakes are shrinking, but the history of the Aral Sea may offer lessons for the future
newlinesmag.com
October 17, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Excited for my first byline in @newlinesmag.bsky.social, reported with support from the Overseas Press Club Foundation!
Reposted by Sher Khashimov
Three independent news outlets in Kyrgyzstan — including OCCRP member center Kloop — have been branded “extremist organizations,” with a court banning all their online and social media activity.
www.occrp.org/en/news/kyrg...
www.occrp.org/en/news/kyrg...
Kyrgyzstan Court Brands Independent Media ‘Extremist’ in Latest Press Freedom Crackdown
Three independent news outlets in Kyrgyzstan — including OCCRP member center Kloop — have been branded “extremist organizations,” with a court banning all their online and social media activity.
www.occrp.org
October 28, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Three independent news outlets in Kyrgyzstan — including OCCRP member center Kloop — have been branded “extremist organizations,” with a court banning all their online and social media activity.
www.occrp.org/en/news/kyrg...
www.occrp.org/en/news/kyrg...
Tajikistan has arguably the weakest army in the CIS while Russia is a nuclear power with a large foreign base in Dushanbe. An equivalent of ~50% of Tajikistan’s GDP is remittances from Russia and the country owes a lot of money to China, Russia’s ally. Unrealistic 🤷♂️
www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/202...
www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/202...
EU reproaches Tajikistan for not arresting Putin
www.pravda.com.ua
October 13, 2025 at 4:35 AM
Tajikistan has arguably the weakest army in the CIS while Russia is a nuclear power with a large foreign base in Dushanbe. An equivalent of ~50% of Tajikistan’s GDP is remittances from Russia and the country owes a lot of money to China, Russia’s ally. Unrealistic 🤷♂️
www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/202...
www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/202...
Reposted by Sher Khashimov
The current US administration is the easiest one so far for Central Asia to work with. Business interests can be used to attract attention & there's no need for demonstrative distancing from Russia or commitment to democratic reforms. @ceip-politika.bsky.social carnegieendowment.org/russia-euras...
Why Is Central Asia Buying Trump’s Attention?
The current U.S. administration is the easiest one so far for Central Asia to work with. Business interests can be used to attract Washington’s attention, and there is no longer any need for demonstra...
carnegieendowment.org
October 11, 2025 at 12:31 PM
The current US administration is the easiest one so far for Central Asia to work with. Business interests can be used to attract attention & there's no need for demonstrative distancing from Russia or commitment to democratic reforms. @ceip-politika.bsky.social carnegieendowment.org/russia-euras...
Investigative journalism in Asia continues to do important work despite a challenging press freedom environment. For @gijn.org, I spoke to journalists in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Bangladesh about their experiences, challenges, and the value of cross-border collaboration.
gijn.org/stories/asia...
gijn.org/stories/asia...
State-Connected Oligarchs and Looted Public Funds: Tracking Illicit Money Across Asia
In this installment of GIJN's Asia Focus project, we look at how investigative journalists across the continent are exposing kleptocracy and documenting official corruption.
gijn.org
October 7, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Investigative journalism in Asia continues to do important work despite a challenging press freedom environment. For @gijn.org, I spoke to journalists in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Bangladesh about their experiences, challenges, and the value of cross-border collaboration.
gijn.org/stories/asia...
gijn.org/stories/asia...
Reposted by Sher Khashimov
In a dispatch from Tashkent, The Beet explores the debates about language, trust, and technology shaping Wikipedia’s development in Central Asia (and beyond) in the age of AI. meduza.io/en/feature/2... @meduza.io
‘An unusual hobby’ How Central Asian Wikipedians are closing the local-language knowledge gap in the age of AI — Meduza
In April 2025, the volunteer editors and administrators behind the Central Asian editions of Wikipedia held their first ever gathering IRL (in real life). Founded along linguistic rather than nation-s...
meduza.io
August 8, 2025 at 12:51 PM
In a dispatch from Tashkent, The Beet explores the debates about language, trust, and technology shaping Wikipedia’s development in Central Asia (and beyond) in the age of AI. meduza.io/en/feature/2... @meduza.io
Reposted by Sher Khashimov
New pub: Central Asian migrants at the US-Mexico border: An exploration of causes
Great piece analyzing spike in Central Asian migrants in 2021-2022. journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Great piece analyzing spike in Central Asian migrants in 2021-2022. journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com
July 3, 2025 at 5:35 PM
New pub: Central Asian migrants at the US-Mexico border: An exploration of causes
Great piece analyzing spike in Central Asian migrants in 2021-2022. journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Great piece analyzing spike in Central Asian migrants in 2021-2022. journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Reposted by Sher Khashimov
Lithuania's migration authorities are looking to close their visa center in Dushanbe due to the high number of visa overstays by Tajik citizens www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-e...
Lithuania’s Migration Dept wants visa centre in Tajikistan shut down due to overstays
Lithuania’s Migration Department has proposed shutting down an external visa service centre in Tajikistan that processes...
www.lrt.lt
June 28, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Lithuania's migration authorities are looking to close their visa center in Dushanbe due to the high number of visa overstays by Tajik citizens www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-e...
Reposted by Sher Khashimov
An ex-employee of Prigozhin’s “troll factory,” a graduate student who was near the fighting and a soldier from Rostov-on-Don shared their memories of living through the mutiny with MT.
‘A Turning Point That Never Happened’: Eyewitnesses Recall the Wagner Mercenary Mutiny 2 Years Later - The Moscow Times
A former employee of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s “troll factory,” a graduate student who found himself near the fighting and a soldier from Rostov-on-Don, the city occupied by the rebels. Two years after Wag...
www.themoscowtimes.com
June 26, 2025 at 2:17 PM
An ex-employee of Prigozhin’s “troll factory,” a graduate student who was near the fighting and a soldier from Rostov-on-Don shared their memories of living through the mutiny with MT.
Reposted by Sher Khashimov
My piece for @carnegieendowment.org on the impact of US and Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear program, including the damage, long-term pathways to reconstitution, internal debates in Iran, and the future of the IAEA carnegieendowment.org/emissary/202...
The Most Significant Long-Term Consequence of the U.S. Strikes on Iran
It’s not the damage to Fordow or Natanz.
carnegieendowment.org
June 26, 2025 at 8:02 PM
My piece for @carnegieendowment.org on the impact of US and Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear program, including the damage, long-term pathways to reconstitution, internal debates in Iran, and the future of the IAEA carnegieendowment.org/emissary/202...
Reposted by Sher Khashimov
This is devastating.
How much my colleagues and so many others have been fighting to prevent this.
#KyrgyzParliament passed the media law in two readings at once, making changes at the very last minute. Last hope has failed
www.reuters.com/business/med...
How much my colleagues and so many others have been fighting to prevent this.
#KyrgyzParliament passed the media law in two readings at once, making changes at the very last minute. Last hope has failed
www.reuters.com/business/med...
Kyrgyz parliament backs new state controls on media outlets
Kyrgyzstan's parliament has approved a bill that tightens state controls over media outlets, in what critics say is a blow to press freedom in a country once seen as more open than other Central Asian nations.
www.reuters.com
June 26, 2025 at 11:34 AM
This is devastating.
How much my colleagues and so many others have been fighting to prevent this.
#KyrgyzParliament passed the media law in two readings at once, making changes at the very last minute. Last hope has failed
www.reuters.com/business/med...
How much my colleagues and so many others have been fighting to prevent this.
#KyrgyzParliament passed the media law in two readings at once, making changes at the very last minute. Last hope has failed
www.reuters.com/business/med...
Reposted by Sher Khashimov
I can’t help but assume this includes programs for studying Central Asian languages
This is very, very bad.
A new state law will likely force the closure of hundreds of low-enrollment programs at Indiana University. The cutoff is 15 graduates/year for undergrad majors, 7 for Masters programs, and 3 for PhD programs, averaged over 3 years.
wfiunews.wordpress.com/2025/06/24/h...
A new state law will likely force the closure of hundreds of low-enrollment programs at Indiana University. The cutoff is 15 graduates/year for undergrad majors, 7 for Masters programs, and 3 for PhD programs, averaged over 3 years.
wfiunews.wordpress.com/2025/06/24/h...
Hundreds of IU degree programs at risk of disappearing
By Ethan Sandweiss Indiana University could lose hundreds of degree programs as part of compliance with an array of new laws affecting higher education that passed at the 11th hour of the legislati…
wfiunews.wordpress.com
June 24, 2025 at 11:37 PM
I can’t help but assume this includes programs for studying Central Asian languages
Reposted by Sher Khashimov
New legislation in Russia will require public schools to share the personal data of all immigrant children with the police
This is combined with other legislation that limits access of immigrant children to public education
www.currenttime.tv/a/33448907.h...
This is combined with other legislation that limits access of immigrant children to public education
www.currenttime.tv/a/33448907.h...
К чему может привести закон об обмене информацией между школами и МВД о детях иностранцев
Госдума России в первом чтении приняли законопроект, который обязывает школы передавать МВД всю информацию о детях мигрантов. По словам авторов, этот документ поможет бороться с мигрантами, у которых ...
www.currenttime.tv
June 24, 2025 at 5:46 PM
New legislation in Russia will require public schools to share the personal data of all immigrant children with the police
This is combined with other legislation that limits access of immigrant children to public education
www.currenttime.tv/a/33448907.h...
This is combined with other legislation that limits access of immigrant children to public education
www.currenttime.tv/a/33448907.h...
Reposted by Sher Khashimov
#Kyrgyzstan: Although 15 years have passed since the deadly ethnic clashes in the south of Kyrgyzstan, wounds still have not healed and new ones added with ongoing demolitions in Osh. I write about it in my oped here: thediplomat.com/2025/06/15-y...
15 Years On, Ethnic Uzbeks Sill Face Bias in Kyrgyzstan
Several ethnic Uzbeks from Osh said that the 2010 trauma continues to inform their daily lives and that the government’s efforts have largely been ineffective.
thediplomat.com
June 23, 2025 at 4:59 AM
#Kyrgyzstan: Although 15 years have passed since the deadly ethnic clashes in the south of Kyrgyzstan, wounds still have not healed and new ones added with ongoing demolitions in Osh. I write about it in my oped here: thediplomat.com/2025/06/15-y...
Reposted by Sher Khashimov
Temirlan Yensebek, who used to run a satirical news channel called Qaznews24 (think of it as Kazakhstan's The Onion), has been designated an extremist in Kazakhstan. He's banned from using banking, owning real estate, or being officially employed
orda.kz/jekstremist-...
orda.kz/jekstremist-...
«Экстремист» по госбазе: почему блокируют Qaznews24 и как живёт Темирлан Енсебек после приговора
Основатель и экс-автор сатирического инстаграм-паблика, оказался в списке лиц, финансирующих экстремизм.
orda.kz
June 22, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Temirlan Yensebek, who used to run a satirical news channel called Qaznews24 (think of it as Kazakhstan's The Onion), has been designated an extremist in Kazakhstan. He's banned from using banking, owning real estate, or being officially employed
orda.kz/jekstremist-...
orda.kz/jekstremist-...