World
The Armenian eco-activist and his family were deprived of Russian citizenship
The Moscow District Court deprived the father and two brothers of Russian citizenship. The court denied Arshak Makichyan Russian citizenship based on "knowingly false information." 2002 the prosecutor's office also demanded to deprive the Makichyans of their property rights, but the court refused.
According to Makichyan, neither he nor his two brothers have citizenship in another country. The activist's father had Armenian citizenship but renounced it when he received Russian citizenship.
Makichyan said he started receiving threats to deprive him of his citizenship when he planned to run in the Russian State Duma elections in 2021. The Yabloko party, which was supposed to nominate him, eventually refused. However, Makichyan was already popular on social networks at the beginning of the campaign and could recruit volunteers for the pre-election headquarters. Later, the young man continued to do what he considered essential: to participate in actions against environmental policy changes, the Russian oil embargo, and the war with Ukraine.
