A side-effect of Russian aggression in Ukraine seems to be a diminished ability on the Kremlin’s part to bully other formerly Soviet states. A recent spat between Russia and Uzbekistan that ended with Tashkent ignoring Moscow’s protests underscores the erosion of Russia’s coercive powers.

The trigger for the spike in Uzbek-Russian tension was a video that went viral on social media in late September, in which a teacher at a Tashkent school at which Russian is the primary language of instruction physically abuses a student after the pupil asked the instructor to speak in Russian, instead of Uzbek.

Russian media was quick to portray the incident as a broad attack on Russian speakers, and an example of the widespread discrimination that Russians endure in Uzbekistan. (The boy who was assaulted was an ethnic Tatar). Before long, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova demanded an explanation from Uzbek authorities, claiming that “In the friendly relations of strategic partnership and alliance between the two states, there is no, and cannot be, place for any hostility, especially when it concerns language.”

Andrei Klimov, the deputy chairman of Russia’s Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, went so far as to warn Uzbekistan that it could share the same fate as Ukraine if it didn’t show more respect for Russian-speakers. Meanwhile, a top official in Russia’s foreign development agency, Rossotrudnichestvo, challenged Uzbekistan, saying Tashkent “has a choice: be a civilized state [and punish the perpetrator] or be a primitive/Neanderthal state.”

Even Russia’s presidential commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for her role in the kidnapping of Ukrainian children to Russify them, got involved, reaching out to her Uzbek counterpart. “Persons who allow improper treatment of children in educational institutions should not only be dismissed from their positions, but also held accountable in accordance with the law,” the RASPI news service quoted Lvova-Belova as saying.

Ultimately, the dispute reached the halls of the United Nations, as the Uzbek and Russian foreign ministers met of the sidelines of the general assembly session to discuss the matter. Uzbek Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov did not sound a conciliatory note when describing the meeting in a Telegram post. He stressed “the importance of the adherence to the principle of non-interference in each other’s internal affairs in order to strengthen mutual trust.” 

In Tashkent, all the Russian shouts, scolding and bluster fell on deaf ears. The highest-ranking Uzbek official to respond to Russia’s harangues was Alisher Kadyrov, a prominent MP, who basically called Russian officials out as hypocrites, saying Russia must “focus on its own affairs that are full of trouble.” Uzbeks and other citizens of Central Asian states living in Russia face widespread and systematic discrimination, observers in Tashkent and elsewhere are quick to point out.

The teacher, Ozoda Ravshanova, who provoked the diplomatic row with her abusive behavior, did not go unpunished. According to various media accounts, Rovshanova was involved in a separate incident at her own daughter’s school in which she reportedly assaulted that school’s deputy principal and subsequently physically resisted efforts by police to take her into custody. For this collective assault spree, she was fired from her teaching post and got off with a relatively light punishment of seven days of administrative detention for “petty hooliganism” and a fine of about $800, far lower than the potential maximum penalties.