 Migrants with citizenship are not allowed to leave Russia. Russia involves migrants in military operations in Ukraine. For example, fear of a fresh military mobilization by Moscow to support its war in Ukraine has prompted many Kyrgyz workers in Russia to return to their home country. But some of the workers who have got Russian passports and are eligible for the military draft say they have been prevented from leaving Russia in recent weeks. Bekbolat, a Kyrgyz man who became a Russian citizen several years ago, said he was stopped by Russian border guards on December 22, 2022 when he tried to cross into Kazakhstan en route to Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. Russian border guards explained to me quite politely that you are included in a mobilization list. This is the law and you have no right to go abroad until February 12. Bekbolat told Kyrgyz Service of Radio Liberty without elaborating on why the February date was given. The Moscow-based worker who didn't want to give his full name doesn't rule out that he will be forced to go to fight in Ukraine for Russian forces that launched a full-scale invasion on February 24. Bekbolat said some of his Kyrgyz acquaintances, also naturalized Russian citizens, had received summons for recruitment centers after Moscow announced a military mobilization on September 21, 2022. According to Bekbolat, several Kyrgyz men close to 60 years old were sent to Ukraine despite their age. Bekbolat said he had been summoned to his local recruitment office in Moscow recently but didn't give an exact date. He said he was released after an interview and with a warning, desertion from the armed forces would be strongly punished. They made it very clear. They told me any Russian citizen who left Russia after the September 2022 mobilization and those who are leaving now would face severe consequences. Bekbolat said Moscow has denied it is planning another military draft but intelligence officials and experts in Ukraine and Russia have predicted that another call-up could happen soon. It has sparked anxiety among Central Asians in Russia, both Russian passport holders and those who live and work there with temporary residency permits. Adding to their fears, the chief of Russia's investigative committee, Alexander Bastrykin, recently said neutralized citizens must participate in Moscow's war in Ukraine. In an interview to Russian media, Bastrykin said some 550,000 people from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have obtained Russian passports in the past five years. In the first half of 2022 alone, more than 60,000 adults from these three countries received Russian citizenship, he said. They now have an obligation to defend the country, Bastrykin added. He also said Russia must offer incentives such as a simplified Russian citizenship procedure to other migrants to attract them to take part in what Moscow calls a special military operation in Ukraine. There have been many reports that non-citizen migrants and even prisoners from Central Asia were sent to Ukraine. Some to fight among the Russian forces as contractors, others to workers' drivers or builders in Russian-occupied territories. Their number is not known. Russia hosts millions of migrant workers from Central Asia. Governments around the region have warned their citizens against taking part in foreign military conflicts.