Russian propagandist and writer Zakhar Prilepin is notorious for his support of the full range of separatism in the post-Soviet space. He began his political activity by working with "a great fan of Artsakh" Eduard Limonov. He recently made a scandalous statement suggesting that Russia should invade and occupy Uzbekistan.

Zakhar Prilepin's reason for such an invasion is the significant number of migrants coming to Russia from Uzbekistan. For the propagandist, this is "reason enough" to conquer Uzbekistan and teach Russian there.

"I am sincerely in favor of annexing these territories from which the migrant workers are coming - simply annexing them in their entirety and teaching them Russian on the spot," Prilepin commented on the issue of "possible conflict" with the migrants. According to the writer, Russia has the right to do so because of the large number of people from the former Soviet Union living on its territory.

"This will allow us to say at any moment: 'Since two million of our citizens are on your territory, we claim your territory'," he added.

In the words of a Russian official, after the "victory parade in Kyiv," the Russian Federation can easily invade Uzbekistan if no one can oppose it.

Zakhar Prilepin is currently working as a propagandist from the "near-Kremlin pool". He has officially held the position of deputy commander of the special purpose regiment "Oplot" of the Russian National Guard since 14 August 2023, so his words should be taken seriously. They mean one thing: the Kremlin is "testing" public opinion about new invasions in other post-Soviet countries after the war in Ukraine is "frozen".

Many people are talking about the fact that it will be 'frozen' in Ukraine. As a result, the Kremlin could release "military resources" for new operations. Analysts are well aware of the possible directions of these operations - the South Caucasus and Central Asia.

To assess the public's reaction to the Kremlin's new military adventures, the Kremlin, at the initial stage, expresses them through propagandists who have a reputation as "clowns". Zakhar Prilepin is one of them. He is remembered for his support of the so-called DNR and LNR separatists in eastern Ukraine and was an ardent supporter of Russia's direct military aggression against that country.

The most interesting thing is that since around 2021, Zakhar Prilepin has been "linking" support for the DNR and LNR separatists with support for the Artsakh separatists (as has another, more senior Kremlin propagandist, Margarita Simonyan). Thus, on 18 January 2021, commenting on the prospect of the West tightening anti-Russian sanctions in connection with the arrest of Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny and the negative reaction on his Telegram channel, he wrote the following:

"But if our state doesn't give a damn about anything and is so independent, let it recognize and accept the DNR, LNR, and at the same time (at will and by referendum) "Artsakh" with Transnistria, and someone else if they ask. Then it will be the highest level of apathy. And it is too much for the whole country to get sanctions for a third party. It's better to get sanctions for five million men and women at once. It is not a sin to suffer for it.”

That same year, after Nikol Pashinyan's party was re-elected in Armenia despite its defeat in the Second Karabakh War, Zakhar Prilepin wrote the following:

"A new trouble and war may come to Armenia, God forgive me. I am not sure if all of Armenia will fit into the American embassy on that terrible day, fleeing from another "genocide". Nations, like individuals, fall into recklessness, madness, and even suicide. Who will forbid it? No one will forbid it. Everyone is free. It hurts a little for those Russians who immediately rushed to fight, to work, to sing - to help "Artsakh", which was perceived here as a part of Armenia. A kind of shameful, sad history is taking place on Armenian soil. It is as if in Russia they were electing and electing Gorbachev to power".

This means that even if the Kremlin had decided to overthrow Pashinyan militarily and "come to the aid" of the separatist "Artsakh", as the Russian Hay lobby wanted, Zakhar Prilepin would have been among the first propagandists to call for "saving the Armenians of Artsakh from genocide".

But in the end, the Russian authorities decided to "save" the separatists of the "DNR" and "LNR" and invaded Ukraine. During this time, Azerbaijan finally liquidated "Artsakh" and the separatists left the territory of Azerbaijan.

There seems to be no one left to "save" in Artsakh. But there are still revanchists, both in the Republic of Armenia and in the Russian Federation, who are close to the Kremlin. They do not lose hope that Russia, as soon as it has the means, will militarily "break the corridor" to Armenia via Georgia and bring them, the revanchists, to power there. At the same time, "solving the problem of the middle corridor" by cutting the east-west corridor from China to Europe through Georgia. And then, of course, according to their plans, the Russian Federation will conquer "Artsakh" for the Hayes.

However, the central corridor also runs through the countries of Central Asia, through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. And just as the Russian Federation cannot subjugate Armenia without conquering Georgia, it is impossible to conquer Uzbekistan without conquering Kazakhstan.

Zakhar Prilepin, by talking about plans to "conquer" countries that do not border on Russia and justifying them by a large number of migrants from these countries to Russia, has turned on the Kremlin's propaganda for vatniks obsessives and information preparation for such military adventures of Russia's neo-imperialists.

Grigol Giorgadze