Aidos Sadykov Funeral in Kyiv
A small crowd of mourners gathered on Friday for the funeral of the Kazakh opposition activist and YouTuber Aidos Sadykov, who was assassinated in Kyiv, Ukraine. The killing of the 55-year-old former opposition politician and trade unionist has sent shockwaves through the community of journalists and exiles in Ukraine and the wider region.
Aidos Sadykov had been living in Ukraine with his family for the past 10 years after fleeing Kazakhstan. He had been granted political asylum in Ukraine and, together with his wife, ran a popular YouTube channel that covered events in Kazakhstan.
Tragically, Mr. Sadykov was shot outside his home last month and succumbed to his injuries earlier this week. His widow, Natalia Sadykova, who is also a journalist, publicly accused President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan for her husband’s death. In a heartfelt post on Facebook, she stated, “Aidos gave his life for Kazakhstan. He died a martyr’s death at the hands of killers. His death is on Tokayev’s conscience.”
The President of Kazakhstan has not directly responded to the accusations made by Natalia Sadykova. However, he did announce shortly after the shooting that he had instructed his officials to investigate the incident thoroughly and offered Ukraine any necessary assistance in their investigation.
| Funeral Details | |
|---|---|
| Natalia Sadykova | hugging Mustafa Dzhemilev, a Ukrainian lawmaker and former longtime leader of Crimean Tatars, at the funeral of Mr. Sadykov, her husband. |
| Credit | Brendan Hoffman for The New York Times |
