In the political talk show “Meeting Place” on NTV, one of the “experts” - Russian historian, candidate of sciences Mikhail Smolin - said that there have never been any Kazakhs, Azerbaijanis or Uzbeks, and “Lenin came up with all this in 1918” .

“There were no Kazakhs before the revolution. They were simply pulled out of the RSFSR. At that time, decisions on the formation of nations were made so voluntarily. And there were never any Uzbeks either. And then they were created. Or who are Azerbaijanis? There is no such nationality,” said the “expert.”

It is noteworthy that earlier the Russian writer, member of the A Just Russia party Zakhar Prilepin proposed annexing Uzbekistan and other neighboring countries to the Russian Federation under the pretext that many immigrants from the countries of the former USSR live on its territory. All documents on the collapse of the union, according to him, must be declared invalid.

After such a provocative statement, the media and individual public figures of Uzbekistan began to share their opinions. Thus, blogger and civil activist Islam Caparzo published a video message saying: “We will not allow anyone to “capture” us. If necessary, we will defend independence with weapons.”