A recent incident at a school in Uzbekistan between a teacher and a sixth-grader who asked her why she didn't speak Russian in a Russian class has led to heated statements between Russian and Uzbek officials.
The incident took place at a school in the capital, Tashkent, on September 23. A female teacher in a Russian class pulled a student's ear and slapped his face after he asked her why she was not speaking Russian.
A video of the incident went viral on the Internet and sparked strong reactions from Russians on social media.
On September 25, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in an interview that Russia "has requested official explanations from the Uzbek side" regarding the incident.
"An urgent request has been sent to the Uzbek side to legally assess the material in the media and, if the case if proven, to undertake measures against the person for the cruelty imposed on the child," Zakharova said.
Alisher Qodirov, deputy chairman of the Uzbek parliament and leader of the Milliy Tiklanish (National Revival) Democratic Party, on September 26 wrote on Telegram that "it would be better for [Russia] to deal with their own affairs full of problems than to deal with our internal issues."
"The violation of rights of an Uzbek child at a school in Uzbekistan will be investigated in accordance with Uzbek laws. There is no advantage to stir up noise out of the blue," Qodirov wrote.
Although only about 2 percent of the 35 million people in Uzbekistan are ethnic Russians, the Russian language is still taught in schools across the country.
Uzbekistan and other former Soviet republics have been cautious about the Russian language in their countries after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
One of Moscow's main justifications for its aggression has been the "protection of Russian-speaking population of Ukraine" from the "Nazi government." Ukraine's government was democratically elected and does not include any far-right parties.
In early September, Qodirov proposed banning all Soviet symbols and ideology in his country in response to a court decision in the southeastern Uzbek city of Samarkand to hand a parole-like sentence to a local man after he worked with a pro-Soviet Russian group in calling for the restoration of the Soviet Union.