Freedom House Ukrainian authorities’ cooperation with Belarusian security services has also been a concern. According to a recent media report, Kyiv extradited 16 Belarusian citizens in 2021.34 Even long-time residents of Ukraine are at risk, especially if they are politically active, as the case of Oleksiy Bolenkov demonstrates. he had threatened national security by participating in protests “as a foreign citizen … publicly insult[ing] officers of the [enforcement] bodies and the system as a whole, effectively encroaching upon Ukraine’s national interests.” 35 A court of appeal later blocked Bolenkov’s expulsion.36 Bolenkov, who had lived in Ukraine since 2014, was threatened by the SBU with expulsion from the country in April 2021 on the grounds that he posed a “danger to national security” given his suspected connection to an anarchist group in Kyiv. He was not charged with any crimes, and SBU officials later argued that The lives of political exiles and dissidents like Zhanara Akhmetova and Oleksiy Bolenkov in Ukraine are extremely precarious. On the one hand, they are able to enjoy a reprieve from the harsh repression in their home countries. On the other hand, that reprieve is insecure and subject to revocation. freedomhouse.org 7