Oksana Grinchuk Resurfaces: "I Realized I Wouldn’t Be Allowed Out of Aktau Alive"

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Previously reported: Disappearance in Aktau: "Amanat" Union lawyer vanishes after meeting with the KNB.

After 24 hours of tense silence and official statements regarding a potential kidnapping, lawyer Oksana Grinchuk has made contact. Her story reads like a high-stakes thriller, but for Oksana, the events of the night between March 27 and 28 were a reality where her life was on the line. As it turns out, the human rights activist made an emergency escape to survive an assassination plot—one she believes was allegedly organized by associates of Alibek Norbekov, a figure Oksana claims "everyone in Aktau knows."

The Trap at the Abandoned Rig

The pressure began even before her arrival in the region. A woman named Zhenis, an activist from MAEK, persistently urged the lawyer to come to Aktau under the pretext of providing information about a takeover of the local seaport. Upon arrival, Oksana realized the situation at the port was stable and that Zhenis’s actions appeared to be "bait."

The climax occurred when Zhenis suggested driving out to a remote oil rig to meet with workers.

"I double-checked the information through my own channels. It turned out there were no people at that rig at all—it was abandoned. I was told plainly: 'Don't even think about going; they are setting you up, they want to teach you a lesson through violence,'" Oksana shares.

An Overheard Sentence: "A Fatal Traffic Accident"

Deciding not to tempt fate, Oksana purchased a ticket for a 05:30 AM flight to Astana. Around 11:00 PM, Zhenis called her again. After the conversation, the caller mistakenly failed to hang up, and Oksana became an unwitting witness to a discussion about her own liquidation. A man’s voice next to Zhenis clearly articulated the plan:

"The airport highway, a fatal accident... three cars should collide."

These words became the point of no return for the lawyer.

"I say: thank Allah I heard those words!" Oksana recalls. "At that moment, I realized I couldn't go to the airport. This wasn't just danger; it was a deliberate intent to cause a catastrophe, possibly involving a heavy truck. I sat there thinking: what do I do? My life was solely in my own hands."

Escaping by Rope: Going Dark

The situation at her residence was critical: a man who had previously been tailing Oksana was stationed in the hallway, openly making threatening gestures. Finding herself trapped in a third-floor apartment, Grinchuk decided to exit through the window.

• Disguise: She packed only a small bag with essentials, leaving her main luggage in the room to create the illusion of her presence for those watching.
• The Escape: Finding a construction rope in a closet, Oksana lowered herself down. "It wasn't that high, but it was the only way past the man in the stairwell," she explains.
• Security: Immediately after reaching the ground, she switched off all her phones to avoid GPS tracking.

After reaching a nearby shop, she asked a clerk to call a car via InDriver and immediately fled the city.

2,000 Kilometers Through the Steppe

The route to the capital turned into a complex operation to cover her tracks. To avoid being intercepted on the main highways, Oksana traveled to Astana "through the wilderness" via a circuitous path: Atyrau – Aktobe – Kostanay.

She only turned her phone back on as she approached Astana. She describes her actions as the only possible means of self-preservation:

"I am neither reckless nor a fool. The circumstances were simply such that I was forced to take measures to ensure my own safety. When you are alone in the steppe, you have no one to rely on and no one to turn to," she said.

Currently, Oksana Grinchuk is in a safe location. She maintains that her emergency flight was dictated by a very real threat of physical elimination.