This paper will examine one of the curious and non-obvious episodes of the reflection of Russia's imperial policy in Nikolai Leskov's classical text. In the finale of Leskov's story "The Enchanted Wanderer," its protagonist, Ivan Flyagin, informs his audience that "soon it will be necessary to fight" and that he will go to war. As we will demonstrate in the paper, the time of action of the story unfolds in the summer of 1872. At this time, Russia was not conducting active military operations in Europe but continued its expansion in Central Asia. All major Russian newspapers were constantly informed about events in Turkmenistan, including the newspaper "Russky Mir," headed by General Chernyaev, who had actively participated in the conquest of Central Asia. Leskov cooperated with this newspaper and eventually published his novella in it. We will discuss Leskov's story in the current political context and consider how the Russian conquest of Central Asia is reflected in "The Enchanted Wanderer".
