The West has criticised President Islam Karimov for using indiscriminate force to quash a revolt in the town of Andizhan in May. But Moscow, keen to strengthen its position in the ex-Soviet world, has defended Karimov's actions.
Nodira Khidayatova, one of the leaders of Uzbekistan's Sunshine Coalition, said Russia's unequivocal backing offered Karimov's government a free hand in his bid to suppress the already fragmented opposition movement.
"I wouldn't say that Uzbekistan's fate is in Russia's hands ... but Russia has a lot of influence on Uzbekistan," she told reporters in Moscow nearly two weeks after the head of Sunshine Coalition, Sanjar Umarov, was arrested and jailed in Tashkent.
"The Russian government is capable of doing quite a lot to stop the suffering of the Uzbek people, and the Uzbek people will never forget that."
At the same time Khidayatova, who left Tashkent shortly after Umarov was arrested and her office searched by security forces, made it clear that her party did not aim to topple Karimov or stage a popular revolt.
Angered by Western criticism, Uzbekistan, formerly a close ally in Washington's war on terror, gave US troops six months to dismantle its airbase and leave.
Russia did not question the official line that troops in Andizhan were acting against Islamic extremists.
Karimov, whose government had poor relations with Moscow before the Andizhan events, has since softened his stance towards Uzbekistan's former Soviet overlord.
Khidayatova said she was in Moscow to set up meetings with Russian leaders, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, to convey her movement's message.
Russia's Foreign Ministry declined to comment on her remarks. A source in the ministry said separately that Lavrov had received no request from Khidayatova for a formal meeting.
Witnesses in Andizhan on May 13, including a Reuters reporter, said they saw troops open fire on a large crowd of unarmed protesters, including women and children. Other witnesses later estimated hundreds had been killed, prompting criticism from the United States and sanctions by the European Union.
The Sunshine Coalition has said the arrest of Umarov - an Uzbek businessman with interests in the cotton and oil sectors - came after he had written a letter appealing for help to Lavrov, who visited Tashkent in October.
"When Mr Lavrov was in Uzbekistan, he said that the most important thing for Russia was security and stability in Uzbekistan. But at the moment, security and stability in Uzbekistan are under threat," Khidayatova said.