Polyommatus avinovi (Stshetkin, 1980), an enigmatic taxon from Tajikistan has been considered in the literature either as a member of the genus Polyonimatus, or a taxon belonging to the genus Rimisia. None of the conclusions on taxonomy and nomenclature of P. avinovi were supported by molecular or cytological data, therefore the problem of identity and phylogenetic position of this taxon has remained unsolved. Here we use the barcoding fragment of the COIgene as a molecular marker to demonstrate that none of these hypotheses are true. Phylogenetic analysis revealed P. avinovi to be strongly differentiated from both Polyommatus and Rimisia. Instead, it formed a separated, well supported monophyletic clade within the genus Afarsia Korb & Bolshakov, 2011. Thus, we propose the following new combinations for this butterfly: Afarsia avinovi comb. nov. and Afarsia avinovi dangara comb. nov.