The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation has registered 1,600 applications for departure from Kazakhstan from Russian citizens. This was announced on January 9 by the official representative of the department, Maria Zakharova.
“As of today, a total of about 1,600 citizens have been registered who have expressed a desire to use the export planes to return to Russia,” she wrote in her Telegram channel.
Earlier that day, it was reported that three planes with Russian citizens flew from Alma-Ata to the Chkalovsky airfield near Moscow. The day before, a military transport aircraft had delivered 25 Russian citizens from Almaty to Moscow, who were in Kazakhstan on a tourist trip. The Russians arrived in Alma-Ata for the New Year holidays at one of the ski resorts.
Protests in Kazakhstan began on January 2. The protesters opposed the rise in prices for liquefied gas. The actions soon escalated into riots.
The situation has become especially aggravated in Alma-Ata. The protesters broke into the administration building, set fire to the building of the prosecutor’s office and the office of the ruling party. Radical protesters armed themselves and began looting, destroying shops, pharmacies and banks in the city.
The criminals ransacked the offices of five TV channels, tried to attack a pre-trial detention center in the city of Taldykorgan and attempted to enter the territory of a military unit in the Aktobe region.
It also became known about 18 security officials killed during the protests. Two of them were beheaded. The Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan said that the participants in the riots also attacked doctors: more than 10 doctors were injured. Also, the National Guard of the Republic reported about two dead servicemen.
The President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, noted that the seized government offices were terrorist groups. According to him, the bandits who caused the riots have undergone serious training abroad. The commandant’s office in Alma-Ata also said that the violent actions of the attackers testified to the terrorist and extremist nature of the bandit formations. The presidential administration of the country noted that among the militants operating in Alma-Ata there were snipers with special rifles.
On January 5, the President of Kazakhstan announced that he had applied to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO, which includes Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Armenia) for help in overcoming the terrorist threat. After that, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who holds the post of CSTO chairman, announced that the organization would send collective peacekeeping forces to the republic for a limited period of time to stabilize the situation.
Later, the CSTO secretariat reported that the Russian part of the peacekeeping contingent was being transferred to Kazakhstan by military transport aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces. Also, Belarusian peacekeepers arrived in Kazakhstan. Aircraft of the Aerospace Forces (VKS) of the Russian Federation delivered to Kazakhstan Armenian, Kyrgyz and Tajik soldiers from the CSTO peacekeepers. On January 9, the completion of the deployment of the peacekeeping force was announced.
Peacekeepers from Russia, together with the law enforcement agencies of Kazakhstan, took full control of the Almaty airport on January 7. The CSTO forces have also taken under protection a number of other strategic objects.
On January 8, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced a gradual improvement in the situation in Kazakhstan. In particular, they drew attention to the fact that administrative buildings in Alma-Ata have been cleared of extremists, many militants have been liquidated or detained. However, later it was reported about fighting in the suburbs of Alma-Ata and shooting in Taldykorgan.