Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova recalled that the peacekeeping forces of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) were sent to Kazakhstan at the request of the republic's authorities, and this decision was made collectively.
"We are talking about the collective peacekeeping forces of the CSTO. The decision was made collectively in response to the request of the legitimate authorities of Kazakhstan," she added.
On January 2, crowds took to the streets in the cities of Zhanaozen and Aktau in the Mangystau Region, in southwestern Kazakhstan, protesting against high fuel prices.
Two days later, the protests engulfed Almaty, in the country’s southeast, where the police used flashbangs to disperse the crowd, as well as other cities, including Atyrau, Aktobe (in the west), Uralsk (in the northwest), Taraz, Shymkent, Kyzylorda (in the south), Karaganda (in the northeast) and even Kazakhstan’s capital Nur-Sultan.
The president imposed a two-week state of emergency in the Mangystau Region and in the Almaty Region, as well as the republic’s largest city of Almaty and the capital Nur-Sultan. On January 5, the head of the state also accepted the government’s resignation. Its members will continue to perform their tasks until a new cabinet is formed.
