Status: 01/06/2022 09:28 a.m.
Several people were reportedly killed – more than 1,000 injured – during the protests in Kazakhstan. A Russian-led military alliance wants to support the government, and the first soldiers have already been dispatched.
Several people were killed in rioting in Kazakhstan’s economic metropolis Almaty. People tried to storm various police buildings during the night, the Kazakh television station Khabar 24 quoted a spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior, as reported by the Russian state agency Tass. Several “attackers were eliminated”. Their identities would now be determined.
In total, more than 1,000 people were injured in the serious riots in the country, according to the Kazakh Ministry of Health. 400 people were taken to hospitals. Of these, 62 would have to be treated in intensive care units. No information was given on the fatalities.
Silvia Stöber, tagesschau.de, on the unrest in Kazakhstan
tagesschau24 09:00 a.m., 6.1.2022
The military intervened during the night
The websites of the Kazakh media could not be reached from abroad in the morning either. The exact location is therefore unclear. So far, the authorities had officially confirmed only eight police officers and soldiers killed. So far, there has been no information on civilian deaths.
The military intervened last night. Since then, operations against demonstrators, who are reported to be armed, have been going on in various parts of the city of Almaty. Residents have been asked to stay in safe places and avoid streets.
Russia sends paratroopers
The trigger for the biggest wave of protests in years was resentment at the significantly higher fuel prices at the country’s petrol stations, especially since Kazakhstan has been suffering from mismanagement and poverty for years. In response to the protests, some of which were violent, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev dismissed the government before the military intervened in the metropolis of Almaty that night.
Tokayev also called on the Russian-led military alliance Organization of the Collective Security Treaty (CSTO), which announced the dispatch of soldiers. The chairman of the Russian State Duma committee responsible for affairs of the former Soviet republics, Leonid Kalashnikov, told the Russian news agency Interfax that Russia was obliged to help and that the alliance had been established for this purpose.
In the morning Russia transferred soldiers to the Central Asian country. Paratroopers had been dispatched, reported several Russian state agencies, citing the CSTO.