Russia's 40 military aircrafts return with peacekeepers from Kazakhstan, avers Defence Min

Forty aerospace forces aircraft of Russia returned from Kazakhstan with Kremlin's peacekeepers from the Collective Security Treaty Organization's (CSTO) forces, according to a statement from the Russian Defense Ministry. The Collective Treaty Security Organization (CSTO), a military alliance involving six former Soviet nations, including Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, sent a peacekeeping contingent of more than 2,000 troops in Kazakhstan.

"Forty aircraft of the military transport aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces delivered Russian peacekeepers from the CSTO Collective Peacekeeping Forces from the Republic of Kazakhstan to military airfields in the Moscow and Ulyanovsk regions over the past day," the defence ministry said in a statement.

What triggered unrest in Kazakhstan?

The protests in Kazakhstan began as demonstrations in Zhanaozen, in Kazakhstan's oil-rich western province of Mangystau, and swiftly spread to neighbouring oil towns such as Aktau, Aktobe, and Atyrau. Kazakhstanis came to the streets following a sharp uptick in the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Demonstrators requested that the price of gasoline be cut in half from 120 tenge ($0.27) per litre to the price it was last year. Despite officials in Nur-Sultan's decision to cut LPG rates, the protests have grown into broad discontent with the administration.

The protests have moved to Kazakhstan's capital city of Nur-Sultan and Almaty, the country's largest city, becoming the country's most geographically extensive protest in history. According to the country's authorities, the recent turmoil resulted in the deaths of 225 people and the injuries of over 4,500 others. During the violent disturbances, about 2,000 people were arrested.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev sacked the cabinet and took command of the country's Security Council on January 5. Tokayev described the situation in Kazakhstan as undermining the state's integrity and said he had asked the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) for help in defeating the terrorist threat at the first meeting of the Security Council under his chairmanship.

The CSTO works on the same principle as NATO; an assault on one member state is considered an attack on all members, and each state is obligated to help the others. Following President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's request for aid in dealing with protests that became violent, the military bloc's member countries dispatched troops to Kazakhstan. The withdrawal of the contingent is expected to last until January 19.

Image: AP