Russia has accused Kazakhstan of ignoring “Russian hatred” and raised concerns that the Kremlin may oppose the country after the war in Ukraine.
Russia’s chief prosecutor, Gol Krasnov, claimed to help Ukrainian activists in Kazakhstan fuel anti-Russian sentiment.
“We are regularly informed that there is active anti-Russian activity in Kazakhstan with the support of Ukrainian non-governmental organizations,” Krasnov met with the chief prosecutor around the former Soviet Union. He said in a meeting with his Kazakh counterpart in Minsk.
The Kremlin justified the war in Ukraine, using the excuse to defend the Russians who had reached their limits. In April, a Russian general also said his army should fight to the border with Moldova, where Russians claimed to be discriminated against.
Kazakhstan and Russia share the longest continuous border in the world and have been regarded as a strong ally, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has destroyed this alliance.
Earlier this month, at a press conference televised, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokaev explained that he embarrassed Vladimir Putin in the final session of the Economic Forum and did not support the independence of Donbus’ pro-Russian region. Twenty minutes later, Putin warned that the territory of the Soviet Union was Russia.
Ramzan Kadyrov, a Kremlin-linked propagandist and Chechen leader, has since ordered the Kazakh government to support the Kremlin.
Publicly, Kazakh officials have downplayed the collapse of their relationship with the Kremlin, but privately they are concerned. Ordinary Kazakhs are also worried that Putin may turn his attention to Kazakhstan after achieving his war goals in Ukraine.
“We are not comparable to Russia. Yes, we certainly have the following possibilities,” said Genghis Khan, a former bakery based in Nur-Sultan, the capital of Kazakhstan, last week. “We have a small army and there is nothing comparable to Russia.
“not good.”
Kazakhstan has a large population of about 3.5 million Russians out of a population of 19 million. Many of these live in the northern part of the country, raising pro-Russian sentiment reinforced by the Kremlin’s television promotion.
Since the beginning of the war, thousands of anti-war Russians have also built new homes in Kazakhstan.
Much from Moscow and St. Petersburg fled to Almaty, the wealthy former capital of southern Kazakhstan.
Located in northern Kazakhstan, just 72 km from the Russian border, Uralsk is also a refuge for anti-war Russians fleeing the city of Ural in just a few hours drive.
Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]