Russia-Led Military Alliance To Send Troops To Kazakhstan

The Kremlin confirms that the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation will send "peacekeeping forces" to stabilise the situation in Kazakhstan, citing "threats to the national security and sovereignty" of the Central Asian nation caused "in part by intervention from abroad."

• Protests broke out in Kazakhstan in the early days of the new year, initially in reaction to the government's decision to lift fuel price caps, later spilling over into political demands. Unrest has escalated and spread across the Central Asian nation, prompting President Tokayev to dismiss the government and declare a nationwide state of emergency.
• The protesters stormed state buildings, setting some ablaze. The Interior Ministry reported that eight security officers were killed, while there is no data on civilian casualties so far. On Wednesday, President Tokayev requested an intervention of Kazakhstan's allies from the CSTO.
• The rapidly escalating instability in the Central Asian nation will be closely eyed by Moscow, as another post-Soviet republic witnesses wide-spread political unrest, following similar events in Ukraine (2014) and Belarus (2020). In the former case, the protests resulted in the ouster of a pro-Russian government, with notable geopolitical consequences.
• The CSTO consists of six post-Soviet Republics - Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Belarus.