The advanced units of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) contingent have already begun their missions in Kazakhstan.
“At present, the Russian part of the peacekeeping contingent is being transferred to the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan by the aircraft of the military transport aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces. The advanced units from its composition have already begun to fulfill the assigned tasks,” the CSTO secretariat said in a statement.
The President of the Republic, Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, had previously asked for the introduction of troops. He described the situation in the country as “an invasion of bandit formations trained from abroad.”
The collective peacekeeping force is deployed for a limited period. In addition to the Russian military, it will include representatives of the Armed Forces of four other countries – Belarus, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
Earlier, Senator Andrei Klishas, in a commentary to RIA Novosti, emphasized that the CSTO mandate is sufficient from Russia to send the military. According to him, no additional decisions, including the consent of the parliament, are required.
Protest actions in Kazakhstan began in the first days of the new year. Residents of the cities of Zhanaozen and Aktau, which are located in the oil-producing Mangistau region, rallied to protest against a two-fold increase in the price of liquefied petroleum gas used as fuel for cars. The Republican Ministry of Energy explained that from January 1, its value began to be formed at electronic exchange trading based on supply and demand.
On January 4, the authorities announced that they were ready to fulfill the main demand of the protesters – to reduce gas prices. Despite this, protests began in other cities.
Yesterday morning Tokayev dismissed the government and ordered to introduce state regulation of fuel prices for six months. He also announced that he was becoming the head of the Security Council, which was previously headed by the first president of the republic, Nursultan Nazarbayev, and announced new measures to resolve the situation.
The President warned the protesters that the authorities will take the toughest measures against the violators, as the security forces have already died and suffered as a result of the riots. In addition, protesters made several attempts to storm administrative buildings and police departments, during which dozens of people were killed.
A state of emergency was introduced throughout the republic.