The announcement came after Kazakhstan’s president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, appealed to the bloc for help, decrying the actions of “terrorists” and alleging the country had been the victim of “attacks” by foreign-trained gangs.
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Earlier in the evening, Tokayev spoke to the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, who crushed a huge uprising with brutal force in 2019. Before calling Tokayev, Lukashenko spoke to Putin, the Belarusian news agency Belta reported.
CNN:
Oil-rich Kazakhstan, the world's ninth-largest nation by landmass, has attracted foreign investment and maintained a strong economy since its independence, but its autocratic method of governance has at times prompted international concern and has seen authorities harshly crack down on protests, according to global rights groups.
The State Department's 2018 human rights report noted Kazakhstan's 2015 presidential election, in which Nazarbayev received 98% of votes cast, "was marked by irregularities and lacked genuine political competition."
From one thread:
Video: marauders in Almaty using a crawler to get into bank branch pic.twitter.com/jL3sIvQ7YA
— Liveuamap (@Liveuamap) January 5, 2022
Also:
The U.S. must immediately send troops into Kazakhstan to protect key infrastructure in Nur-Sultan in order to prevent the collapse of our vital lobbying industry. If Baku falls next, the entire local economy of DC will collapse overnight. https://t.co/oNVT3PIyGL
— Aric Toler (@AricToler) January 5, 2022