Post-Soviet CSTO military alliance led by Russian troops begins to withdraw from Kazakhstan

The Russian-led post-Soviet military alliance, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), began this Thursday the withdrawal of the 2,030 soldiers deployed in Kazakhstan in the wake of the violent protests that rocked the Central Asian republic last week.

In Almaty, the largest Kazakh city and the epicenter of the riots that broke out in Kazakhstan a few days after the outbreak of protests over the rise in the price of liquefied gas, a farewell ceremony was held at the Army Military Institute, according to the half related to the Kazakh state Tengrinews.

Standing in single file with their Kazakh comrades, soldiers from Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan bid farewell to CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas and Kazakh Deputy Defense Minister Major General Mukhamedzhan Talasov, in addition to the mayor of Almaty, Bakytzhan Sagintayev.

The commander of the “pacification” contingent, Russian General Andréi Serdiukov, thanked everyone for their work in this mission, which began on the 6th, one day after the Kazakh president, Kasim-Yomart Tokáyev, requested assistance from the CSTO to quell the “terrorist threat”, as he called the violent protests.

Nur-Sultan tried to justify the repression and the presence of the CSTO in Kazakhstan due to the “terrorist threat” to the country, since he claims that the demonstrators are “international terrorists”, although he has not presented evidence.

The protests have left a balance so far of at least 164 dead, a thousand injured and more than 10,000 detainees.

Tokayev announced last Tuesday in a speech before Parliament that the CSTO troops would begin to leave the country this Thursday and that the entire process would not last more than ten days.

The 2,030 soldiers and 250 military vehicles of Kazakhstan’s CSTO partners were tasked with protecting strategic installations in Kazakhstan in their first mission to another member country in twenty years.

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported today in a statement that, in accordance with the withdrawal plan developed by the CSTO and the Kazakh government, this Thursday the transfer of “vital infrastructure” guarded by Russian soldiers to the security forces and bodies began. from Kazakhstan.

“Units of the CSTO Collective Peacekeeping Forces in the Republic of Kazakhstan, having completed their assigned tasks, are beginning to prepare equipment and material to load onto the military transport aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces and return to the permanent deployment points, ”said Defense.