Russian officials are concerned that the Western sanctions are undermining Russia's economic influence over countries in its close neighborhood and the Global South, the Financial Times reported on Feb. 10, citing a leaked government report.
The Azerbaijani airliner that crashed in Kazakhstan in December after diverting from the Russian airspace was struck by a Russian Pantsir air defense missile, an undisclosed Azerbaijani source told Reuters in comments published on Feb. 4.
The black box from the Azerbaijan Airlines crash in Kazakhstan, believed to have been caused by Russian air defense, is being sent to Brazil for investigation, Kazakh authorities reported on Dec. 29.
The Dec. 25 Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash, likely caused by Russian air defense, shines light on a glaring issue the Kremlin has long swept under the rug. By unleashing its war against Ukraine, Russia has made its airspace a dangerous place. While Ukraine banned civilian flights over its territory hours
A Russian surface-to-air missile caused the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines flight near Aktau, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijani government sources reportedly confirmed on Dec. 26. The missile was fired from a Pantsir-S air defense system.
According to Kazakhstan's Transport Ministry, the plane operated by Azerbaijan Airlines had 37 Azerbaijani passengers, 16 Russians, six Kazakhs, and three Kyrgyz, along with five crew members on board.
Russian and Kazakh oil shipments to Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Germany via the Druzhba pipeline have been halted since Dec. 19 due to technical issues at a Russian pumping station, Reuters reported, citing anonymous sources.
Several companies in Kazakhstan are playing a significant role in helping Russia circumvent Western sanctions by supplying equipment for the development of electronic warfare (EW) systems, according to The Insider, the Russian independent investigative outlet.
Kazakhstan's president has "carefully considered" proposals to join BRICS but Astana will not seek to join the group "in the foreseeable future," a government spokesperson told Tengrinews.kz in an interview published on Oct. 16.
"A further escalation of war will lead to irreparable consequences for the whole of humanity and above all for the countries involved in the Russia-Ukraine conflict," Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev added.
Kazakhstan will review its approach to enforcing sanctions against Russia, prioritizing its economic interests, Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Trade Minister Serik Zhumangarin said in an interview with Bloomberg on Aug. 16.
U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who skipped Ukraine's peace summit in June, is expected to participate in the event in Astana as well, the U.N. in Kazakhstan reported on X.
Kazakh opposition activist and journalist Aidos Sadykov died in Kyiv on July 2, two weeks after being wounded in an assassination attempt, said his wife, Natalya Sadykova.
The Prosecutor General's Office is preparing to request the extradition of two suspects accused of attempting to assassinate the Kazakh opposition activist and journalist Aidos Sadykov in Ukraine.
Altai Zhakanbayev, one of the two suspects in an assassination attempt of Kazakh opposition activist and journalist Aidos Sadykov in Ukraine, was detained in Kazakhstan after surrendering to the local police on June 21, Kazakhstan's Prosecutor General's Office reported.
Two residents of Kazakhstan, Altai Zhakanbayev and Meiram Karatayev, crossed the border into Moldova on June 18 and were put on an international wanted list, Ukraine's National Police said.
An unidentified person opened fire in Kyiv on June 18 on Aidos Sadykov, a Kazakh opposition activist and journalist based in Ukraine, the Prosecutor General's Office reported.
Russia has asked Kazakhstan to be ready to supply the country with 100,000 tons of gasoline in case of Russian gasoline shortages caused by an increase of Ukrainian drone attacks on oil refineries, three sources told Reuters on April 8.
Belarusian timber enters the EU market despite sanctions, being supplied to Poland under false documentation passing it off as Kazakh wood, a joint media investigation published on March 26 said.
Talking to a Kazakh blogger about Russia's war in an August 2022 interview, Vrublevskyi said: "We are trying to kill as many of them as possible. The more Russians we kill now, the less of them our children will have to kill."
Russia is increasing imports of sanctioned dual-use goods like drones or U.S.-made computer chips from China via Central Asian trade routes, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on March 4.
The reason for the government's resignation was not immediately clear.
On the surface, Russian President Vladimir Putin's trip to Kazakhstan on Nov. 9 exuded an air of business as usual. The Russian leader was met at dawn on the tarmac of Astana airport by Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev before being greeted by an official guard of honor. The trip coincided
This week’s bonus episode is an extended interview with Bektour Iskender, a journalist and co-founder of Kloop, an NGO and leading news publication in Kyrgyzstan. Through his work with Kloop, Bektour trains young journalists to cover politics and investigate corruption, while also reporting on the most significant stories happening
Editor's note: The following is an investigation by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. The Kyiv Independent is republishing it with permission. A private jet worth over $100 million. Banks and TV channels. Billions in cash. Some of Kazakhstan’s most luxurious hotels, multiple shopping centers, and a golf
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry put out a statement on Jan. 10 condemning the violence in Kazakhstan over the past week, surprising many with the communiqué’s cautiousness and lateness. The statement came three days after that made by U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, and two days after that
The Kazakh authorities on Jan. 8 arrested an influential ally of ex-President Nursultan Nazarbayev as an uprising continued in the country. The National Security Committee said that Karim Masimov, the committee’s now-dismissed head, had been arrested on treason charges amid violent protests, one of the aims of which is
Human rights activists have accused the State Security Service (SBU) of launching a crackdown on Kazakh opposition activists in Ukraine. Lyudmyla Kozlovska, a human rights activist at the Open Dialogue Foundation, wrote on Facebook that several men in plainclothes and claiming to be SBU agents visited and beat up Zamanbek
Kazakh government forces appear to have gained the upper hand in their standoff with protesters, but the uprising in the country continued on Jan. 7. According to Kazakhstan’s Interior Ministry, 26 armed protesters and 18 government troops had been killed during clashes nationwide since the beginning of the uprising.
Editor’s Note: The following are the analytical notes that Timothy Ash, senior strategist at Bluebay Asset Management, distributes to his subscribers. The Kyiv Independent is reposting it with permission. It seems that “order” will be restored in Kazakhstan, but only with the help of Russian/CSTO (Collective Security Treaty
Kazakhstan faces an uncertain future as a Russian-led military contingent arrived in the country on Jan. 6 to support embattled president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev amid mass anti-government protests. What started as a demonstration over fuel prices in one city on Jan. 2 rapidly spread nationwide, culminating in large-scale armed clashes over
Editor’s Note: The following are the analytical notes that Timothy Ash, senior strategist at Bluebay Asset Management, distributes to his subscribers. The Kyiv Independent is reposting it with permission. Despite fighting talk from Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, it’s unclear whether he has the support of enough of the
