Russian military forces have evacuated more than 1,400 of its citizens from Kazakhstan over the weekend as political unrest continues to unfold across the central Asian republic, authorities announced on Monday.
The federal agency revealed that 1,422 Russians were transported by air to Moscow on Jan. 9, while 14 were flown to Yekaterinburg. A total of 25 tourists who opted to return from Kazakhstan were transported as well.
The evacuation order comes amid massive protests in Kazakhstan that descended into violence last week, marking the worst unrest the former Soviet nation has faced since gaining independence 30 years ago.
Nationwide protests, which started on Jan. 2 in the west of the country in the city of Zhanaozen and the Mangistau region, began in response to an increase in the price cap for propane gas to 120 tenge (27 cents), from last year’s 60 tenge (14 cents).
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan is also facing a cash and food shortage after KazakhTelecom, the government-owned telecommunication giant, began throttling Internet access on Jan. 4, leaving residents unable to get access to their money after debit card terminals, which rely on the Internet and dominate retail outlets across the country, were shut down.
Authorities have declared a state of emergency over the ongoing violence, and Tokayev requested help from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Russian-aligned bloc of former soviet countries, for international support.
The CSTO has sent in peacekeeping troops from Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Belarus, and Russia, while the Russian Ministry of Defense has said that it is deploying more than 70 Il-76 and five An-124 aircraft of the "Russian contingent of the CSTO peacekeeping forces to Kazakhstan around the clock."