MOSCOW, January 7. /TASS/. Twelve military-transport aircraft Il-76 and An-124 carrying servicemen of the CSTO peacekeeping contingent and equipment flew from the Chkalovsky airfield in the Moscow region to Kazakhstan, an official with the Defense Ministry told reporters on Friday.

"Twelve Russian military transport aircraft Il-76 and An-124 flew from the Chkalovsky airfield near Moscow to promptly deliver servicemen and airborne forces equipment to the airfields of Almaty and Zhetygen of the republic of Kazakhstan," the ministry said.

The official stressed that right after the arrival the units of the Russian contingent of the CSTO peacekeeping forces will begin to carry out the assigned tasks.

The Russian Defense Ministry formed an air group of more than 70 Il-76 and five An-124 planes to transfer units of the Russian contingent of the CSTO peacekeeping forces to Kazakhstan around the clock.

Protests erupted in several Kazakh cities on January 2, later growing into mass riots and attacks on government offices. Thousands of casualties have been reported, including fatalities. The Kazakh President asked the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a military alliance of former Soviet republics, for help. First peacekeeping units have already started fulfilling their tasks in Kazakhstan. The government said order has generally been restored in all of the country’s regions by the morning of January 7, while the situation is the most difficult in Almaty.