MOSCOW, January 11. /TASS/. Planes of the Russian Aerospace Forces have evacuated 1,719 Russian and foreign citizens from Kazakhstan since the start of the effort, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.
"Overall, planes of the military transport aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces delivered 1,719 Russian and foreign citizens to Russia from the Republic of Kazakhstan," the ministry said.
According to the ministry, a total of 258 people, including 247 Russians and 11 foreigners, were flown to Moscow on Monday alone. Those people arrived to Almaty mostly to spend their New Year holidays there, as tourists or to visit their relatives. As the situation in Kazakhstan’s largest city escalated and Almaty International Airport suspended its work, Russian tourists stayed in city hotels.
Protests erupted in several Kazakh cities on January 2, escalating into mass riots with government buildings getting ransacked in several cities a few days later. The ensuing violence left scores of people injured, with fatalities also being reported. Subsequently, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev turned to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) requesting assistance from the Russia-led bloc.
In accordance with the decision of the CSTO Collective Security Council, adopted on January 6, 2022, the Collective Peacekeeping Forces of the CSTO were sent to Kazakhstan for a limited time to stabilize the situation in the country. They include units of the armed forces of Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Law and order, Kazakh authorities affirm, was restored to all of the country’s regions by the morning of January 7. However, the situation remains tense in Almaty. A national day of mourning was observed in the country on Monday.