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Russian peacekeepers return from Kazakhstan aboard 18 planes - ministry

Prior to the departure, at the Almaty airfield in the Republic of Kazakhstan, Russian peacekeepers loaded military equipment into planes

MOSCOW, January 16. /TASS/. A total of 18 military aviation planes of the Russian Aerospace Forces with Russian peacekeepers on board took off from Kazakhstan's largest city of Almaty on Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

"Today, military transport aviation planes continue to deliver to the Chkalovsky airport personnel and equipment of Russian Airborne Forces units after fulfilling peacekeeping tasks," the ministry said in a statement. "Prior to the departure, at the Almaty airfield in the Republic of Kazakhstan, Russian peacekeepers loaded military equipment into planes."

Protests erupted in several Kazakh cities on January 2, escalating into mass riots with government buildings getting ransacked in several cities, primarily in Almaty, a few days later. The ensuing violence left thousands of people injured, with fatalities also being reported. Subsequently, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev turned to the Collective Security Treaty Organization requesting assistance from the Russia-led bloc. As a result, peacekeepers were deployed to Kazakhstan. Law and order, Kazakh authorities affirm, was restored to all of the country’s regions.

The Kazakh president later said that the post-Soviet security bloc’s forces had played a crucial role in stabilizing the situation in Kazakhstan and called their mission successful. On January 13, the CSTO began the pullout of its peacekeeping contingent from the Central Asian republic. All CSTO peacekeepers are to return to their home bases by January 19.

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