MOSCOW, January 10. /TASS/. Commander of the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) peacekeeping contingent in Kazakhstan Colonel-General Andrey Serdyukov will successfully cope with the assigned mission, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at an extraordinary online summit of the post-Soviet security bloc on Monday.
"The CSTO [peacekeeping] contingent has embraced the most highly trained units of Russia’s Airborne Force. All of them have real combat experience. The collective forces in Kazakhstan are being directed by Russia’s Airborne Force Commander Colonel-General Andrey Nikolayevich Serdyukov who is a true professional," Putin said.
The peacekeeping contingent swiftly placed key infrastructural facilities in Kazakhstan under its protection and ensures their control by the country’s authorities while the Kazakh security and law-enforcement agencies are directly engaged in the fight against terrorism, combat operations, the protection of civilians, and are performing police functions, where necessary, the Russian leader stressed.
"That is, our servicemen have substituted them at infrastructural facilities and enabled the president of Kazakhstan to effectively use his forces and capabilities to establish order in the country," Putin added.
Importantly, the CSTO militaries generally undergo training under common programs, are outfitted with uniform or compatible armaments, equipment, and communications systems. The skills of peacekeepers’ deployment were sharpened in the course of regular joint drills, in particular, during the CSTO’s recent Unbreakable Brotherhood maneuvers based on the experience gained by the Russian military in Syria, the Russian leader pointed out.
"This was demonstrated by the high level of our servicemen’s skills, mastership, and cohesion, their ability to promptly accomplish the tasks of fighting terrorism and protecting civilians. It is this consistent and joint combat training of the CSTO troops that have made it possible to redeploy peacekeepers to Kazakhstan within the shortest time possible and highly efficiently," Putin said.
Nationwide lawlessness and restoring stability
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. As a result, peacekeepers have already been deployed to Kazakhstan. Law and order, Kazakh authorities affirm, was restored to all of the country’s regions by the morning of January 7.