MOSCOW, January 11. /TASS/. The third Russian defense ministry’s plane with 86 Russian nationals has taken off from Kazakhstan’s Almaty, the ministry said on Tuesday.
"The third military transport plane of the Russian aerospace forces with Russian nationals onboard has taken off from Almaty for Moscow. The Russian defense ministry’s Il-76 plane will deliver 86 Russian citizens to the Chkalovsky aerodrome outside Moscow. These people arrived in Kazakhstan as tourists, on business trips or to visit their relatives," it said.
Earlier in the day, two more Russian defense ministry’s Il-76 planes evacuated 145 Russian nationals each.
Protests erupted in several Kazakh cities on January 2, escalating into mass riots with government buildings being 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.