MOSCOW, January 5. /TASS/. The office of Mir TV channel’s representation in Almaty has come under attack of protesters, staff have been evacuated and are safe, Mir-24. First Eurasian said in a statement posted on its Telegram channel on Wednesday.
"In Almaty an office of International Television and Radio Company Mir’s representation has been destroyed. Television equipment has been ruined," the statement said. All staff of the Mir television company have been evacuated and are in safety.
Radik Batyrshin, chairman of International Television and Radio Company Mir, said unknown individuals who attacked the TV channel’s office in Almaty, did not demand going on the air. "Three hours ago unknown individuals broke into the office. They destroyed the satellite equipment room and the journalists’ workplaces. The report that someone demanded going into the air does not correspond to reality," he said.
On January 2, crowds took to the streets in the cities of Zhanaozen and Aktau in the Mangystau Region, in southwestern Kazakhstan, protesting against high fuel prices. Two days later, the protests engulfed Almaty, in the country’s southeast, where the police used flashbangs to disperse the crowd, as well as other cities, including Atyrau, Aktobe (in the west), Uralsk (in the northwest), Taraz, Shymkent, Kyzylorda (in the south), Karaganda (in the northeast) and even Kazakhstan’s capital Nur-Sultan. The president imposed a two-week state of emergency in the Mangystau Region and in the Almaty Region, as well as the republic’s largest city of Almaty and the capital Nur-Sultan. On January 5, the head of the state also accepted the government’s resignation. Its members will continue to perform their tasks until a new cabinet is formed.