CSTO Troops Did Not Fire Any Shots During January Events In Kazakhstan - Vershinin

Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) peacekeepers who were deployed in Kazakhstan last month to stop the violent protest clashes did not fire any shots, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said at a UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th February, 2022) Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) peacekeepers who were deployed in Kazakhstan last month to stop the violent protest clashes did not fire any shots, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said at a UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday.

"The operation was conducted on a completely international legal basis, in full transparency and predictability," Vershinin said. "The peacekeepers did not fire any shots at all, and they proved to be a stabilizing factor."

Vershinin stressed that in January, Kazakhstan encountered unprecedented challenges to its security, integrity and sovereignty, and effective actions by the authorities and swift CSTO's assistance helped to avert a "disaster."

Vershinin also said the CSTO peacekeepers were protecting strategically important facilities in Kazakhstan and were involved in operations. As soon as the situation on the ground stabilized, the troops left the country, he added.

Mass protests in Kazakhstan began in the early days of 2022 - residents of the cities of Zhanaozen and Aktau in the west of the country opposed a twofold increase in prices for liquefied gas.

Later, protests spread to other cities, including Almaty, the republic's largest city: looting began there, militants attacked state institutions and took weapons. In response, the authorities declared a state of emergency across the country until January 19 and launched a counter-terrorism operation.

In the morning of January 5, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev dismissed the government and led the country's Security Council. At the first meeting of the Security Council under his leadership, Tokayev described the situation in Kazakhstan as one undermining the integrity of the state and said he had asked the CSTO for assistance "in overcoming the terrorist threat."

The CSTO Collective Security Council decided to deploy the Collective Peacekeeping Forces to Kazakhstan to normalize the situation there. On January 13, it was announced that the CSTO mission was successfully completed. The peacekeepers began to return home from Kazakhstan.