Kazakh President Orders Army to Shoot to Kill 'Terrorists'. Russian Operation in Country Led by General Who Oversaw Crimea Takeover

Media report that Nursultan Nazarbayev has left Kazakhstan.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said he has ordered law enforcement and the army to open fire to kill 'terrorists' who are taking part in mass riots in the country. 

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev
President of Kazakhstan

The terrorists continue to damage state and private property and use weapons against citizens. I have ordered law enforcement and the army to open fire to kill without warning. 

He noted that there can be no peace talks 'with criminals and murderers': 'We had to deal with armed, trained bandits. Both local and foreign. Precisely with bandits and terrorists'. 

In addition, the Kazakh president thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin, who 'reacted warmly, like a comrade' to Tokayev's appeal to the member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. 

As a reminder, on January 5 Tokayev appealed to CSTO countries for help in fighting 'international terrorist gangs'. 

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev
President of Kazakhstan

It is critically important to understand why the state 'slept through' the underground preparation of terrorist attacks by sleeper cells of militants. Almaty alone was attacked by 20,000 bandits. 

It also became known that Colonel General Andrei Serdyukov, who organized the military operation to occupy Crimea, has been appointed to lead the CSTO forces' mission in Kazakhstan. 

Serdyukov led Russia's operation to seize Crimea in spring 2014, and in 2019 he headed the Russian group of forces in Syria. 

It is noted that Serdyukov will lead the 'peacekeepers' in Kazakhstan. He is commander of the Russian Airborne Forces and holds the rank of colonel general. 

According to Russian Defense Ministry representative Igor Konashenkov, the 'mission' in Kazakhstan has a limited duration, but no specific dates have been announced yet. 

It is known that 75 Russian military transport aircraft, Il-76 and An-124, are involved in transferring Russian troops to Kazakhstan, and the transfer is running around the clock. 

Units of the 45th Special Forces Brigade of the Russian Airborne Forces, the 98th Airborne Division and the 31st Separate Airborne Brigade have been sent to Kazakhstan. According to Konashenkov, all of them 'have undergone special training and have real combat experience'. 

Igor Konashenkov
Representative of the Russian Defense Ministry

The Russian servicemen who arrived in the Republic of Kazakhstan immediately began carrying out their assigned tasks. Together with law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Almaty airport has been brought under full control. The security of the Russian Consulate General in the city and other important facilities is being ensured. 

The Kazakh outlet Orda.kz reported without citing a source that first President Nursultan Nazarbayev and his three daughters with their families had left the country amid mass protests. 

This information has not been officially confirmed. According to the outlet, the only close relative of the first president remaining in the country is his brother Bolat Nazarbayev. 

'It is noteworthy that since the start of the political crisis in Kazakhstan, neither the official authorities nor state TV channels and media have mentioned the name of Nursultan Nazarbayev or the members of his family. Not to mention that they do not report where they are or what is happening to them. Also, official statements and speeches do not call the capital Nur-Sultan,' the outlet writes. 

On January 7, Orda.kz reported that Nazarbayev's nephew Samat Abish had been detained in Almaty, but the outlet later refuted this information.