Breaking with Russia, new elections and return to 1993 Constitution: protesters' demands in Kazakhstan appear online. Internet later shut down across the country

President Tokayev spoke with Putin and Lukashenko and firmly declared he would act "very harshly." At the same time, security forces are switching sides to the protesters.

Engulfed by protests aimed at toppling the pro-Russian regime, Kazakhstan has entered a new stage of confrontation: the internet has been shut down nationwide, while nominal President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has begun seeking the support of the Russian and Belarusian governments in suppressing the protests and the opposition.

Meanwhile, during January 5, about ten business jets were recorded flying from Kazakhstan to Moscow and the European Union, which could have been carrying dismissed ministers and the business elite. Shortly after, the Almaty airport was seized by protesters.

Due to the internet shutdown in Kazakhstan, many authoritative local outlets have been cut off from the world, allowing disinformation, fakes and pro-Russian propaganda about the protests to increasingly seep into the media space.

Compiled into a chronicle of the January 5 protests, information from the most verified sources.

Demands of the protesters

As NEXTA reports on Telegram, participants in the rallies in Kazakhstan have put forward their demands to the authorities: they want the resignation of the president, the head of the Security Council, the government and parliament. 

Demands of the protesters:

• Immediate release of all political prisoners.
• Full resignation and relinquishment of powers by the president, the chairman of the Security Council, the government and parliament.
• Political reforms: creation of a provisional government of authoritative and public citizens who are participants in the resistance in Kazakhstan, and holding free elections by the provisional government.
• The main condition for political reforms is unwavering commitment to democratic values and respect for human rights, recognition of the Soviet Union's rule years as a crime against the peoples of the post-Soviet empire, condemnation of the military aggression against Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea, and withdrawal from the CIS, the EAEU and other unions with the Russian Federation.

People call for popular elections of the akim of each region and city, the return of the 1993 Constitution, and bringing to power an "outsider."

Internet shutdown

The operator Kazakhtelecom shut down the internet across the entire country, GlobalCheck, a blocking monitoring service, reports. According to the service, the internet is not working for both mobile and fixed-line operators. The complete internet blackout in Kazakhstan is confirmed by the British company NetBlocks, which monitors internet connectivity worldwide.

Kazakhs abroad report that they are struggling to reach their relatives in Nur-Sultan and Almaty by phone and through popular messaging apps. A number of Kazakh websites, including media outlets popular in the republic, are currently unavailable.

Blackouts in individual cities were first reported on Tuesday. Representatives of the operators Beeline and Kcell then said they were not to blame for the connectivity disruptions.

"Competent authorities of the Republic of Kazakhstan are currently carrying out measures to suspend the operation of networks and communication services in the interests of public safety," a Kcell representative said on Monday, commenting on the shutdown.

"No one is putting out the fire in the party office"

In Almaty, the office of the pro-government party Nur Otan is on fire in the Aisultan business center building, reports a correspondent of Azattyq on the scene. In addition, the building of the akimat (local government) in Almaty was also on fire. 

Notably, for many hours while the party office burned, there were no fire trucks on site — no one was putting out the fire. There are also no police officers on the street.

Demonstrators also entered the Almaty akimat building, after which it was engulfed in flames.

Suppression of rallies and security forces switching sides to the protesters

During the night of January 5, what was happening in the squares was called "riots" by the authorities, who began forcibly suppressing the protesters using stun grenades, tear gas and rubber bullets.

At the same time, employees of security agencies began massively switching sides to the protesters in Kazakhstan. The central government is losing control of the situation.

Footage from the city of Atyrau has surfaced, where Kazakh police supported the protest. In the video, several dozen security officers walk out of a police station under the encouraging shouts and whistles of protesters and join the crowd.

Also in Aktau, according to local media, National Guard forces switched sides to the protest.

In the city of Almaty, according to preliminary data, protesters seized the Police Department along with weapons. However, this information has not yet been confirmed, although footage has begun to appear of successful armed resistance by demonstrators against SOBR special forces.

Also, in some episodes, the rally participants are quite successfully resisting the army sent against them. 

Fleeing elites

In the past day, about 10 private flights have departed from Kazakhstan to Europe. Experts believe the business elites are beginning to flee.

According to data from the Flightradar24 service, which tracks the trajectory and route of aircraft in real time, about ten private planes belonging to various Kazakh businessmen have flown from Astana and Almaty to Europe over the past day.

Moreover, it is reported that a government business jet flew from Kazakhstan to Russian territory. The passenger composition of the aircraft remains unknown.

"Who could it be? It is obvious that the future of President Tokayev and the Nazarbayev clan is far from certain. Soon it may already be too late to leave," journalists note.

Nazarbayev's resignation and the removal of his monuments

Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has been exercising de facto leadership of Kazakhstan, submitted his resignation and stepped down as head of the Kazakh Security Council.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev himself will take over this post instead of Nazarbayev, although it is not ruled out that Nazarbayev will retain direct influence over Tokayev even after leaving his de facto position.

The post of Security Council secretary is one of several top positions that remained with Nazarbayev, who ruled Kazakhstan for 30 years, after he left the presidency in 2019. He also holds the post of head of his party Nur Otan and bears the honorary title "Elbasy," or "Father of the Nation."

It is noted that Tokayev promised to act as harshly as possible against protesters who clash with police. He assured that he is in the capital Nur-Sultan and does not intend to leave it.

Tokayev also held telephone talks with self-proclaimed Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Kremlin head Vladimir Putin. In official statements, they supported Tokayev's actions to so-called "restore order."

In the city of Taldykorgan, a monument to Nazarbayev installed in 2016 was pulled off its pedestal with ropes.

"Putin, send in the troops"

A few hours after the dictatorial telephone talks, Tokayev asked the leaders of CSTO countries to provide "assistance" to Kazakhstan, and he compared the protests in the country to a "terrorist threat," reports Tengrinews.kz.

Tokayev said: "Relying on the collective security treaty, I today appealed to the heads of CSTO states to provide assistance to Kazakhstan in overcoming this terrorist threat. In fact, this is no longer a threat, it is an undermining of the integrity of the state and, most importantly, an attack on our citizens, who are urgently asking me, as head of state, to provide them with assistance.

My constitutional duty is to take care of the well-being, peace and security of our citizens. Therefore, I consider the appeal to the parties to the Collective Security Treaty Organization to be absolutely appropriate and timely."

Tokayev stated that "terrorist gangs are in essence international."

According to him, "they underwent serious training abroad, and their attack on Kazakhstan can and should be seen as an act of aggression."

The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) includes Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan, under the unofficial leadership and comprehensive influence of Moscow.

In essence, Tokayev's appeal can be interpreted as a request to occupy Kazakhstan with Russian troops in an attempt to remain in nominal power.

Seizure of Almaty airport

In Kazakhstan, Almaty airport has been seized. Staff and passengers are being urgently evacuated, flights have been suspended, NEXTA Live reports.

According to preliminary data, there are currently about 45 protesters in the airport. At the time of the seizure there were no passengers in the terminal; they had been evacuated in time.

It became known that Belavia offered passengers flying from Minsk to Kazakhstan and back until January 10 to change their travel dates, while Kuwait's Jazeera Airways is suspending flights to Almaty.

Russian government airliner mysteriously disappeared from radar after airport seizure

A Tu-214 airliner of the Russian government squadron, which flew from Moscow's Vnukovo airport, entered Kazakhstan's airspace, and then concealed its route in the air in the middle of the flight, Dialog UA reports.

However, about 30 minutes later, the aircraft tracking service Flightradar24 stopped recording the location of the Tu-214 due to the transponder being switched off on board the aircraft.

Judging by its direction of travel, it was heading to Almaty. The flight path line breaks off in the central part of the country when attempting to trace the route.