The head of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, stated that one of the factors provoked the beginning of the protests in Kazakhstan was an external influence.
“External influence. First, on the part of the surrounding Muslim countries, secondly, the Americans would benefit from one of the allies of Russia in Central Asia and help to establish there at least a neutral regime, as in Armenia or Moldova, And they would close the region from Russia. It would be left only to change the regime in Uzbekistan to finally weaken the influence of Russia, “follows from the message Zhirinovsky published in its Telegram channel.
Mass protests in Kazakhstan began in the first days of 2022 in the cities of Zhanaozen and Aktau in the Mangystau region, which is the country’s oil producing region. Residents opposed a two-time increase in the value of liquefied gas. Unrest began in other cities. So, in Almaty on January 4 and 5 there were conflicts with security forces, and law enforcement officers applied gas and light grenades in relation to protesters.