Arrival of Russian units from the CSTO peacekeeping forces in Kazakhstan UN, Jan 7 The UN Security Council members were officially sent a letter from the CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas, in which he informs about the peacekeeping operation on the territory of Kazakhstan. The letter to the UN Security Council chairman was sent by the Permanent Mission of Armenia, which chairs the CSTO. The latter, in turn, sent it to the members of the Security Council. 
The riots in Kazakhstan were planned in advance, the permanent mission to the UNC said, the document attached a letter from CSTO Secretary General Zasya, in which he informs that, «in view of the threat to national security and the sovereignty of the Republic of Kazakhstan and guided by Articles 2 and 4 of the Collective Security Treaty, the CSTO Collective Security Council made a decision on the conduct of a peacekeeping operation by forces and means of the CSTO Troops (Collective Forces) on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan. » He called the situation in the country «an invasion of bandit formations trained from abroad.» The CSTO Collective Security Council has decided to send collective peacekeeping forces to Kazakhstan for a limited period of time. The first Russian troops from the peacekeeping contingent have already arrived in the republic, and units of the 45th separate brigade of the special forces of the Airborne Forces, Ivanovsky and Ulyanovsk formations of the Airborne Forces are also sent there. In addition to the Russian military, it will include representatives of the Armed Forces of four more countries — Belarus, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. They will, among other things, guard government and military facilities and assist law enforcement. 
Belarusian peacekeepers arrived in Kazakhstan, media reported Mass riots in Kazakhstan Protests in Kazakhstan began in the early days of the new year. Residents of the cities of Zhanaozen and Aktau, which are located in the oil-producing Mangistau region, rallied to protest against a two-fold increase in the price of liquefied petroleum gas used as fuel for cars. The republican Ministry of Energy explained that from January 1, its value began to be formed at electronic exchange trading based on supply and demand. On January 4, the authorities announced that they were ready to fulfill the main demand of the protesters — to reduce gas prices. Despite this, protests began in other cities. Tokayev dismissed the government yesterday morning. He also announced that he was becoming the head of the Security Council, which was previously led by the first president of the republic, Nursultan Nazarbayev. Today, the government introduced state regulation of gasoline and diesel prices for 180 days. A state of emergency was declared throughout the country, and the president warned protesters that the authorities would take the toughest measures against violators, as security forces were killed and injured as a result of the riots. In addition, protesters made several attempts to storm administrative buildings and police departments, during which dozens of people were killed. The Russian Foreign Ministry views the events in Kazakhstan as an externally inspired attempt to violently undermine the security and integrity of the state. 
Source: the UN Security Council has distributed a note from the Permanent Mission of Kazakhstan
