MINSK, 9 Jan The Belarusian military as part of the CSTO peacekeeping forces in Kazakhstan are guarding an arsenal of artillery ammunition in the village of Kopchegai and the military airfield Zhetygen, the state publication SB Belarus Today reported. Are one of the important strategic objects that the Belarusian peacekeepers have now taken under guard, «the statement says. With reference to the deputy commander of the special operations forces of the Belarusian armed forces, Sergei Andreev, it is noted that all Belarusian military men are serving on a contract basis and have arrived in Kazakhstan voluntarily. “The servicemen are provided with normal living conditions, hot meals, they carry out tasks as intended. All the facilities entrusted to us have been taken under control,” he said. , — said Andreev. 
The Deputy Minister of Defense of Kazakhstan thanked the CSTO forces for helping the country, in particular, the territory of the guarded airfield is 14 kilometers. «This is a perimeter. The runway is 3 kilometers plus the adjacent security zone. Only Belarusians protect the territory. Right now another group is arriving from the Russian side, colleagues will carry out certain tasks. And here we must provide them with a safe landing, deployment and departure,» he said The publication of the battalion commander of the tactical group of the armed forces of Belarus Sergei Krasovsky. 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, the protests spread to other cities, including Alma-Ata, the old capital and the largest city of the republic: looting began there, militants attacked state institutions, took away weapons. In response, the authorities declared a state of emergency across the country until January 19 and launched a counter-terrorism operation. According to the UN, about 1,000 people were injured during the protests in Kazakhstan. According to the updated data of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the republic, 16 security officials were killed. On the morning of January 5, Kazakh President Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev dismissed the government and headed the Security Council. At the first meeting of the Security Council under his leadership, Tokayev described the situation in Kazakhstan as undermining the integrity of the state and said that he had asked the CSTO for help «in overcoming the terrorist threat.» The CSTO Collective Security Council decided to send collective peacekeeping forces to Kazakhstan to normalize the situation in the country. On January 7, Tokayev said that terrorists, including those who arrived from abroad, continued to resist, and promised to destroy those who did not lay down their arms. In addition, the President noted that all the demands of citizens, expressed in peaceful forms, were heard. 
country
