Police cars in the center of Almaty KIEV, Jan 9 One hundred and sixteen citizens of Ukraine are stuck in Almaty and cannot fly home, there is no threat to their lives, Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesman for the country's Foreign Ministry, said. “Now the largest number of people in Almaty is 116. military transport aviation of the CSTO member states, «- quoted by the agency» Ukrinform «. The Foreign Ministry spokesman added that all citizens stuck are provided with temporary housing and food. «There are no threats to their life or safety. The Embassy maintains constant contact with all passengers and will inform them about further steps,» Nikolenko assured. He informed that, according to preliminary information, it is planned to resume regular flights on the Nur-Sultan — Kiev route on January 9. According to Nikolenko, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry interacts with the governments of foreign states, whose citizens also cannot leave the territory of Kazakhstan. «Given the ongoing military operation and the difficult security situation, in particular in Almaty and the Almaty region, now the safest option for Ukrainians is to stay in their places of temporary residence,» he said. 
Large retail chains and markets started operating in Alma-Ata. He also said that Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba instructed diplomats to work out alternative ways for our citizens to leave Kazakhstan in case of significant delays in the resumption of regular flights. «All Ukrainian embassies in the region have joined this work. At the same time, the main prerequisite for any further measures is the stabilization of the security situation,» Nikolenko noted. According to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, no Ukrainians were killed, injured or detained during mass actions in Kazakhstan. Mass protests in Kazakhstan began in the first 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. 
Aty 500 Russians
