CHKALOVSKY (Moscow Region), January 16 Nineteen VKS planes with Russian paratroopers on board arrived from Kazakhstan to the Chkalovsky airfield near Moscow, the Ministry of Defense reported. «Nineteen aircraft of the military transport aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces (18 Il-76 aircraft and 1 An-124 Ruslan aircraft) with Russian peacekeepers from the Collective Peacekeeping Forces of the CSTO arrived from Kazakhstan to the Chkalovsky airfield near Moscow,» the ministry said in a statement. Today, servicemen will meet with the command of the Airborne Forces. After the solemn rally, the personnel will begin unloading weapons, military equipment, property and march to the point of permanent deployment, the Ministry of Defense added. Kazakhstan, part of the peacekeeping contingent has already returned to Russia, using 15 Il-76s and 3 An-124s.
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On January 5, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev turned to the CSTO for help «in overcoming the terrorist threat» after unrest erupted in the country amid protests against a doubling of prices for liquefied gas. According to the UN, during the protests in Kazakhstan, about a thousand people were injured. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the republic, 17 Kazakh security officials were killed, more than 1.3 thousand were injured. The CSTO Collective Security Council decided to send collective peacekeeping forces to Kazakhstan to normalize the situation in the country. Military personnel from Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan took part in the operation. They were entrusted with the protection of strategically important objects. On Thursday, January 13, the mission was declared completed.