Kazakhstan: Voices of Russian Opponents

The Free Russia Discussion board was created in 2016 by a bunch of politicians, students, journalists, and cultural figures from the ex-USSR, with the intention to collect collectively Russian supporters of European democratic values, wherever they might reside — in Russia or overseas. Its main determine is Garry Kasparov, former World Chess Champion and one of the crucial outstanding Russian opponents residing overseas. We reproduce right here the assertion of the Discussion board on the most recent tragic occasions in Kazakhstan, adopted by an announcement by Garry Kasparov.

HANDS OFF KAZAKHSTAN!

Assertion of the Discussion board of Free Russia condemning the navy intervention of the Putin regime in Kazakhstan and expressing assist for the Kazakh folks. January 6, 2022

Not way back, the Free Russia Discussion board condemned the collusion between the Putin and Lukashenko regimes, and expressed assist for the Belarusian folks, who had been victims of this collusion.

On January 5, 2022, the solidarity of the post-Soviet dictators reached an unprecedented stage: actually, the Nazarbayev-Tokayev regime, overthrown by the folks of Kazakhstan, formally requested the CSTO (Collective Safety Treaty Group) to ship troops into his nation to repress the spontaneous folks’s revolution. And this request was instantly granted by its “colleagues”.

Troops of Putin’s Russia, Lukashenko’s Belarus and different member states of the CSTO went to Kazakhstan, not to put it aside from exterior aggression, however to brutally suppress the riot. Thus it may be said that in 2022 the CSTO has change into much like the Warsaw Pact utilized by the Soviet Union for sending troops for a bloody suppression of widespread uprisings in Hungary and Czechoslovakia.

The Free Russia Discussion board protests within the strongest phrases towards using Russian troops to suppress widespread uprisings in international nations.

We name on Russian navy to not spill blood of residents of neighboring nations and to not shame the Russian military and the nationwide flag with one more crime of Putin’s regime in the direction of different nations. In any other case, they are going to bear ethical duty for such crimes now and sooner or later.

We guarantee the folks of Kazakhstan of our full ethical assist for his or her liberation battle and ask them to not determine Putin’s regime and its butchers with the whole Russian nation. The hearts of all freedom-loving Russians are with you at this time, and just like the Russian dissidents in the course of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, we enchantment to you with the motto: “To your and our freedom!”

Palms off Kazakhstan! Down with the regimes of Putin, Lukashenko and Tokayev!

The Ulyanovsk Parachute Regiment leaves for Kazakhstan. Zvezda channel, screenshot

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THE KREMLIN’S OCCUPATION OF KAZAKHSTAN HAS BEGUN

By Garry Kasparov

Occasions in Kazakhstan proceed to develop tragically — there may be details about lots of of individuals killed among the many protesters, the occupation of the nation by the so-called CSTO forces started at this time. In actuality, it means the switch of part of Kazakhstan’s sovereignty to the Kremlin.

On this context, the conduct of the Armenian chief Nikol Pashinyan, who’s the precise president of the CSTO, is shameful. He actively participated within the implementation of the Russian dictator’s plan to occupy Kazakhstan, thus turning into an confederate in at this time’s massacres. The truth that Pashinyan got here to energy because of a peaceable revolution, so his actions look particularly cynical. It’s unimaginable to purchase the safety of 1’s personal folks on the value of the blood of others.

For a few years, now we have heard tales from Western “pragmatic politicians” about Nazarbayev’s steady Kazakhstan. Nevertheless, let’s not neglect that the glorification of Nazarbayev’s “enlightened dictatorship” was typically on account of some venal pursuits. In the present day, watching movies of the taking pictures of protesters, we as soon as once more see that by their very nature all dictatorships are the identical — if there’s a risk of dropping energy, dictators are able to exterminate their fellow residents by all accessible means.

That is one other reminder to the “liberal Russian public” eagerly ready for the evolution of Putin’s regime for the previous three many years: each further yr of a dictator’s keep in energy results in a a lot higher variety of victims when he’s overthrown.

January 7, 2022.