The number of Kazakhs who believe that neighboring Russia may invade the former Soviet republic has doubled in the past six months as the war in Ukraine continues, an opinion poll conducted by local researchers recently found.
The country of 20 million people has close historical, economic and security ties with Moscow, but remains neutral in the Russian-Ukrainian war, refusing to recognize Russia’s annexation of part of Ukrainian territory. According to a survey of 1,100 respondents conducted by the non-governmental organizations MediaNet and PaperLab from May 3 to 12, almost 60% are neutral about the war, 12.8% support Russia and 21.1% support Ukraine — numbers similar to those obtained in as a result of a similar survey conducted in December last year, Reuters reports
However, the number of people who believe Russia might also invade Kazakhstan rose to 15% from 8.3% in the previous poll. Almost a third of respondents said their perception of Russia had worsened because of the war, more than half said it had not changed, and only 4.7% said it had improved.
It will be recalled that on May 9, a “post-dinner” parade was held on Red Square in Moscow. One of the foreign leaders who came was the President of Kazakhstan Kasim-Zhomart Tokayev. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine called this an immoral and unfriendly step.
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