Putin’s Central Asian allies embrace Russians fleeing draft

Moscow’s traditional allies in Central Asia are quietly making moves that are likely to upset the Russian leader. “Good ties with neighbours guarantee safety,” Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, a former foreign minister known for his negotiating skills, said on Tuesday. But what he went on to say may seriously strain Kazakhstan’s ties with its giant northern neighbour and former imperial master. Tokayev instructed his government to help tens of thousands of Russian men that flooded his nation because of the chaotic and massive partial military mobilisation for the war in Ukraine. Almost 100,000 Russians have entered Kazakhstan since September 21, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the mobilisation, the Kazakh interior ministry said on Tuesday. “Most of them have to leave because of the hopeless situation. We have to take care of them and secure their safety,” Tokayev said. Ex-Soviet and mostly Muslim Central Asia has been a major source of labour migrants to Russia for decades. Some have reported facing xenophobia in Russia and complained about the practices of Russian police and their employers. Central Asia is also still home to various numbers of ethnic Russians whose forefathers migrated in the Soviet era as communist Moscow tried to develop the region. These days, Central Asian governments allow the new wave of Russians – but fall short of supporting or denouncing the Ukraine war. Moscow’s traditional allies in Central Asia are quietly making moves that are likely to upset the Russian leader. “Good ties with neighbours guarantee safety,” Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, a former foreign minister known for his negotiating skills, said on Tuesday. But what he went on to say may seriously strain Kazakhstan’s ties with its giant northern neighbour and former imperial master. Tokayev instructed his government to help tens of thousands of Russian men that flooded his nation because of the chaotic and massive partial military mobilisation for the war in Ukraine. Almost 100,000 Russians have entered Kazakhstan since September 21, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the mobilisation, the Kazakh interior ministry said on Tuesday. “Most of them have to leave because of the hopeless situation. We have to take care of them and secure their safety,” Tokayev said. Ex-Soviet and mostly Muslim Central Asia has been a major source of labour migrants to Russia for decades. Some have reported facing xenophobia in Russia and complained about the practices of Russian police and their employers. Central Asia is also still home to various numbers of ethnic Russians whose forefathers migrated in the Soviet era as communist Moscow tried to develop the region. These days, Central Asian governments allow the new wave of Russians – but fall short of supporting or denouncing the Ukraine war.