Kazakhstan
Despite a Wimbledon Ban on Russian Players, a Russian Woman Might Win
WIMBLEDON, England — After all the debate over whether to bar Russian and Belarusian players from Wimbledon, and under pressure from the British government, the women’s singles title may be won on Saturday by a player born in Russia after all. Elena Rybakina is the 23rd-ranked player in the world, and before this week she […]
Know More
Kazakhstan’s Internet Shutdowns Could Be a Warning for Ukraine
As Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, spiraled into chaos last month over rising energy costs and anger at the government, the country’s leaders took a drastic step to quell protests: They blocked the internet. First, they tried to ban access to some news sites, social networks and messaging services. Then, as activists bypassed those curbs with […]
Know More
In Kazakh Uprising, Reports of Widespread Abuses by Security Forces
ALMATY, Kazakhstan — Around 7:30 p.m. on the evening of Jan. 6, Yerlan Zhagiparov left his home to see what was happening nearby at the city’s Republic Square, a center of mass political protests. At 7:54 p.m., Mr. Zhagiparov, 49, called a close friend to say he had been apprehended by the National Guard. The […]
Know More
What Does Russia Want in Ukraine? The Tensions Explained
It feels like a scene from the Cold War. An unpredictable Russian president amassing thousands of troops on the border of a neighboring country, Ukraine. The threat of invasion. A possible bloody conflagration between East and West. But what may seem like a perilous episode from a bygone era is now front and center in […]
Know More
Nearly 6,000 Detained Amid Unrest in Kazakhstan
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — At least 5,800 people have been detained and more than 2,000 injured during several days of violence last week in Kazakhstan, government officials said on Sunday, after protests ignited by a fuel price hike set off a political crisis and prompted the president to seek help from a Russia-led security alliance to […]
Know More
Amid Crisis, Kazakhstan’s Leader Chose His Path: Embrace Russia
MOSCOW — The embattled president of Kazakhstan has the pedigree of an international technocrat. The son of prominent intellectuals, he studied in Moscow at a premier academy for diplomats, and later worked in the Soviet Embassy in Beijing. He served as a key adviser to the strongman who ruled the oil-rich Central Asian country as […]
Know More
Behind Kazakhstan Unrest, the ‘Strongman’s Dilemma’
Kazakhstan’s explosion into unrest this week presents a stark warning to the strongman autocrats of the world: Leaving office is perilous. Since the Cold War’s end, a staggering 70 percent of governments headed by strongmen collapsed after the ruler departed, according to one data set. The trend holds whether the leader leaves voluntarily or involuntarily, […]
Know More
Kazakhstan Protests Lead President to Crack Down: ‘Fire Without Warning’
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — The authoritarian leader of Kazakhstan said Friday that he had authorized the nation’s security forces to “fire without warning” as the government moved to bring an end to two days of chaos and violence after peaceful protests descended into scenes of anarchy. “We hear calls from abroad for the parties to negotiate […]
Know More
In Kazakhstan, Putin Again Seizes on Unrest to Try to Expand Influence
Long adept at stoking unrest in the West, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia sent troops to the Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan on Thursday to try to extinguish the latest in a series of dangerous fires to engulf the lands of the former Soviet Union, territory that Moscow views as its own sphere of […]
Know More