ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Kazakh activists marked the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine with a rally over the weekend in the Central Asian nation's largest city, Almaty, to show support for Kyiv.
Around 100 activists gathered near a monument to prominent Ukrainian writer, poet, and thinker Taras Shevchenko carrying flowers, balloons, and posters in Ukrainian saying "Glory to Ukraine!" and "Peace to Ukraine, freedom to the world!"
The activists also sang Ukrainian songs, held Ukrainian national flags, and lit candles.
When some of those in attendance unfolded more national flags from Ukraine and Kazakhstan, police officers approached and warned that the gathering was not officially permitted by the city. However, they did not halt the event and no clashes were reported.
The Kazakh government under President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev has been trying to maintain cooperation with Ukraine, its Western allies, and Russia since Moscow launched its ongoing invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
While not openly condemning Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, Toqaev has publicly stated that his country would not recognize parts of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions occupied by Moscow's forces as Russian territory.
Thousands of Russians have moved to Kazakhstan to avoid a so-called "partial mobilization," which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in September 2022.
Meanwhile, Kazakh businesses last year set up so called "invincibility" yurts (traditional nomadic felt tents) in Kyiv and several other Ukrainian cities to provide local residents with food, tea, warmth, and the possibility of charging electronic devices.
Kazakhstan has preserved its economic ties with Russia, while the Kazakh-Russian border is over 7,000 kilometers long -- the world's second largest after the U.S.-Canadian border.
While many in Kazakhstan have openly supported Kyiv, the attitude among Kazakh citizens to the ongoing war in Ukraine varies.
Around 3.5 million of some 20 million Kazakh citizens are ethnic Russians and about 250,000 are ethnic Ukrainians.
Meanwhile, more than 1 million Russian citizens residing mostly in Russian regions adjacent to Kazakhstan, are ethnic Kazakhs, some of whom were mobilized to the war in Ukraine and died there.
