The first Russian forces under a Collective Security Treaty Organisation force have deployed to Kazakhstan, after President Kassym-Zhomart Kemelevich Tokayev requested support under Articles 2 and 4 of the Collective Security Treaty. The deployment follows reports of beheadings of police officers, with least a dozen killed, and as insurgents have widely used firearms resulting in over 1000 casualties. Among the Russian assets deployed are electronic warfare drones and various armoured vehicles both tracked and wheeled carrying personnel. Moscow has accused the United States of fomenting the highly organised riots which quickly turned into an armed insurgency, much as was alleged of the U.S. and its Western partners in Syria, Libya Sudan, Hong Kong, Ukraine and other targeted states since 2011. Such charges have been denied by Washington.
Russian forces including paratroopers were the first of many contingents from the CSTO to deploy, closely followed by Belarusian forces which arrived in five Il-76 transports. Armenian, Kyrgyz and Tajik personnel were expected to follow, with what looks to be a minor conflict in Kazakhstan potentially serving as an exercise that will bring the CSTO closer together. CSTO Peacekeeping Forces are expected to reach 3,600, with the organisation expressing its willingness to strengthen the grouping in Kazakhstan if needed. This could set a precedent for the defence of other member states, most notably Belarus which saw serious unrest in 2020 with more over Western backing. Russian electronic warfare drones are capable of scrambling communications including by mobile phone, and could be tested against Kazakh insurgents and rioters who have relied on such means for communication. After heavy casualties caused by the insurgency, the Kazakh government on January 7th gave orders for insurgents to be shot without warning. The conflict has been widely compared to the early stages of the Syrian War which began in 2011, although unlike Syria where insurgents received considerable material and manpower support from across the Jordanian and Turkish borders Kazakh insurgents remain isolated. Insurgents and rioters have received considerably less public support, and have been met by security forces which are much better prepared and trained.