bild

FILE - Municipal workers cover the burnt city hall building for repairing in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. At Tokayev's request, 2,000 peacekeepers from the Moscow-led CSTO security alliance were deployed to Kazakhstan, leading to speculation about possible direct intervention by the Kremlin. These fears did not come to pass, with the CSTO announcing in late January that its troops had pulled out without firing a single shot. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits, File)