image

A Kazakhstan soldier guards an area as peacekeepers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization prepare attend the official ceremony of starting withdraw its troops in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. In light of unprecedented mass protests that quickly grew violent, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev requested help from the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a Russia-led military alliance of six ex-Soviet states. The bloc sent over 2,000 troops to Kazakhstan last week, and on Tuesday Tokayev declared their mission largely complete. (Vladimir Tretyakov/NUR.KZ via AP)