DISINFO: US-sponsored Kazakhstan protests aimed to undermine CIS stability
DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS
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CIS Hybrid war Colour revolutions Euromaidan Destabilising Russia Encircling Russia Central Asia Protest

DISINFO: US-sponsored Kazakhstan protests aimed to undermine CIS stability

SUMMARY

The United States has launched the same hybrid warfare strategy in Kazakhstan it previously deployed in Ukraine in 2014, including mass protests and dissemination of fake narratives on social media.

Everything that is happening in Afghanistan is part of the US policy aimed at undermining the CIS region and and torpedoing the Eurasian project.

RESPONSE

The claim advances an emerging pro-Kremlin narrative alleging that the January 2022 anti-government protests in Kazakhstan are part of a US policy of staging “colour revolutions” worldwide with the aim of destabilising Russia and its allies (the CIS).

The claim is made without evidence of such groups with links to US structures and it matches the overall trends in the Kremlin's world view that the US play a sinister role to undermine Russia via manipulation of local groups. See here for our analysis of this narrative, with examples.

There is no evidence presented regarding US and the current developments in Afghanistan, where the Taliban movement is now in control.

The Kazakhstan protests began during the first weekend of January and were sparked by the government’s decision to uncap state prices on propane and butane, which effectively doubled the price of fuel overnight. The protests escalated into nationwide demonstrations over the next several days, but there is no evidence that these events are either coordinated or led by any specific group masterminded by the US. The Russian state media RT website has cited Kazakh President Tokayev as saying that the rallies are led by “terrorists” with foreign training, but duly noted that “he did not provide any evidence to back up this assertion.”

While the Kazakh authorities speak about "foreign" they have NOT attributed these demonstrators or groups to neither the US nor the West.

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Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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