Nurgul Tapaeva is a correspondent with RFE/RL's Kazakh Service.
Horse corpses litter the pastures in Kazakhstan, as farmers struggle to feed them due to heavy snow. In the central Ulytau region, locals reported that hundreds of horses had starved to death. The Kazakh government has faced criticism for not taking action to support the farmers.
Police in Kazakhstan detained protesters demanding justice for relatives killed during a 2022 crackdown on anti-government demonstrations. They said Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev should be held accountable for issuing a "shoot to kill" order to security forces.
Small rallies took place in Kazakhstan on January 5 to mark the second anniversary of anti-government protests, some of which spiraled into riots and ended with many demonstrators being shot by security forces. Relatives of victims brought portraits of the dead and recited prayers.
Relatives of miners employed at a Kazakh coal mine came to its offices on October 29 to ask about their loved ones. More than 40 miners died after a fire and an explosion inside the Kostenko mine, near the city of Qaraghandy, early on October 28. The government declared a day of national mourning.
Kazakhstan faced a potential crisis once again, as police detained dozens of unemployed oil workers from the restive town of Zhanaozen who had taken their protests to the capital. Despite talk of a newly revamped parliament, Kazakhstan's Mazhilis appears to be just as impotent as ever.
Kazakh lawmaker Azamat Abildaev has caused political controversy with pro-Kremlin comments in an interview with RFE/RL. Kazakhstan has repeatedly defended Ukraine's territorial integrity in the face of the Russian invasion.
Kazakh authorities have rejected a demand by Russia's Foreign Ministry to expel Ukraine's ambassador to Kazakhstan, Petro Vrublevskiy, over his comments in August about killing Russians.
Police in the Kazakh capital, Nur-Sultan, have forcibly removed 15 people from the presidential compound after they spent four days and nights there calling for justice for loved ones killed during the violent dispersal of anti-government protests in January.
About 20 people have rallied in front of the president’s office in Kazakhstan's capital, demanding justice for loved ones killed in the violent dispersal of anti-government demonstrations in January.
Kazakhstan is seeking to revoke the title of "elbasy" from former President Nursultan Nazarbaev in the wake of deadly anti-government protests earlier this year that were sparked in part by resentment over the rampant and lingering corruption from his rule.
Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev has warned of repercussions for what he called "illegal public gatherings" ahead of protest rallies planned by exiled opposition politician Mukhtar Ablyazov.
Kazakh police detained eight protesters, mostly women, demanding the release of relatives they say are being illegally held in China.
A Kazakh journalist has left his job at a state television station, saying he can longer cope with working under government control and unable to cover the true state of affairs in his country.
A mother of 12 says that state honors for boosting Kazakhstan's population are nice, but she would rather the authorities provide better benefits.
An ethnic Kazakh woman says she was forced to have an abortion while Chinese officials were threatening to put her in one of the "reeducation" camps that were recently condemned by the United Nations.
