Russian military transport aircraft have delivered 1,436 Russian citizens from Kazakhstan to Moscow and Yekaterinburg as part of a NEO*.
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Press Release, Moscow, 07:00, 10 January 2022: The aircraft of the military transport aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces delivered 1,422 Russian citizens from the Republic of Kazakhstan to Moscow and 14 Russian citizens to Yekaterinburg, who expressed a desire to return to Russia by aircraft of the Russian Defence Ministry.
Russian citizens delivered to Russia by military transport aircraft arrived in Alma-Ata on New Year’s holidays on tourist trips, on vacation to relatives and sports camps. As a result of the aggravation of the situation and the shutdown of the Almaty international airport, Russian tourists remained in hotels in the city. While staying in hotels, they appealed to the leadership of the Russian contingent of the peacekeeping forces with a request for help in delivering them to the territory of the Russian Federation. In total, military transport aircraft made fourteen flights and transported 1,436 Russian citizens.
In accordance with the decision of the CSTO Collective Security Council adopted on January 6, 2022, collective peacekeeping forces of the Collective Security Treaty Organization were sent to the Republic of Kazakhstan for a limited period of time to stabilize and normalize the situation. They included units of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic.
The main tasks of the Collective Peacekeeping Forces of the CSTO will be the protection of important state and military facilities, assistance to the law enforcement forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan in stabilizing the situation and returning it to the legal field. From the Russian Federation, the Collective Peacekeeping Forces of the CSTO include units and military units of Airborne troops.
Earlier, advanced units from the Russian peacekeeping contingent arrived on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan and began to carry out their tasks.
Source: Russian Federation MoD Directorate of Media Service and Information.
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Footnote: *A NEO is a Non-combatant Evacuation Operation under which military forces transport citizens from an unstable region, usually to their homeland.
