Central Asian countries are subtly distancing themselves from Russia
Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has not gone down well in the region’s capitals
ON CITY STREETS, say visitors to Almaty in Kazakhstan, to Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan and to Tashkent in Uzbekistan, a change in the ethnic mix makes it feel surreally as if the Soviet Union has been reconstituted. Since Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, invaded Ukraine in February, huge numbers of Russians have fled, many ending up in the former Soviet states of Central Asia.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Tightrope act”
From the October 22nd 2022 edition
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