Official death toll from Kazakhstan unrest stands at 225

(Image credit: ALEXANDR BOGDANOV/AFP via Getty Images)

published 15 January 2022

Kazakhstan's prosecutor general's office announced Saturday that the death toll from last week's unrest now stands at 225, including 19 members of state security forces, Reuters reports. Government sources say more than 50,000 people were involved in the riots at their peak.

During a week of unrest, which was kicked off by an increase in the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and grew into a broader expression of dissatisfaction with Kazakhstan's government, protestors burned the country's presidential residence and stormed its largest airport.

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Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev ordered security forces to "shoot to kill without warning," but also made attempts to placate protestors. Tokayev revoked the LPG price hike, removed former President Nursultan Nazarbayev — an authoritarian who ruled Kazakhstan from 1991 until 2019 — from his position on the country's Security Council, and had former two-time prime minister and Nazarbayev ally Karim Massimov charged with high treason.

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Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Modern Age, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.

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