{"id":42179,"date":"2023-03-02T18:28:43","date_gmt":"2023-03-02T17:28:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novastan.org\/en\/?p=42179"},"modified":"2023-03-30T17:11:57","modified_gmt":"2023-03-30T15:11:57","slug":"kazakhstan-at-the-epicentre-of-a-targeted-disinformation-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novastan.org\/en\/kazakhstan\/kazakhstan-at-the-epicentre-of-a-targeted-disinformation-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cAn escalating manifestation of Russophobia\u201d \u2013 Kazakhstan at the epicentre of an information war"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Since the invasion, Kazakhstan has taken a position of neutrality towards Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine. Yet, Astana has not hindered volunteers from organising humanitarian aid to send to Ukraine. Furious remarks from Russia about this ambiguity have placed Kazakhstan at the epicentre of a <\/strong><strong>targeted (dis)information campaign. The following article appeared 20 August, 2022 in <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/fergana.news\/articles\/127337\/\"><strong>Fergana News<\/strong><\/a><strong>. We have translated it with friendly permission from the editors.<\/strong>\n\nRecently three ambulances arrived in Ukraine from Kazakhstan. The Telegram channel \u201cAteo Breaking\u201d reported that the vehicles were sent by authorities from the Central Asian country to help Ukraine, where Russia is conducting a \u201cspecial military operation.\u201d But in fact, the Kazakh government had nothing to do with this aid package. The vehicles were financed by Kazakh businesspeople, according to information shared by the <a href=\"https:\/\/moz.gov.ua\/article\/news\/tri-shvidki-dlja-ukrainskih-medikiv-%e2%80%93-vid-posolstva-ukraini-v-kazahstani-ta-kazahstanskogo-biznesu\">Ukrainian Ministry of Health<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo\/?fbid=374984481473571&amp;set=a.187048716933816\">Ukrainian Embassy in Kazakhstan<\/a>. Transport to Ukraine was organised by the NGOs \u201cUkrainian American House,\u201d \u201cInitiative E+,\u201d and the Victor Pinchuk Foundation.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Solidarity with Ukraine from below<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>\nFrom the beginning of the \u201cspecial operation,\u201d Kazakh authorities distanced themselves from any involvement in the conflict. The acting Minister of Defence Sultan Kamaletdinov <a href=\"https:\/\/tengrinews.kz\/kazakhstan_news\/ne-podderjivaem-ni-odnu-storon-zamministra-oboronyi-463416\/\">made clear remarks<\/a> in this regard: <em>\u201cWe do not support any side. There can be no questions about this.\u201d<\/em>\n\nHowever, not all Kazakhs agree with his point of view. Since the beginning of the war, hundreds of volunteers and those sympathetic to the Ukrainian cause have sent humanitarian aid to areas in need via the Ukrainian Embassy in Kazakhstan and collected donations for victims. What is important to emphasise is that these are citizens\u2019 initiatives that are not supported by the government. Reception centres for Ukrainian refugees are currently active in 11 cities: <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Karaganda\">Karaganda<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Oral,_Kazakhstan\">Oral<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/de.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Semei\">Semei,<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Oskemen\">Oskemen<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Aktau\">Aktau<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Turkistan_(city)\">Turkistan<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Atyrau\">Atyrau<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ekibastuz\">Ekibastuz<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Aktobe\">Aktobe<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Almaty\">Almaty<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Astana\">Astana<\/a>.\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"hp-newsletter col-span-3 lg:col-span-1 flex flex-col bg-primary-100 border-t-8 border-secondary-500 rounded-lg justify-center items-center lg:items-stretch px-6 py-6 gap-4 box-border\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"flex\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"enveloppe\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<i class=\"far fa-envelope text-5xl text-secondary-300\"><\/i>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"formulaire_nl\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"font-bold text-xl block\">The whole of Central Asia in your inbox\n<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to our free weekly newsletter\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<form class=\"flex w-3\/4 lg:w-full\" action=\"https:\/\/us4.list-manage.com\/subscribe?u=6a15a2256d412b041fdec39e8&amp;id=d479236523\" method=\"post\" id=\"mc-embedded-subscribe-form\" name=\"mc-embedded-subscribe-form\" class=\"validate\" target=\"_blank\" novalidate=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<input class=\"flex-grow py-2 px-3 border border-primary-300 rounded-l\" type=\"email\" placeholder=\"Email\" name=\"EMAIL\" id=\"mce-EMAIL\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<button class=\"bg-secondary-500 py-2 px-3 text-white rounded-r-md border border-secondary-500\" type=\"submit\" value=\"\" name=\"subscribe\">Register<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/form>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"#\" class=\"underline text-secondary-700\">Click here for the latest issue\n<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><!-- newsletter -->\n\t\t\n\n\n\n<p>\n\nAt the beginning of June, Kazakhs sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine via several planes and 11 trucks. The total volume of this delivery was over 200 tons and included toiletries, food, medicine, and more. Within Kazakhstan itself, charity concerts in support of Ukraine have been organised. But since these have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-village-kz.com\/village\/city\/news-city\/24351-na-kontsert-v-podderzhku-ukrainy-v-almaty-ne-razreshali-pronosit-ukrainskie-flagi\">unsettled<\/a> local authorities, gaining permission for such initiatives is difficult. During a charity run on 24 August 2022, money was collected to rebuild schools in <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Chernihiv_Oblast\">Chernihiv Oblast<\/a>.\n\nOfficially, Astana has not involved itself in such activities. In spring last year, the Kazakh authorities only sent three cargo planes to Ukraine with medicine, food, and bedding. So far, the government\u2019s policy of neutrality has resulted in a ban on rallies in support of Ukraine, while prosecuting people who display Z or V stickers (letters which are signs of support for the \u201cspecial operation\u201d).\n\n<strong>Read more on Novastan: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/novastan.org\/en\/kazakhstan\/kazakhstans-gradual-divorce-from-russia\/\"><strong>Kazakhstan\u2019s gradual divorce from Russia<\/strong><\/a>\n\nThe longer the \u201cspecial operation\u201d continues, the harder maintaining such balance will be. The \u201cbig neighbour\u201d is making it increasingly clear that it expects a different, preferably more supportive stance from Kazakhstan with regard to the military conflict.\n\nIn spring 2022, well-known media personalities accused Astana of Russophobic policies and treason. Now dozens of popular Telegram channels have become involved in fuelling anti-Russian sentiment by publishing either outright lies or distorted information on the daily, that are picked up by Russian media without any fact-checking.\n\nFor example, the story about the ambulances mentioned above was run by the state-run online newspaper Gazeta.ru. They even stated on Twitter that the vehicles were sent by Kazakh authorities for use by the Ukrainian armed forces.\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Purported weapons\u2019 sales<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>\nAnother news article claimed that Kazakhstan was selling weapons to the United Kingdom, for them to be subsequently shipped to Ukraine. Documents related to this story were <a href=\"https:\/\/telegra.ph\/Velikobritaniya-pokupaet-oruzhie-v-Kazahstane-dlya-Ukrainy-dokumenty-08-09\">published<\/a> at the beginning of August by the pro-Russian hacker group Beregini. The deal was supposedly carried out thanks to the mediation of the company \u201cTechnoexport\u201d.\n\nFirst this \u201cnews\u201d was picked up by Russian Telegram channels, after which mainstream media started publishing about it. Kazakhstan\u2019s Ministry of Industry and Development of Infrastructure <a href=\"https:\/\/fergana.media\/news\/127299\/?country=kz\">denied<\/a> the accusations immediately and shared that neither \u201cTechnoexport\u201d nor any other company had been licensed for the export of weapons to the UK. The permit necessary for the re-export of weapons was also not issued by the ministry. The Russian Telegram channel \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/tlgrm.ru\/channels\/@rybar\/37802\">Rybar\u201d<\/a>, however, described the ministry\u2019s statement as <em>\u201cunfounded\u201d<\/em> and after \u201c<em>digging<\/em>\u201d through the Technoexport documents, discovered that the company \u2013 contrary to the Kazakh rebuttal \u2013 was indeed in the possession of the licenses and permits required for export to the UK.\n\n<strong>Read more on Novastan: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/novastan.org\/de\/politik-und-wirtschaft\/der-krieg-in-der-ukraine-und-seine-folgen-fuer-zentralasien\/\"><strong>The war in Ukraine and its consequences for Central Asia<\/strong><\/a><em>\u201cIt does not matter if the official representatives of the Kazakh government are defending themselves by saying that they could not export Soviet weapons without the producer\u2019s \u2013 that is, Russia\u2019s \u2013 permission. They are doing it all behind closed doors,\u201d<\/em> wrote the authors of the Telegram channel, which boasts over a million followers.\n\nIn other words, the Kazakh authorities were being accused of lying not by Russian law enforcement agencies, neither by government leaders, nor by popular media, but instead by a Telegram channel whose anonymous editors know that they will not be prosecuted for their allegations.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>\u201cWild Mambets\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>\nA painful story of child abuse in Kazakhstan developed along similar lines. A group of teenagers in Almaty abused two brothers, aged four and nine, by forcing them to perform oral sex. The mother of the boys turned to the foundation <a href=\"https:\/\/nemolchi.kz\/\">NeMolchi.kz<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/orda.kz\/zastavljal-sovat-v-rot-podrostki-v-almaty-izdevalis-nad-detmi-na-detskoj-ploshhadke\/?utm_source=fergana.news&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=fergana.news&amp;utm_referrer=fergana.news\">journalists<\/a> to receive help, in addition to filing a report with the police.\n\nLater, however, a video of the mother appeared on the Telegram channel \u201cMnogonational\u201d under the title <em>\u201cIn Kazakhstan wild Mambets [editor\u2019s note: Mambet is derogatory slang for an uncultivated, uneducated person of Central Asian heritage] forced small Russian children [\u2026] to perform oral sex on the playground and recorded it with a camera.\u201d&nbsp; <\/em>The story was taken up by Russian TV station <a href=\"https:\/\/spb.tsargrad.tv\/news\/v-kazahstane-russkih-detej-unizili-v-izvrashhjonnoj-forme_605817\">Tsargrad<\/a>, which announced it was <em>\u201canother case of the escalating manifestation of Russophobia in Kazakhstan. This time Russia-haters took their dirty deeds to the limit \u2013 Russian children have suffered.\u201d <\/em>The twisted story was broadcasted on the station and later similarly referenced to by other Russian media outlets.\n\n<strong>Read more on Novastan: <a href=\"https:\/\/novastan.org\/de\/gesellschaft-und-kultur\/mambet-das-zentralasiatische-n-wort-woher-es-kommt-und-was-es-bedeutet\/\">Mambet <em>\u2013<\/em> The Central Asian N-word: Where it comes from and what it means<\/a><\/strong>\n\nThen the mother of the victims stepped forward with a counterstatement. The woman called the publication and broadcast a provocation. <em>\u201cAll of those involved in the incident were of European ethnicity, but you cannot give this any interethnic stain. I have lived in Kazakhstan since birth and have many friends of other ethnicities. We all live in peace,\u201d<\/em> she said.\n\nWho is responsible for the provocation remains unclear, since the Telegram channel \u201cMnogonational,\u201d which first spoke of \u201cwild Mambets,\u201d is anonymous. The authors of the channel claimed multiple times that the mother of the children was forced to make a counterstatement. Of course, they did not provide any proof for this claim.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The hot topic of language<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>\nThe government-friendly Russian public has seized upon yet another hot topic in the relationship between the two countries: language. Messages started circulating on social media stating that Russian-language instruction in Kazakhstan\u2019s schools would disappear in the next six to seven years. Media outlets such as <a href=\"https:\/\/glas.ru\/society\/646806-v-shkolax-kazaxstana-xotyat-uprazdnit-russkoyazychnye-klassy-dlya-pervoklassnikov-un10338\/\">Glas.ru<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/kz.tsargrad.tv\/news\/v-shkolah-kazahstana-gotovjatsja-zakryt-vse-russkojazychnye-klassy_604453\">Tsargrad<\/a> reported about this as well. As it turned out, these messages were based on a wrong interpretation of a two-year-old report from the Kazakh Channel 31. Kazakhstan\u2019s Ministry of Education denounced the fake news, but several days later the problem of Russian language in schools resurfaced.\n\nAfter a statement from Minister of Education <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ashat_Aimagambetov\">Ashat Aimagambetov<\/a> on 16 August, social media and Telegram channels spread the news that starting in 2022, Kazakh pupils in first grade would not be taught Russian, while learning Kazakh remained obligatory. In fact, the minister only referred to schools with Kazakh as the language of instruction. This important detail was deliberately <a href=\"https:\/\/ok.ru\/tsargradtv\/topic\/154451874882944\">left out<\/a> by a number of media outlets. Large Russian media agencies, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/tass.ru\/obschestvo\/15491101\">TASS<\/a>, published about the correct version of the announcement, but the fake story had already received considerable media attention.\n\n<strong>Read more on Novastan: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/novastan.org\/de\/gesellschaft-und-kultur\/kasachstans-langsamer-aber-bestimmter-weg-zum-lateinischen-alphabet\/\"><strong>Kazakhstan\u2019s slow yet determined transition to the Latin alphabet<\/strong><\/a>\n\nFurthermore, in an interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nur.kz\/politics\/kazakhstan\/1972720-v-pervom-klasse-tolko-rodnoy-yazyk-glava-mon-zayavil-ob-izmeneniyah-v-trehyazychii\/\">Nur.kz<\/a> in early June, Minister Aimagambetov reemphasized that starting with trilingual classes in the first grade might be too difficult for pupils. Therefore, he added, was decided to introduce the different languages at Kazakh-language primary schools one at a time.\n\n<em>\u201cWe made a decision on this issue and are already working to ensure that a child in a school with Kazakh as the language of instruction is only learning one language in first grade: Kazakh. That means they learn to read and write in their native language. In second grade, Russian is introduced, and in third grade, English,\u201d<\/em> explained the minister. This important nuance was omitted in Russian media.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>A (dis)information campaign<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>\nThere are many more examples of Russian disinformation in Kazakhstan, but these stories stand out with regard to the amount of media attention they have received.\n\nThere was also a deleted post on the social media site Vkontakte by former Russian President <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Dmitry_Medvedev\">Dmitry Medvedev<\/a>, who currently is deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia. In this post, he claimed that Kazakhstan was an <em>\u201cartificial state,\u201d<\/em> whose authorities pursue a policy of <em>\u201cRussian genocide.\u201d<\/em> (The post was deleted 10 minutes after publication and was said to be the result of a hack, as stated by the press service of Vkontakte and Medvedev himself.)\n\nThere is a lot of disinformation floating on Telegram channels and Russian news websites, such as the story about the alleged murder of a Russian boy in Astana by Kazakh children. The article was accompanied by a video of a fight from last year in which no one was killed. The amount of fake news has grown exponentially in recent months. Hence, it is best to speak of a planned (dis)information campaign.\n\nRussian officials reject such accusations outright. President <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Vladimir_Putin\">Vladimir Putin<\/a> has repeatedly referred to Kazakhstan as a <em>\u201cstrategic partner\u201d <\/em>and his press secretary called the country a <em>\u201cfriendly state.\u201d<\/em> On 19 August, Kazakhstan\u2019s President <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kassym-Jomart_Tokayev\">Kassym-Jomart Tokayev<\/a> met Vladimir Putin in <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sochi\">Sochi<\/a>. At the meeting, the two presidents hugged.\n\nLater Tokayev said that he was satisfied with the development of cooperation between the two countries. Tokayev was quoted saying: <em>\u201cWe are bound by the entire border \u2013 the longest fully demarcated land border in the world.<\/em><em>We cannot allow any pessimistic prognoses over the future of our cooperation! As President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, I am personally dedicated to giving additional impetus to our bilateral cooperation in all areas.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\"><strong>Fergana News<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\"><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><strong>Translated from <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/novastan.org\/de\/kasachstan\/eine-eklatante-manifestation-von-russophobie-kasachstan-im-epizentrum-eines-informationskriegs\/\"><strong>Russian into German<\/strong><\/a><strong> by Robin Roth<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\"><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><strong>Translated from German into English by Mari Paine<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\"><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><strong>Edited by Julian Postulart<\/strong>\n<p><em>For more news and analysis from Central Asia, follow us on <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/Novastan_Eng\">Twitter<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Novastan.org\/\">Facebook<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/telegram.me\/novastan\">Telegram<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/fondation-novastan\/\">Linkedin<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/novastanorg\/\">Instagram<\/a>.<\/em><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Since the invasion, Kazakhstan has taken a position of neutrality towards Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine. Yet, Astana has not hindered volunteers from organising humanitarian aid to send to Ukraine. Furious remarks from Russia about this ambiguity have placed Kazakhstan at the epicentre of a targeted (dis)information campaign. The following article appeared 20 August, 2022 in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1681,"featured_media":42182,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[3666,4654,470,1698,3984,3982,1055],"coauthors":[4598,4652],"class_list":["post-42179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kazakhstan","tag-fake-news","tag-information-war","tag-kazakhstan","tag-media","tag-politics","tag-russia","tag-ukraine"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/novastan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/novastan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/novastan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novastan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1681"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novastan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/novastan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novastan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/novastan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novastan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novastan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42179"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novastan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=42179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}