RUSSIA FORCES RESTORE ORDER IN KAZAKHSTAN AFTER GOVERNMENT FORCES WHERE OVERRUN BY IT’S OWN CITIZENS.
Russian forces have brought an electronic warfare system that includes small drones equipped with jammers, as well as tracked and wheeled light armored vehicles, with them to Kazakhstan where they are now deployed for what is officially described as a peacekeeping mission. The Collective Security Treaty Organization, a multi-national security bloc in which Russia is the principal member, agreed to send troops to support the embattled regime of Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev after mass protests triggered by a hike in fuel prices turned into open civil unrest yesterday.
Authorities in Kazakhstan have already been engaged in a crackdown on demonstrators, announcing today that they “liquidated” dozens of individuals, a term the meaning of which may have been lost in translation in this context, but that has been widely reported to refer to civilian fatalities. You can get fully caught up on the current situation in the country in The War Zone’s initial reporting here.
The Russian Ministry of Defense released various videos and pictures today showing vehicles and personnel from a mix of airborne and special operations units bound for Kazakhstan loading onto Il-76 and An-124 cargo aircraft at bases in Russia. At least one 6×6 Kamaz truck in a configuration associated with the Leer-3 electronic warfare system, also known as the RB-341V, was seen in this imagery, including the video and pictures seen below.
BMD and BTR-D light tracked armored vehicles, 8×8 BTR-82A light wheeled armored vehicles, and other light armored and tactical vehicles, were among the assets seen being loaded onto cargo planes as part of this deployment to Kazakhstan, which Russia says will involve no more than 5,000 of its troops. Forces from the other four CSTO members Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan – are expected to be part of the final ‘peacekeeping’ contingent, with Belarusian troops already on the ground. The core missions, at least officially, of the CSTO’s force in Kazakhstan will be “to protect important state and military facilities in Kazakhstan and to assist local law enforcement officers in stabilizing the situation,” according to a report from TV Zvezda, the Russian Ministry of Defense’s television station.
The materiel Russia is bringing certainly feels more combat-oriented compared to what one might expect to see deployed for a ‘peacekeeping’ mission in response to civil unrest. The inclusion of the Leer-3 system, which consists of the Kamaz truck and between two and three specially configured Orlan-10 drones, is particularly interesting. The truck serves as the ground control center for these small unmanned aircraft, which carry small electronic warfare jammers.
They are primarily intended to scramble cellphone communications, something that does seem like it would be very useful for a regime looking to break up large-scale demonstrations. This capability would help prevent protestors from coordinating with each other, as well as further prevent them from sending out pictures or videos documenting abuses on the part of government security forces.
Officials in Kazakhstan already hit the country with a major internet blackout yesterday in a clear effort to conceal what was going on as reports of crackdowns in various cities first began to emerge.
Orlan-10 drones also carry full-motion video cameras and, while their range is relatively limited, could be used to help monitor continued protests and otherwise provide improved situational awareness to CSTO commanders.
The imagery from the Russian Ministry of Defense, including the video seen below, also showed another Kamaz truck with a large dish mounted on top of the rear end of the vehicle, which led some to speculate that this was another electronic warfare system. However, this appears to be a mobile command post vehicle carrying a communications suite to support the deployed forces.