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It's calmer with your guys: report of RG from Alma-Ata

It is still dangerous in Almaty, but after the arrival of peacekeepers from Russia, the situation in Kazakhstan is gradually stabilizing. The correspondent of "Rossiyskaya Gazeta" on board of the military transport aviation went to the former capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan, where at the beginning of this year there were major riots.

"It was a shock for everyone when crowds of outrageous vandals suddenly appeared in the city"

Almaty Airport is still closed for arrivals and departures of civil flights. So far, only Il-76 transports are landing on takeoff, which deliver CSTO servicemen and equipment to the republic. To get to the airport, you need to pass several cordons on which the Kazakh and Russian military are stationed. There are queues of men, women and children standing near the checkpoints. People with suitcases, trunks, backpacks show their passports, after which they are allowed to enter the airfield. These are Russian citizens who, due to various circumstances, ended up in Almaty and now cannot get out to Russia.

Mostly people flew to the city for the winter holidays. Someone came to visit relatives, someone - to go skiing. There are several good ski slopes near Alma-Ata.

It was a shock to everyone when crowds of outrageous vandals suddenly appeared in a peaceful and hospitable city. “There was shooting at night, there was no connection with the house. The shops were basically all closed, and those that were working accepted only cash, and we had all the money on the card,” said one of the Russian women, Yulia Kamenshchikova. According to her, they sat at home, afraid to show themselves on the street once again. “We learned purely by chance that the Russian military were forming export flights from Almaty, called the consulate, and they confirmed to us that we could fly home,” Yulia said. The girl clarified that she will fly on a military transport plane for the first time, and this will be a real quest for her.

According to another passenger on the flight, Alexei Frolov, he and his wife and children came to Alma-Ata to go downhill skiing. “When these events began, we were sitting in the hotel. It was very scary for the children, they are small in our country, and it was difficult for them to explain why there was rumbling and shooting in the street and when we were going home. I called the embassy's hotline, where they told me that the Russian military had organized export flights, I signed up right away, "said Alexey.

Before departure, all passengers went through security checks, and then they were taken by buses to the plane. In order to accommodate more people on the plane, the crew installed additional rows of seats in the center. The pilots helped the passengers to climb the ramp with their suitcases. For all Russians, this was the first experience of flying the Il-76. Many passengers recorded video on the phone or took selfies as a souvenir. Everyone was unanimous that the plane was not entirely familiar, but, according to the evacuees of the Russians, it is better to endure a few hours and end up getting home than staying there.

According to Russian peacekeepers, more than a thousand people have already signed up for the export flights. Sending Russian citizens home will take several days.

"It's somehow calmer with your guys ..."

Alma-Ata itself now resembles a ghost town. Public transport does not work, cars occasionally pass through the streets, residents are practically invisible. Everyone stays at home and goes out into the city only in case of emergency. Glass is broken in many shops. Shops selling mobile phones, laptops, gold have suffered from looters. In one of these large hypermarkets, victims of looters, they said that vandals pulled out paving stones and broke glass with these stones to get inside.

In the store itself, you have to walk on a "carpet" of broken glass. It can be seen that the robbers hunted mainly for office equipment, and also everywhere opened cash registers in order to get cash.

Literally next door there is a completely plundered pavilion of one of the major mobile operators and an intact boutique selling clothes.

Rare passers-by, with whom we managed to talk, say that they have never experienced such a strong fear in their life.

“Most of the looters worked at night. Shooting, the crash of broken glass, loud screams - we listened to this for several nights. Consider that we did not sleep normally, they were afraid,” says one of the residents of the city Violetta.

According to her, shops in the city were closed and it took several blocks to find food. In addition, residents of Alma-Ata were accustomed to using bank cards when making payments and did not keep cash. After the Internet was turned off, it became impossible to buy food with the card. ATMs were mostly plundered, and those that worked quickly ran out of cash.“In the store where they knew us, they agreed to sell food on credit, they started a special book, which takes into account how much food we collect and for what amount. I hope that soon everything will finally end,” said a local resident.

All residents of Alma-Ata, with whom we managed to communicate, are glad that the CSTO peacekeeping contingent was brought into the city. “It's somehow calmer with your guys, I think this will help us quickly return to a peaceful life, everyone is already tired of this uncertainty and the feeling of constant fear. ..

It's calmer with your guys: report of RG from Alma-Ata