I think it is a bit naive to think this is a grass roots "protest". This might be a knock-on effect after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Nazarbayev was a

I think it is a bit naive to think this is a grass roots "protest". This might be a knock-on effect after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Nazarbayev was a Soviet man, so it's possible this is a western intervention. It's also possible that Islamic interests are using the gas crisis as an opportunity to establish a new islamic state there also. ...but regardless of who may be have helped organize this sudden protest/coup, it's important to remember that Russian politicians have recently made comments about taking back land given to Kazakhstan during the Soviet days. The northern portions of the country hold the 25% of the Kazakh population that is ethnic-Russian - which includes much of the area just up to the capital of Nur-Sultan, also in the north. https://thediplomat.com/2021/04/is-northern-kazakhstan-at-risk-to-russia/ https://thediplomat.com/2021/04/is-northern-kazakhstan-at-ri...