Over 4,000 people, including 1,019 children, have been evacuated in the Orenburg region of Russia near the Kazakhstan border after a dam on the Ural river burst due to heavy rainfall, impacting more than 2,500 homes. Thousands of residents were rescued via lifeboats and the flood has been described as one of the largest natural disasters in Kazakhstan in 80 years. The Russian government has opened a criminal investigation into the dam breach for negligence and violation of construction safety rules, attributing the incident to poor maintenance.
Heavy rainfall in the Russian city of Orsk has caused a dike to rupture, putting over 4,000 houses and 10,000 people at risk of flooding. The Orenburg region has seen over 1,800 homes flooded and more than 3,000 evacuations. Efforts are underway to repair the dike and evacuate residents to temporary accommodation centers. The flooding is a result of extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change.
Despite the disappearance of the once-mighty Aral Sea and the loss of large communities, small towns and villages along its shores show signs of life with new cafes, stores, and festivals. Residents engage in activities like playing soccer, making videos, and gathering for festivals amid reminders of the sea's former glory like old fishing nets and murals. Dust storms prompt temporary retreats, but families come together when they pass. The area is documented in an AP series covering climate change, restoration efforts, and the lives of those impacted in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in an escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War that started in 2014. The invasion became the largest attack on a European country since World War II. It is estimated to have caused tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilian casualties and hundreds of thousands of military casualties. By June 2022, Russian troops occupied about 20% of Ukrainian territory. From a population of 41 million in January 2022, about 8 million Ukrainians had been internally displaced and more than 8.2 million had fled the country by April 2023, creating Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. Extensive environmental damage caused by the war, widely described as an ecocide, contributed to food crises worldwide.Before the invasion, Russian troops massed near Ukraine's borders as Russian officials denied any plans to attack. Russian president Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" to support the Russian-backed breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, whose paramilitary forces had been fighting Ukraine in the Donbas conflict since 2014. Putin espoused irredentist views challenging Ukraine's right to exist, and falsely claimed that Ukraine was governed by neo-Nazis persecuting the Russian minority. He said his goal was to "demilitarize and denazify" Ukraine. Russian air strikes and a ground invasion were launched at a northern front from Belarus towards Kyiv, a southern front from Crimea, and an eastern front from the Donbas and towards Kharkiv. Ukraine enacted martial law, ordered a general mobilization and severed diplomatic relations with Russia.Russian troops retreated from the northern front by April 2022 after encountering logistical challenges and stiff Ukrainian resistance. On the southern and southeastern fronts, Russia captured Kherson in March and Mariupol in May after a destructive siege. Russia launched a renewed offensive in the Donbas and continued to bomb military and civilian targets far from the front line, including the energy grid through the winter. In late 2022, Ukraine launched successful counteroffensives in the south and east. Soon after, Russia announced the illegal annexation of four partly occupied regions. In November, Ukraine retook parts of Kherson Oblast, including the city of Kherson itself. In June 2023, Ukraine launched another counteroffensive in the southeast.The invasion was met with international condemnation. The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution condemning the invasion and demanding a full Russian withdrawal in March 2022. The International Court of Justice ordered Russia to suspend military operations and the Council of Europe expelled Russia. Many countries imposed sanctions on Russia and its ally Belarus, and provided humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine. The Baltic states all declared Russia a terrorist state. Protests occurred around the world, along with mass arrests of anti-war protesters in Russia, which also enacted a law enabling greater media censorship. Over 1,000 companies closed their operations in Russia and Belarus as a result of the invasion. The International Criminal Court (ICC) opened investigations into possible crimes against humanity, war crimes, abduction of children, and genocide. The court issued an arrest warrant for Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova in March 2023, alleging responsibility for the unlawful deportation of children.
Orenburg (Russian: Оренбу́рг, pronounced [ɐrʲɪnˈburk]), formerly known as Chkalov (1938–1957), is the administrative center of Orenburg Oblast, Russia. It lies in Eastern Europe, on the banks of the Ural River and is 1,478 kilometers (918 mi) southeast of Moscow.Orenburg is also very close to the border with Kazakhstan.
Russia claimed to have killed 234 pro-Ukraine fighters in a major armed incursion near the border village of Tyotkino. The Freedom of Russia Legion, Siberian Battalion, and Russian Volunteer Corps posted videos of the conflict in Russia's western regions. The Russian Defense Ministry blamed the attack on the 'Kyiv regime' and Ukraine's 'terrorist formations.' Russia launched devastating strikes in central Ukrainian cities, resulting in casualties including children.
Moscow announced the capture of Tonenke village in east Ukraine, near Avdiivka, following recent successes in the region. Russia launched a missile attack on Kyiv using high-precision weapons, including hypersonic Kinzhal missiles. The attack was in response to Ukrainian actions near Russia's border regions. The Russian Defense Ministry stated ongoing measures to prevent incursions into the border area of Belgorod, which has faced increased shelling recently. The Moscow Times, an independent news source, has been labeled a "foreign agent" by the Russian government, sparking concern over press freedom.
The economy of Kazakhstan is the largest in Central Asia in both absolute and per capita terms. In 2021, Kazakhstan attracted more than US$370 billion of foreign investments since becoming an independent republic after the collapse of the former Soviet Union.It possesses oil reserves as well as minerals and metals. It also has considerable agricultural potential, with its vast steppe lands accommodating both livestock and grain production. The mountains in the south are important for apples and walnuts; both species grow wild there. Kazakhstan's industrial sector rests on the extraction and processing of these natural resources.The Dissolution of the Soviet Union and the collapse of demand for Kazakhstan's traditional heavy industry products have resulted in a sharp decline of the economy since 1991, with the steepest annual decline occurring in 1994. In 1995–97 the pace of the government program of economic reform and privatization quickened, resulting in a substantial shifting of assets into the private sector. Kazakhstan was granted "market economy country" status by the European Union and the United States, in 2000 and 2002 respectively.The December 1996 signing of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium agreement to build a new pipeline from western Kazakhstan's Tengiz Field through Russia to the Black Sea increased prospects for substantially larger oil exports until Putin took issue with the lukewarm support he experienced in the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine from Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Kazakhstan's economy turned downward in 1998 with a 2.5% decline in GDP growth due to slumping oil prices and the August financial crisis in Russia. A bright spot in 1999 was the recovery of international petroleum prices, which, combined with a well-timed tenge devaluation and a bumper grain harvest, pulled the economy out of recession.GDP per capita shrank by 26% in the 1990s. In the 2000s, Kazakhstan's economy grew sharply, aided by increased prices on world markets for Kazakhstan's leading exports: oil, metals and grain. GDP grew 9.6% in 2000, up from 1.7% in 1999. In 2006, extremely high GDP growth had been sustained, and grew by 10.6%. Business with the booming economies of Russia and China, as well as neighboring Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) nations have helped to propel this growth. The increased economic growth also led to a turn-around in government finances, with the budget moving from a cash deficit of 3.7% of GDP in 1999 to 0.1% surplus in 2000. The country experienced a slowdown in economic growth from 2014, sparked by falling oil prices and the effects of the Russo-Ukrainian War. The country's currency was devalued by 19% in 2014 and by 22% in 2015.In 2017, the World Economic Forum compiled its Global Competitiveness Ranking, ranking Kazakhstan 57th out of 144 countries. The ranking considers multiple macroeconomic and financial factors, such as market size, GDP, tax rates, infrastructure development, etc. In 2012, the World Economic Forum listed corruption as the biggest problem in doing business in the country, while the World Bank listed Kazakhstan as a corruption hotspot, on a par with Angola, Bolivia, Kenya, Libya and Pakistan. Kazakhstan scored 31 points out of 100 in Transparency International's 2018 edition of the Corruption Perceptions Index, indicating high levels of corruption.Cyril Muller, the World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia, visited Astana in January 2017. He praised the country's progress, made during the 25-year partnership with the World Bank. Muller also talked about Kazakhstan's improved positioning in the World Bank's Doing Business Report 2017, where Kazakhstan ranked 35th out of 190 countries worldwide. After 2000, the government conducted several public sector reforms and adopted the New Public Management (NPM) approach, which was aimed at reducing costs and increasing the efficiency of the public service delivery.Kazakhstan secured the 3rd position in the Central and South Asia regional ranking of the 2018 Global Innovation Index (GII) released by World Intellectual Property Organization.The main producer of cotton pulp in Kazakhstan is Khlopkoprom. Judging by a number of transactions, its products have been supplied to gunpowder manufacturers in the Russian Federation since 2022. Most of the factories that imported pulp from Kazakhstan for the manufacture of explosives are under US and Ukrainian sanctions. According to OCCRP, Vlast, and iStories, a significant increase in Kazakhstan's exports of cotton pulp and derivatives to the Russian Federation after February 24, 2022, was identified. Exported components are key in the manufacture of explosives and gunpowder. There are contracts for the supply of raw materials to the Kazan Gunpowder Plant from Kazakhstan until 2026, and to the Aleksinsky Chemical Plant (which also produces gunpowder) until 2024.
Spanish journalist Xavier Colas was forced to leave Russia after authorities refused to renew his journalist visa, following a trend of journalists being expelled or facing visa refusals in Russia. Colas, who had been reporting from Russia for 12 years, faced pressure to stop covering demonstrations by Russian soldiers' families expressing discontent with the war in Ukraine. The Russian government's actions reflect a broader crackdown on press freedom, with multiple journalists and news outlets facing restrictions and expulsions from the country.
This is a list of rivers of Kazakhstan, arranged by drainage basin. Tributaries are listed in order from mouth to source.
A Russian cruise missile strike in Ukraine's Lviv region left one dead, destroyed a building, and caused a fire. Thousands in Odesa region lost power after a downed Russian drone sparked a blaze. Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure led to significant damage in various regions. Russia escalate attacks, with 80% of Ukraine's largest private energy firm, DTEK's generating capacity lost. France commits hundreds of armoured carriers to aid Ukraine. Russian forces maintain advantage over Ukraine in munitions and personnel. Paris mayor bans Russian and Belarusian athletes from Olympics in response to conflict. European countries urged to increase defence investments by Polish prime minister
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